I have been on the road good bit lately.  I spoke on Artificial Intelligence and ethics at the South Carolina Law Review 2018 Symposium a couple of weeks ago.  Last week, I presented at the Winston & Strawn 2018 VISION Conference in Dallas on how to be more productive.  Down the road, I will be speaking at the ACC Legal Operations Conference in Chicago in June on practical uses of Artificial Intelligence for in-house legal departments and I will be back at the annual Texas Bar Association Advanced In-House Counsel Course in Dallas in August.  The interesting thing to me is that all these opportunities came about because of this blog.  Which means I continue to be very humbled by the fact that so many people find it worth their time to read it.  We’re up to almost 2,600 direct subscribers and aiming for 3,000.  I remember when I thought 100 would be amazing.   Now I’m just thunderstruck (okay, I could have used a different word but when would I ever get to use “thunderstruck” in a sentence again?)

If you’re new to the blog, one thing I do every so often is put together an index of all of the blog posts, going all the way back to the beginning, November 2014.  I do this because I know it’s very difficult to go back and search through the monthly archives to see what’s there (and because I am too lazy to create an index on the website).   As I put this index edition together, I see that I am almost to 80 posts (and it is fun for me to go back and read the older ones).  By the time I do another index I may be over 100.  I keep thinking that at some point either I or the people that read it will get bored with “Ten Things.”  But, we’re not there yet (at least not on my end).  The good news is that I am still learning and going back in-house has shown me that there are so many things I am curious about regarding the law.  There are many new and exciting developments for in-house counsel and I am excited to be part of it.  Put another way: I still have a lot to write about (and maybe “time management” will be on the list)!  Thanks for taking the journey with me:

1. Introduction (November 26, 2014)
2. How to be a Successful In-House Counsel (November 28, 2014)
3. All I Want for Christmas is a FCPA/Anti-Bribery Health Check (December 4, 2014)
4. Time for a Conversation About Drafting Documents and Emails (December 10, 2014)
5. Your Company Has Just Been Sued. Now What? (December 18, 2014)
6. Help Your Client Get Their Contract Through Legal Quickly (December 23, 2014)
7. Setting Goals for the Legal Department (January 7, 2015)
8. Simple Ways to Retain and Reward Your People (January 14, 2015)
9. Effectively Managing Outside Counsel Spend (January 22, 2015)
10. Running an Effective Staff Meeting (January 30, 2015)
11. Increasing Efficiency in the Legal Department Through Technology (February 6, 2015)
12. How to Run a Government Affairs Campaign (February 17, 2015)
13. Crisis Preparation 101 (March 3, 2015)
14. Trade Secrets and Protecting Your Company (March 19, 2015)
15. Partnering with HR (1 + 1 = 3) (April 2, 2015)
16. Trade Associations and Legal Risk (April 16, 2015)
17. Data Privacy –The Essentials (April 30, 2015)
18. Protecting Your Company’s Reputation and Brand (May 15, 2015)
19. Index to Posts – November 2014 to May 2015 (May 27, 2015)
20. Website User Agreements (June 9, 2015)
21. Explaining Litigation to the Board and the CEO (July 7, 2015)
22. Creating a Client Satisfaction Survey (July 28, 2015)
23. Common Ethics Issues for In-House Counsel (August 18, 2015)
24. Insurance Law Basics for In-House Counsel (September 9, 2015)
25. The Attorney-Client Privilege – What You Need to Know (September 30, 2015)
26. The “Safe Harbor Agreement” Invalidated – What Should I do Next? (October 13, 2015)
27. How to Be More Productive Every Day (October 30, 2015)
28. Preparing for When “Bad Things” Happen (November 24, 2015)
29. Becoming General Counsel (December 21, 2015)
30. Ten Best Legal Blogs for In-House Counsel -2015 (December 29, 2015)
31. In-House Counsel “To Do” List for 2016 (January 12, 2016)
32. Record Retention – Policies, Programs, and More (January 18, 2016)
33. Europe’s New Data Protection Law: What You Really Need to Know (February 9, 2016)
34. Writing Skills for In-House Counsel (It’s Different In-House) (February 16, 2016)
35. What In-House Lawyers Really Want from Outside Counsel (March 14, 2016)
36. Settlement Agreements – Making Sure it’s Really Over (March 31, 2016)
37. Basic Corporate Governance for In-House Counsel (April 18, 2016)
38. Dealing with the Board of Directors (April 29, 2016)
39. Europe’s New Data Privacy Law: What You Really Need to Know (May 13, 2016)
40. Index to All the Posts – November 2014 to May 2016 (May 26, 2016)
41. How to Negotiate: Practical Tips for In-House Counsel (June 14, 2016)
42. Spotting, Analyzing and Managing “Risk” (June 28, 2016)
43. Ten Habits of Highly Effective In-House Lawyers (July 15, 2016)
44. Cool Tech for In-House Lawyers (2016) (July 29, 2016)
45. Litigation Financing – a Primer (August 12, 2016)
46. How to Delegate – The Essentials (August 30, 2016)
47. How to Market the Legal Department to the Business (September 15, 2016)
48. How to Create a Great Legal Department Website (September 29, 2016)
49. The Search for the Perfect Arbitration Clause (October 13, 2016)
50. How to Plan a Legal Department Offsite (October 31, 2016)
51. An Index to All the Posts (November 2014 – November 2016) (November 15, 2016)
52. Preparing Outside Counsel Guidelines – The Keys (November 30, 2016)
53. Legal Blogs You Should Check Out (2016 Edition) (December 16, 2016)
54. Succession Planning for In-House Legal Departments (January 16, 2017)
55. Working From Home: Can it Really Work for In-House Counsel? (January 31, 2017)
56. Ten Things In-House Lawyers Should Read Every Day (February 16, 2017)
57. The Essentials of a Successful Trans-Border Transaction (February 28, 2017)
58. Getting Internal Investigations Right (March 20, 2017)
59. Protecting Your Board of Directors (March 31, 2017)
60. Basic Finance for In-House Lawyers (April 17, 2017)
61. Ten Essential Legal Department Issues for 2017 (What You Should be Focused on Right Now) (April 30, 2017)
62. What In-House Counsel Need to Know About Social Media Pitfalls (May 15, 2017)
63. How to Make Your In-House Clients Love You (and the Legal Department) (May 31, 2017)
64. Slaying the Email Jabberwocky (June 15, 2017)
65. An Index to All the Posts (November 2014 to June 2017) (June 30, 2017)
66. Getting the Most Out of Mediation (July 13, 2017)
67. Legal Project Management for Beginners (July 31, 2017)
68. Artificial Intelligence – What Every Legal Department Really Needs to Know (August 15, 2017)
69. Cool Tech for In-House Lawyers (2017) (August 31, 2017)
70. Career Killers – Ten Things Not to Do as In-House Counsel (September 14, 2017)
71. Things In-House Counsel Should be Doing Before a Data Breach Occurs (September 29, 2017)
72. How to Prepare an Annual Legal Department Budget (October 16, 2017)
73. Things That Should Scare the S#%@ Out of In-House Lawyers (October 31, 2017)
74. Creating an In-House Patent Program (November 11, 2017)
75. Legal Blogs You Should Check Out (2017 Edition) (November 30, 2017)
76. Making Legal the Department of Yes (December 22, 2017)
77. Early Case Assessments – What In-House Lawyers Need to Know (January 15, 2018)
78. Legal Department of One – A Survival Guide (January 31, 2018)
79. How to Lead (February 16, 2018)

*****

I have a lot of ideas for future posts, but, as always, I enjoy getting your suggestions for future topics.  If you have something you think would make a good post, just drop me a note.  And I greatly appreciate the invitations to put on CLEs, speak at off-sites, and otherwise consult with legal departments all over the world.  In-house lawyers have a very unique and important job wherever they are located.  While the specific laws and regulations might be different, the general issues facing in-house lawyers cut across geographies, company size, and department size.  At the end of the day, we’re all in the same boat.   I hope I can continue to write about things in a way that is interesting and practical, i.e., give you something you can use in your everyday practice.  At a minimum, I hope I never bore you.  Thanks for reading and more good stuff to come!

Sterling Miller

February 28, 2018

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Ten Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel: Practical Advice and Successful Strategies is now available for sale.  Described by the American Bar Association as “The one book all in-house counsel need to own!”  Click here for details on how to order.  Perfect for your library, or as a gift to clients or members of the legal department (or your next legal offsite).

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