Lawyers in the corporate world
by Miki SaxonMost of us aren’t enamored with lawyers in general, and in-house counsel are no exception. But what’s it like from the lawyer’s point of view?
Is working directly for a company and having to assimilate its corporate culture and deal with whatever the bureaucracy is in order to function difficult? Easy? Unnoticeable—just another day at a different office?
I’ve never given it much thought. In all honesty, my thoughts about company counsel most often run along unprintable lines when I’m struggling to turn a policy crafted in legalese into a document that normal employees can understand well enough to follow.
I learned a bit tonight in a Law.com story about in-house counsel recounted from a meeting of the Association of Corporate Counsel.
No surprise that ‘establishing trust with businesspeople is a key to success for a general counsel…’ was considered key and a number of counsel offered up their own experiences.
They all agreed that it was absolutely critical to understand the corporate culture and the company’s business in depth.
Here are the questions they covered.
Question 1. When you first went in-house, what were the most important things you found you needed to know?
Question 2. What was the hardest thing for you to get used to?
Question 3. What was the easiest?
Question 4. What are you still trying to get used to?
Question 5. What do you like best about being in-house?
Question 6. What do you like least?
Question 7. What are the most important things that helped you succeed?
The responses parallel much of the working world.
A strong dislike of corporate politics, bureaucracy and excessive meetings was countered by better work/life balance, lighter workload and a friendlier atmosphere.
Gee, who knew? Lawyers are people, too.
Do you like your in-house counsel?
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