In-House Counsel

In-House Counsel Are More Than Just Their Job Descriptions

What surprised me when I went in-house, though, was the phone calls from other employees in the organization with questions that were about everything and anything under the sun.

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Over the past 12 years, I have held a variety of in-house roles at several different organizations. In these organizations, my duties and responsibilities were exactly what I expected. In fact, my duties and responsibilities were much like the duties and responsibilities of other lawyers working in-house I knew had.

  • I provided advice to the organization’s executive officers, board, and staff on a wide variety of legal issues.
  • I served as legal advisor on employment law-related matters, including strategic human resources initiatives, employee relations, benefits, compensation, and recruiting.
  • I provided business-minded legal guidance and direction to relating to matters such as hiring, transitions, discipline, investigations, and wage-and hour matters.
  • I provided strategic counsel supporting the development and drafting of employment-related policies and procedures.
  • I supervised outside counsel handling civil litigation and administrative proceedings.
  • I assisted with the development of litigation strategy and coordinated with outside counsel.
  • I provided legal support to business units regarding procurement, contracts, and brand protection efforts.
  • I reviewed, and negotiated contracts, licenses, and leases.

What surprised me when I went in-house, though, was the other thing I did consistently on a day-to-day basis that was not in my job description. I fielded phone calls from other employees in the organization with questions that were not purely “legal” in nature. They called about everything and anything under the sun. Sometimes they had a problem they needed help solving and just did not know where to turn. Other times they had a solution to a problem, but they wanted to run it past someone to make sure there was not something they were missing.

Some say that taking these calls is not an efficient use of an in-house counsel’s time. I, however, would beg to differ. For me, it was these very calls that helped me do my job better. When I was able to approach these calls with an enthusiastic and helpful attitude, I could turn them into pleasant and productive interactions that allowed me to establish a rapport with my fellow employees. When you establish rapport, you can build positive relationships necessary to do your job well.

Providing Good, Old-Fashioned Customer Service

Establishing rapport and providing top-notch, first-class customer service should matter to everyone regardless of direct customer contact. Even if you don’t work directly with customers, you work with employees who do. It’s your job as in-house counsel to assist and support these employees so it only makes sense for you to consider them as your customers.

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How do you ensure you are providing first-class customer service? Start by thinking of the legal department as a business. For a business to survive, it needs a service potential customers want or need. To succeed and thrive, a business needs to convert potential customers into actual customers.

How does that happen? You make a prospective customer feel like you care about their problems. You work hard to provide a service that makes their life easier. You help customers resolve their problems. You create a customer-oriented culture. When a business unit within the organization is satisfied with the work of the legal department, that unit will not only continue to engage with the legal department, that business unit will encourage other business units to do the same. These referrals boost the legal department’s brand internally and foster a sense of trust and partnership. When this happens, it means that there is a greater chance business units will bring you in earlier when there is a potential legal problem.

How Do You Provide Good Customer Service?

It is not as difficult as it might seem. When you field calls, it doesn’t mean that you always tell your customers what they want to hear. It does not mean that every strategic initiative for which you provide support will likely be successful. It just means that you will show you care by getting to know your customer, getting to know what your customers do, and helping to make their jobs easier.

For an in-house legal counsel, getting to know the customer means learning all there is to know about your organization as well as each of the individual business units within it. Take the time to learn what each business unit does, how the business unit does its work, and how that business unit interacts with internal and external partners. Take the time to do these things and you’ll be in a better position to support the business units and make their day-to-day work easier.

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Serve your customers well and you’ll serve the organization well. You’ll be in a better position to anticipate needs and provide input, and identify and describe potential risks, which may have gone unnoticed by the executive team. When you understand the needs, goals, and daily activities of the organization’s business units, you’ll be able to speak for them when it counts internally. In short, you’ll help ensure outcomes that satisfy organizational needs and provide value to the executive team while mitigating risk for the organization.

In the end, the question really is, why wouldn’t you care about customer service?

Lisa-Lang_241Lisa Lang is an in-house lawyer and thought leader who is passionate about all things in-house.  She has recently launched a website and blog Why This, Not That™ (www.lawyerlisalang.com ) to serve as a resource for in-house lawyers.  You can e-mail her at lisa@lawyerlisalang.com , connect with her on LinkedIn  (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawyerlisalang/) or follow her on Twitter (@lang_lawyer).

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