I never worked in-house. Of course, having no experience working in-house is not going to stop me from spouting off about in-house counsel (“IHC”).
So, here we go!
CYA
Some IHC strive to avoid personal risk. They may always hire Big Law as outside counsel so that if something goes wrong they can say “well, we hired [name of Big Law firm], so it isn’t my fault that things got screwed up.” Or they may retain outside counsel whenever a big decision has to be made, even when they are capable of making the recommendation themself.
Essentially, these IHC are paying a premium with their employer’s money to buy insurance to cover their own backside.
At the opposite extreme are IHC who choose smaller firms as outside counsel when they can obtain equal or better legal services at a lower cost, and do not shy away from making recommendations without the input of outside counsel where appropriate. They save their employers money.
And of course, many IHC fall between these two extremes.
You Are Going to Get Fired Eventually
My second, and completely unrelated, observation is that IHC must understand that going corporate means that someday they are going to get fired. Corporations eventually get acquired or go under. When that happens, lawyers often lose their jobs.
Lawyers in private practice can also lose their jobs, but if they have a good client base there will always be somewhere to land. When you are in-house, it is not that simple. For this reason, I always advise IHC that marketing themselves is just as important as it is for private practice lawyers. Young lawyers going in-house often do not get that. In fact, sometimes they choose to go in-house because they are not confident that they can do the marketing thing.
Obviously, since IHC are not on the hunt for clients, their marketing strategy will be different from that of private practice lawyers. IHC need to join industry associations, write articles, give lectures, and network with C-Suite executives and lawyers in their industry. When the music stops, they have to be a known quantity who other corporations or law firms will be anxious to snap up.
Unicorns
My final observation about IHC is that they tend to think that only they grasp the importance of understanding their employer’s business, being practical, and thinking like an owner.
Undoubtedly, IHC are better situated than outside counsel to develop a deep understanding of their company’s business and industry. But good private practice lawyers are also practical and strategic, see the forest for the trees, understand that their clients need to take risks, and know that good legal advice is not an exercise in covering every possible risk, no matter how remote. Of course, IHC can be excused for believing that lawyers in private practice who get that are almost as rare as unicorns (because they are).
This article was originally published by Law360 Canada, part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.