When I landed my first in-house position over twelve years ago, I believed that my role was limited to providing legal advice to my client. When presented with a legal question, I believed that it was my job to provide possible options and to provide an explanation as to what risks were associated with each […]
Over the course of my career, I have done many things. Of those things that I have done, I have enjoyed most being an in-house lawyer. What is it about being an in-house lawyer that I have enjoyed most? I have enjoyed helping business leaders identify and remove obstacles that get in the way of […]
Failure to acknowledge the risk with juggling multiple roles can result in more than just losing a job. It can mean losing a bar license.When the in-house counsel assumes both legal and nonlegal roles at the same company during the same period, the in-house counsel must recognize that the chances of an ethical issue arising […]
In its 2023 GC Survey, Axiom asked general counsels how they perceived themselves in terms of their role as the company conscience. According to the results of that survey, an overwhelming majority of general counsels saw themselves as guardians of the company’s values. While it does appear that “corporal counsel as company conscience” is now […]
If you are a law school student or a even a lawyer who is relatively new to the practice of law, you may be surprised to know you have choices. Lots of them. When I went to law school, I thought I had a limited set of options when I graduated. I thought I could […]
Pablo Picasso once said: “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” As a junior lawyer in private practice, I was most comfortable when I could say firmly and with confidence, “This is the law, these are the facts, and, therefore, this is how I recommend that we proceed.” […]
The General Counsel position comes not only with great responsibility, but it also comes with great opportunity. As a General Counsel, you have an opportunity to impact your company in a way other executive-level leaders can’t because of the unique nature of your position. Because you work closely with everyone in the company, you are […]
Taking the time to develop a personal professional brand is something all professionals should consider doing and lawyers should be no different. In my experience, lawyers who work in private practice generally understand the importance of building a personal professional brand because it is so closely tied to business development and growing a successful law […]
On March 11, 2020, I was on Spring Break preparing to return to campus when the President of my University issued the first of what would be many Coronavirus (COVID-19) updates to our campus community. In that announcement, the President informed the campus community that the Governor for the Commonwealth of Kentucky had just confirmed […]
A few years ago, I asked a client about what he looked for in an in-house counsel and his answer changed how I thought about my job. He told me that he wanted more from his in-house counsel than just legal analysis. To my surprise, he wanted his in-house to provide him with a recommendation […]