How Outside Counsel Can Provide Real Value to In-House Counsel

It may seem easier having only one client, not being tied to the billable hour, and having intimate knowledge of the business in ways you never get in private practice, but life in-house is not for the faint of heart. 

In-House Counsel Demands

Serving as legal counsel inside a company is a different breed of animal than practicing at a firm.  Your days are often about what fires come across your desk that day rather than tackling a pre-determined list of priorities.  There is never a shortage of internal demands to meet, or process improvements to make.  I loved my days in-house – the challenges, the people, the diversity of issues – but I also loved it because I had great outside lawyers to rely on and support me.

Providing True Assistance to In-House Counsel

To all my in-house colleagues, I see you!  To all my private practice colleagues, here are some easy things to either implement or improve upon, that I learned while practicing in-house.  Following these simple rules will surely make your interactions with in-house counsel go more smoothly:

Brevity is your friend.

Don’t use 1,000 words when 25 will do.  Keep the action item you want at the top of the email and in the subject line.  Bullet points are key.  If it requires an urgent response, say it in the subject line.  If you must explain – maybe schedule a follow up call, then summarize in an email.

Meetings, emails, and more meetings.

Don’t set a meeting when an email will do.  It always shocked me how many would pop up on my calendar in a given afternoon, when the day before it was completely empty.  If it must be a meeting, do the work and set up the calendar invite for them (being sure to check the time zone, invite all relevant parties and even accommodate off times, if needed).

Have empathy.

The asks you make for information or details may seem small, but the hoops in-house lawyers have to jump through to get answers is real.  Competing internal initiatives, acquisitions, product launches, you name it, all compete for attention of both in-house lawyers and their internal clients.  Before asks, think about whether that piece of information is actually a “nice to have” verses a “must have” and couch your initial requests accordingly.  Don’t be shocked if they are not able to answer a question about the past, or produce a document that they should have – it happens.  Work with them on a solution and empathize with their position.

Underpromise and overdeliver.

This may seem obvious but don’t commit to a project or deadline that you can’t deliver.  Executive team meetings are often weekly, so if you say you’re going to get a response back on an issue, do it, or the in-house lawyer may have to answer for it.  Review your bills in detail before they go out and don’t nickel and dime the client on petty time.   Provide real value and they will have no issue paying your invoice.

Key Takeaways on How Outside Counsel Can Provide the Best Value to In-House Counsel

Private practice counsel working with in-house counsel can provide the best value and service by following 4 simple rules:

• Get to the point, provide the bottom-line answers/recommendations, and keep communications high level – the long, detailed explanations can be included as needed, but provide information in an easy-to-evaluate manner;

• Learn your in-house counsel’s preferred method of communication and accommodate it;

• Understand in-house counsel is often the point person for numerous people and things at the company, so an ask for information can be like a request to herd cats – keep requests succinct and provide ample time for response when possible; and

• Keep your promises and remember you were hired to provide service to in-house counsel, so don’t make them work harder for it.

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