Team size: Eleven

How important is choosing to work with external lawyers who align with your company’s values? Are you likely to reconsider what firms you work with based on this?

Form my personal experience as general counsel and leader of our legal team, I would say that there are some traits I consider indispensable, when considering external counsel. First, being skilled and having knowledge of the business are of the outmost importance, as strong and competent representation is crucial for our company. Secondly, it is important to work with external lawyers with an impressive record of accomplishments, as their success influences our options during decision time. Lastly, and one that is becoming more important today, is the expenses that come with hiring external counsel. We believe that firms should be more flexible and considerate of our business, for us to think of hiring them in the first place. All of these, I believe, are crucial to retaining external counsel.

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

I believe that there are still some features that require some work, towards building a strong relationship between legal teams and their business partners. For once, I think it is crucial to increase interaction with business partners, and provide expert counsel, not only on legal procedures, but on the everyday workings of the company. Additionally, legal departments should also be acquainted with the operations to fully understand how the business works to remain relevant and provide support which makes business and commercial sense.