EVOLUTION OF IN-HOUSE COUNSEL: STAYING CURRENT IN TIMES OF CHANGE. May 12, 2015

Transcription

1 EVOLUTION OF IN-HOUSE COUNSEL: STAYING CURRENT IN TIMES OF CHANGE May 12, 2015

2 Association of Corporate Counsel--Greater New York Chapter Harvard Club of New York 35 West 44th Street New York, NY May 12, 2015 SKILLS FOR THE 21 ST CENTURY GC Frederick J. Krebs Senior Fellow Center for the Study of the Legal Profession Georgetown University Law School

3 Skills for the 21 st Century General Counsel

4 KEY TAKEAWAYS MORE THAN A LAWYER GC role continues to evolve & requires increased business savvy & strategic thinking skills. GCs FILL THREE "VALUE BUCKETS Leader of the law department. Counselor in chief. Business strategist.

5 BOARD PERSPECTIVE Higher performing GCs contribute strategically Legal skills a given--"table stakes. NOTE: GC perception of strategic performance higher than director perception. THE FOUR "Cs Comfortable with ambiguity Communication Curiosity Courage

6 JUDGMENT Organizations want lawyers who prevent problems, solve them when they arise and generally help the organization succeed. "Sound judgment will apply in every situation: managing the legal needs of the company, counseling the CEO and board, and providing strategic advice...one usually acquires judgment through varied experiences, being challenged by complicated and difficult tasks and learning from one's mistakes. For many, good judgment may be the single most important attribute of a general counsel. ACC Skills Report

7 ADDING VALUE AS A GC: THE 3 BUCKETS LEADER OF THE LAW DEPARTMENT COUNSELOR IN CHIEF LEGAL AND BUSINESS STRATEGIST Looking ahead, GC s will have higher performance expectations and a greater strategic role.

8 GENERAL COUNSEL AS LEADER OF THE LAW DEPT. The Report suggests three important skill sets: Curiosity and a drive to truly understand the organization and its business. Ability to hire, develop, motivate and retain a strong legal team. Strong budget management combined with effective resource/project management.

9 GENERAL COUNSEL AS COUNSELOR IN CHIEF The Report identified three skill sets: Ability to listen and calibrate responses to nuances of the situation ( emotional intelligence ). Communicate well: synthesize and simplify as well craft message appropriate for the audience ( gravitas ). Courage with the ability to say yes and no while preserving independence ( a balancing act ).

10 GENERAL COUNSEL AS STRATEGIST The greatest evolution of the general counsel role will take place through strategic input in both legal and business matters. GCs can be strategic in three areas: leading their law departments; using the law to advance corporate strategic goals; and as a member of the executive team contributing to business decisions.

11 PROGRESSION OF SKILLS THRU CAREER First level: efficient, dependable and no surprises; Second level: manage budget, manage people, understand & accept accountability; and Third level: judgment, strategic perspective and vision. All levels require the ability and willingness to communicate which includes the ability to listen and to understand what your colleagues actually need.

12 SKILLS AND EXPERIENCES LEGAL SKILLS broad vs specific ability to place in broader strategic perspective BUSINESS SKILLS basic finance & accounting understand financial implications of business decisions manage priorities, projects, budgets and set metrics

13 LEADERSHIP SKILLS influence & inspire people to collaborate across geographies, business units & practice areas mentor & develop people to be successful in future leadership roles INTERPERSONAL SKILLS Emotional intelligence, empathy adapt leadership and communication styles to different audiences develop strong internal & external relationships

14 PERSONAL CAPABILITIES take risks & make decisions learn from mistakes curiosity and desire to understand business & industry creativity & openness to new ideas strong moral compass comfortable with ambiguity

15 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES international & cross-cultural managing a budget managing diverse groups, projects and crossfunctional teams operational experience outside law department

16 PARTING THOUGHTS The three buckets of value will remain relevant. The emphasis on strategic contributions will grow. Legal skills are the price of entry. Soft skills and rigorous self-assessment essential. Client performance expectations will continue to rise. The client defines value-know the client! Successful GCs will be more than a lawyer. QUESTIONS?

17 PRIMARY SOURCE Skills for the 21st Century General Counsel, Association of Corporate Counsel (2013) This ACC Executive Report is the most definitive and extensive research report on this subject. The research was undertaken in conjunction with the Center for the Study of the Legal Profession at Georgetown Law Center. The research includes surveys of 689 GCs and 78 corporate directors as well as 28 interviews with CEOs, GCs, legal futurists and executive recruiters. It is available free to ACC members and available for purchase by others.

18 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Lytton, "The Organization Lawyer," 33 Vermont L. Rev. 279 (2009) Guidance about being the lawyer for an organization from Bill Lytton, former ACC Chair and one of the best GCs I have ever met. Roellig & Love, "So You Want to be a General Counsel ACC Docket (Jan/Feb 2012) 72 This article addresses both the legal and non-legal skills you will need to excel as a new GC, as well as an overview of the selection and hiring process. Hartmann, Mordan, Schoenfeld, & Sweeney, "The Perfect Legal Personality" ACC Docket (July/August 2011) 29 What personality type is ideal for an in- house attorney? Using the Caliper Profile, the authors evaluate the personality traits of each member of a global legal team. This article will help you develop your perfect legal personality.

19 Krebs, Talk Less and Listen More, Canadian Lawyer In-House (August 18, 2014) Krebs, Back to the Future, Canadian Lawyer In-House (May 20, 2013) Krebs, We Are Not Quite Perfect, Canadian Lawyer In-House (September 16, 2013) Krebs, Great Leaders Need Great Followers, And so it goes (March 12, 2015) Some thoughts on being an in-house lawyer I picked up over the years.

20 Hirsch, "Directions to the GC seat (Part 3 of 3) The top 5 competencies at one year to go," Inside Counsel (October 1, 2014) Hirsch, "Directions to the GC seat (Part 2), Four tips at three years to go, Inside Counsel (August 22, 2014). Hirsch, "Directions to the GC Seat: Establishing GPS coordinates for the emerging leader," Inside Counsel (July 24, 2014) This is an interesting 3-part series for those in-house lawyers who aspire to become GCs. It focuses on soft skills that are worth considering, developing and refining and provides a timeline for action.

21 SELECT QUOTES FROM THE SKILLS REPORT INTERVIEWS As legal departments cope with increasing regulation, complexity and globalization, without corresponding increases in resources, effective legal department management is more important than ever. It is increasingly important that general counsel have the skills to navigate beyond just the legal issues to have many more of the softer skills necessary to negotiate matters where the rules are not always clear, where the outcomes are not always neat, and where the impact on the overall organization is widespread and profound. General counsel who serves as a public company board member

22 Today, and in the future, a general counsel must offer much more than legal acumen. Everyone at the top wears multiple hats. You need to deeply understand the business and where it is headed, so your general counsel hat does not go out the window, but you simply put on more hats. Many of the business people do as well. You want them to wear a compliance hat and a risk hat, for example, in addition to a business hat. So you become much more integrated into that world, but it definitely requires more training and more understanding of the business. Former general counsel

23 Future general counsel will need to possess excellent communication skills and emotional intelligence, as well as build credibility and respect with their executive peers. I want someone who has the capacity to distinguish between individual situations and systematic issues. So I want someone who can spot trends, who can help the board understand [whether] this is a one-off situation and it s an exception, or is this a cultural issue that we need to address, or something that hasn t been well enough communicated or compiled within the organization that needs a broader effort. That s very important. Board member of several global companies

24 Significantly, directors and general counsel have different views on the current value contribution through strategic input. I think general counsel who are most successful now and in the future have to be strategic thinkers. I don t think it s something that most general counsel are now, and I don t think it s something that most lawyers are trained for at all. But I think if you could find it, that person is going to be highly sought after. General counsel and board member Real strategic thinking just lends itself so well to the skills that lawyers tend to come with because there is the analysis, there is the risk assessment, there is the long-term plan where does this road take us the mapping out and the blueprints. Lawyers are good at that, and I think that would be a great function for law departments to really start assuming more in the future. Consultant

25 Identifying Strategic Input as Top Value Driver, Now and in the Future Now Future 62% 71% 27% 37% Directors GCs