Howdy, everyone!  Greetings again from Texas.  It’s been a while since I last did an index to all of the posts in the “Ten Things” blog.  Since the last one (July 2020), we’ve added over 1,300 new subscribers and we are now over 5,400!   And we are well into year eight of the blog.  All of which just absolutely, positively blows my mind.  A huge “thank you” to all the loyal readers out there, especially to those who pass along the blogs to friends, colleagues, and on LinkedIn.  That said, I know it can be a pain in the ass to wade through all of the blogs and try to find what you’re looking for.  So, for all of you new kids and for you crusty veterans, this index post is long overdue.  I may get around to putting an index on the site, but if you saw my desk, you’d realize just how much of a pipe dream that is.  I do have a new blog ready to go, but have decided to publish it next month and we’ll put the “act” back into “practical” (man, that sounded way better in my head).

This edition of “Ten Things” sets out – in chronological order – all of the “Ten Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel” blogs, from the November 2014 introduction to last month’s post on building your executive presence in-house.  It was fun for me to look back through these.  I found a few surprises that made me go “when did I write that?” and “why do I have so much free time?”  The first ones are a little rough, but I got better – I think.  You be the judge:

1. Introduction
2. How to be a Successful In-House Counsel
3. All I Want for Christmas is a FCPA/Anti-Bribery Health Check
4. Time for a Conversation About Drafting Documents and Emails
5. Your Company Has Just Been Sued. Now What?
6. Help Your Client Get Their Contract Through Legal Quickly
7. Setting Goals for the Legal Department
8. Simple Ways to Retain and Reward Your People
9. Effectively Managing Outside Counsel Spend
10. Running an Effective Staff Meeting
11. Increasing Efficiency in the Legal Department Through Technology
12. How to Run a Government Affairs Campaign
13. Crisis Preparation 101
14. Trade Secrets and Protecting Your Company
15. Partnering with HR (1 + 1 = 3)
16. Trade Associations and Legal Risk
17. Data Privacy –The Essentials
18. Protecting Your Company’s Reputation and Brand
19. Index to Posts – November 2014 to May 2015
20. Website User Agreements
21. Explaining Litigation to the Board and the CEO
22. Creating a Client Satisfaction Survey
23. Common Ethics Issues for In-House Counsel
24. Insurance Law Basics for In-House Counsel
25. The Attorney-Client Privilege – What You Need to Know
26. The “Safe Harbor Agreement” Invalidated – What Should I do Next?
27. How to Be More Productive Every Day
28. Preparing for When “Bad Things” Happen
29. Becoming General Counsel
30. Ten Best Legal Blogs for In-House Counsel -2015
31. In-House Counsel “To Do” List for 2016
32. Record Retention – Policies, Programs, and More
33. Europe’s New Data Protection Law: What You Really Need to Know
34. Writing Skills for In-House Counsel (It’s Different In-House)
35. What In-House Lawyers Really Want from Outside Counsel
36. Settlement Agreements – Making Sure it’s Really Over
37. Basic Corporate Governance for In-House Counsel
38. Dealing with the Board of Directors
39. Europe’s New Data Privacy Law: What You Really Need to Know
40. Index to All the Posts – November 2014 to May 2016
41. How to Negotiate: Practical Tips for In-House Counsel
42. Spotting, Analyzing and Managing “Risk”
43. Ten Habits of Highly Effective In-House Lawyers
44. Cool Tech for In-House Lawyers (2016)
45. Litigation Financing – a Primer
46. How to Delegate – The Essentials
47. How to Market the Legal Department to the Business
48. How to Create a Great Legal Department Website
49. The Search for the Perfect Arbitration Clause
50. How to Plan a Legal Department Offsite
51. An Index to All the Posts (November 2014 – November 2016)
52. Preparing Outside Counsel Guidelines – The Keys
53. Legal Blogs You Should Check Out (2016 Edition)
54. Succession Planning for In-House Legal Departments
55. Working From Home: Can it Really Work for In-House Counsel?
56. Ten Things In-House Lawyers Should Read Every Day
57. The Essentials of a Successful Trans-Border Transaction
58. Getting Internal Investigations Right
59. Protecting Your Board of Directors
60. Basic Finance for In-House Lawyers
61. Ten Essential Legal Department Issues for 2017 (What You Should be Focused on Right Now)
62. What In-House Counsel Need to Know About Social Media Pitfalls
63. How to Make Your In-House Clients Love You (and the Legal Department)
64. Slaying the Email Jabberwocky
65. An Index to All the Posts (November 2014 to June 2017)
66. Getting the Most Out of Mediation
67. Legal Project Management for Beginners
68. Artificial Intelligence – What Every Legal Department Really Needs to Know
69. Cool Tech for In-House Lawyers (2017)
70. Career Killers – Ten Things Not to Do as In-House Counsel
71. Things In-House Counsel Should be Doing Before a Data Breach Occurs
72. How to Prepare an Annual Legal Department Budget
73. Things That Should Scare the S#%@ Out of In-House Lawyers
74. Creating an In-House Patent Program
75. Legal Blogs You Should Check Out (2017 Edition)
76. Making Legal the Department of Yes
77. Early Case Assessments – What In-House Lawyers Need to Know
78. Legal Department of One – A Survival Guide
79. How to Lead
80. I Know It’s Only Boilerplate (But I Like It)
81. Ten Essential Legal Issues for In-House Counsel (2018 Edition)
82. Managing a Dispersed Legal Team
83. My Boss is a Total [Censored] … What Do I Do?
84. Sherman Act 2 – The Monopoly Man Cometh
85. Buying and Implementing Legal Tech
86. So You Want to Hold a Contest (and Not Go to Jail)?
87. Creating a Good Contract Playbook
88. What In-House Lawyers Need to Know About Joint Ventures
89. Presenting Legal Issues to Senior Executives
90. Sexual Harassment Claims in the #MeToo Era
91. Cool Tech for In-House Counsel (2018 Edition)
92. Legal Procurement – The Next Big Thing for In-House Lawyers
93. Minimizing Risk in Commercial Contracts
94. What to do When Your Company is the Subject of a Government Investigation
95. Best Legal Blogs for In-House Counsel (2018 Edition)
96. Essential Legal Issues for In-House Counsel (2019 Edition)
97. Drafting an Enforceable Non-Compete Agreement
98. Building a Strong Compliance Department
99. Using Data Analytics in an In-House Legal Department
100. Legal Operations – What In-House Lawyers Need to Know
101. Attracting, Training, and Retaining In-House Talent
102. A Primer on the Work Product Privilege
103. Running an RFP Process the Right Way
104. Ten KPIs All In-House Legal Departments Should Track
105. Cool-Tech for In-House Lawyers (2019 Edition)
106. How to Read a Contract
107. Escaping Meeting Hell
108. Software Audits – Scary Stuff
109. Looking for a New In-House Job
110. The “Strategic” In-House Lawyer
111. Best Blogs for In-House Counsel (2019 Edition)
112. Essential Issues for In-House Counsel (2020 Edition)
113. Showing the Value of the Legal Department
114. Dealing with a Pandemic (yes, I am Talking about the Corona Virus)
115. Electronic Signatures (What In-House Counsel Need to Know)
116. Ten (Non-Legal) Books All In-House Counsel Should Read
117. Creating a “SWOT” Analysis for the Legal Department
118. More Effective 1:1 Meetings (Employee View)
119. More Effective 1:1 Meetings (Manager View)
120. Preparing Board of Director Minutes
121. Cool-Tech for In-House Lawyers (2020 Edition)
122. Rules All In-House Counsel Should Live By
123. Making Yourself “Indispensable”
124. The Sherman Act: Section 1
125. How to Fire Someone
126. What Should In-House Counsel Do During Trial?
127. My Favorite “Ten Things” Blog Posts (So Far…)
128. Best Blogs for In-House Lawyers (2020 Edition)
129. Essential Issues for In-House Counsel (2021 Edition)
130. The Productive Power of “Little Things”
131. Getting Performance Reviews Right
132. What You Need to Know as a Woman In-House Lawyer
133. Legal Departments and the Value of Huddle Meetings
134. How In-House Lawyers Can Reduce Stress (In an Overly Stressful Job)
135. Making Contracts Easier to Sign
136. A “New to the Job” In-House Counsel Reading List
137. Cool-Tech for In-House Counsel (2021 Edition)
138. Taking Advantage of Opportunity to Build Your In-House Career the Right Way
139. Managing Litigation: A Primer for In-House Counsel
140. Ransomware: What In-House Counsel Need to Know
141. Best Blogs (and Other Media) for In-House Lawyers (2021 Edition)
142. Essential Issues for In-House Counsel (2022 Edition)
143. Building Your Executive Presence In-House

Whew!  That’s a lot of blogs.  If you’ve slogged through them all, I owe you a drink or two.  As you know, I love to get feedback and suggestions for topics from all of you, so feel free to send me your thoughts and ideas.  And, if you would like a CLE/webinar for your legal department on any of the “Ten Things” posts, reach out to me at smiller@hilgersgraben.com and we’ll see what we can set up.

I have been asked to do a lot of live speaking in 2022 and I hope to see some of you readers at those events. I am excited to get back out on the road. In May, I will be speaking in Brooklyn at the Reuter’s Legal Leaders 2022[1] and at the annual CLOC Global Institute conference in Las Vegas.  In August, I’ll be in San Antonio at the Texas Bar’s annual Advanced In-House Counsel Institute.  In November, I will be in Portland for Oregon State Bar Corporate Counsel Section annual conference.  And, there are a few others in the works as well.  Just come on up and say “hi.”  If you have a book, I’ll sign it (even if it isn’t mine)!

*****

That’s it for now –hopefully this was a helpful post and you’ll find a few things of interest.  Thanks again for reading and lots of great stuff still to come in 2022!  Take care and stay well, everyone.

Sterling Miller

March 31, 2022

My fifth book, Showing the Value of the Legal Department: More Than Just a Cost Center is available now!  As the ABA says, “Buy this book or we invade Nebraska…”  The ABA is serious about this.  And they know where Nebraska is (sorry mom)!  You can buy it HERE.  Now available as an e-book!

Two of my books, Ten Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel – Practical Advice and Successful Strategies and Ten (More) Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel – Practical Advice and Successful Strategies Volume 2, are on sale now at the ABA website (including as e-books).

I have published two other books: The Evolution of Professional Football, and The Slow-Cooker Savant.  I am also available for speaking engagements, webinars/CLEs, coaching, training, and consulting.

Connect with me on Twitter @10ThingsLegal and on LinkedIn where I post articles and stories of interest to in-house counsel frequently.  

“Ten Things” is not legal advice nor legal opinion and represents my views only.  It is intended to provide practical tips and references to the busy in-house practitioner and other readers.  If you have questions or comments, ideas for a post, please contact me at sterling.miller@sbcglobal.net or, if you would like a CLE for your team on this or any topic in the blog, contact me at smiller@hilgersgraben.com.

[1] Use STERLING200 to get a $200 discount.