Did the pandemic lead to a lasting increase in the interaction your legal team has with the strategic plans of the company?

One of the many consequences of the pandemic for lawyers has been the reshaping of the general counsel role to become more strategic. During the initial response to the pandemic, quick decision-making was required in a climate of continually changing rules. In-house departments were vital in helping interpret the rules so that decisions could be made. This demand for legal advice brought more senior lawyers to the table.

General counsels are now in a better position to take a more strategic approach to risk management in the future. There has long been pressure on in-house teams to demonstrate how they add value to the business, rather than simply being seen as a cost centre. Acting strategically and becoming a trusted adviser to the board shows how general counsel can add value. In a climate where there will be increased pressure to do more with less, this was a valuable skill for senior lawyers to develop. Relatedly, post-pandemic saw an influx of government supported liquidity in capital markets, which led to a swirl of corporate dealmaking including M&A and capital markets transactions. Quickly post lockdown, dealmakers were operating in a once-in-a-lifetime market. Having successfully navigated the challenge of transacting virtually, they found themselves in the perfect situation, between optimism about economic prospects, historically low financing and record amounts of private capital reserves.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

Many lawyers, by nature and training, especially working a transactional big law practice area, are talented negotiators, with incredible verbal and communication skills, and often are doing much of the communications on behalf of their clients. This makes sense in the vacuum of transactions where law firms have expertise. However, when transitioning to in-house life, successful law department leaders should spend much of their time developing and fostering relationships within the organization and sharpening their listening skills. In-house lawyers should take a significant amount of time to listen to the different stakeholders in the organization and understand their drivers and real-life commercial concerns. Only then, can an in-house lawyers provide significant value to an organization.

Moreover, in-house life is faster paced where nimbleness and the ability to prioritise a mountain of competing demands are essential to success. This skill is clearly intertwined with developing and fostering lasting relationships with stakeholders. Upon arriving to an organisation, an aspiring in-house lawyer is an outsider who first needs to develop trust within each part of an organization in order to be effective. This trust is developed through a detailed understanding of the sector your company operates in, beyond purely legal requirements. In essence, it requires understanding an organization’s values and culture and personal relationships.