WORKING WELL WITH IN-HOUSE LAWYERS

You may be perplexed by the way some in-house lawyers behave. Are they still lawyers or are they some kind of hybrid business person? Why don't they share your fascination with legal intricacies? They can certainly be even more demanding than business people by expecting you to produce advice or documentation with little warning. Surely they must remember how long this can take and the internal quality checks which may be needed. Why are they ungrateful when you clock up the hours and bill them for the time which you, an associate and a trainee have spent?

A few suggestions:

Invest in the relationship by discussing how your firm can contribute to effective management of legal risk and familiarising yourself with the context in which the business operates and how it deals with key relationships.

Offer to alert the business to changes in the legal environment which affect those relationships - not just newsletters but advice on actions which need to be considered. As it would be a tailored service, you should expect to be paid.

Establish what the in-house lawyer plans to do with your advice, so that you can express it in a way which is helpful.

Encourage a dialogue on expectations. If you are interested in the recommendations we make to in-house lawyers, click here.

Be sensitive to the pressures which in-house lawyers are under to produce answers on a cost effective basis. Even when not asked, give some idea of the effort and likely cost of a piece of work.

Be aware that the in-house lawyer's credibility can be adversely affected by your actions.