Everyone likes to know the answer to questions that come their way at work, none more so than in-house lawyers. Lawyers take special pride in being able to respond to practically any question, on any topic, at any time. They can do this because they are, typically, very smart, well-read, and at ease with murky situations. However, occasionally, and usually at the worst possible moment, someone in the business will ask an in-house lawyer a question and they will have no idea how to answer it. This happened to me on more than one occasion and it was incredibly frustrating for me and whoever was asking the question – usually the CEO or a board member. Why were they frustrated? Well, because like most people on the business side they believe two things that make your job as in-house counsel even harder: 1) all lawyers know everything about all areas of the law regardless of their background or specialty, and 2) that there is a “Big Book of Law” we keep on a shelf that has all the answers to every legal question and all we lawyers have to do is take it down and find the right page. Yeah, right…. So, what do you do when you get a question you don’t know the answer to (especially when they are looking right at you across the table)? This edition of “Ten Things” set out some strategies to help you navigate this tricky situation:
legal department
Ten Things: Creating a “Not-to-Do” List (Learning How to Say No)
Hello again everyone! I am very excited to report to you that my next book (number six) is in the hands of the publisher and should be out by this summer.[1] The working title is The Productive In-House Lawyer: Tips, Hacks, and the Art of Getting Things Done. I think you are going to really enjoy reading this one, especially if you find yourself pressed for time to do all the things you need to do on your to-do list. Which basically means anyone reading this. The book is jammed to the rafters with different ways to squeeze more time out of your day with the goal of getting more done (and more important things done) in the time you have vs. working more. While I am not going to go into too much more detail here (I do want you to actually buy it when it’s available), there is one section of the book I keep coming back to in my head. What section is that you ask? Well, thank you for asking! It is the section on how to say “no.” In particular, how to create a “Not-to-Do” list, i.e., a set of principles that guide how you will spend your time by setting out the things you will not spend time on (or spend significant time on). I certainly cannot take any credit for the idea of a “Not-to-Do” list. The concept has been around forever, and history is full of people wildly succeeding at not doing things, such as Emperor Nero standing by while Rome burned, my law school roommate, the Kardashian family, Congress… okay, enough of that. But you get my point, and that is the blindingly obvious fact that one path to getting more done is to reduce the number of things you are doing (Hey, I never said this was rocket science). One way to do that effectively as an in-house lawyer is to create a list of things you will not do – a “Not-to-Do” list. Alas, yet another thing law school, law firm, etc. never teaches you how to do (though it is such a fantastic tool). So, let’s fix that problem. This edition of Ten Things walks you through how to create a Not-to-Do list (and how to use it):
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Ten Things: Best Blogs (and Other Media) for In-House Lawyers (2023 Edition)
Hello everyone and season’s greetings from the penthouse of the “Ten Things” world headquarters in Dallas, Texas![1] I will start this post by wishing everyone a fantastic holiday season and all the best for 2024. As most of you know, 2024 is year 10 of the “Ten Things” blog and it is also the year the long-awaited(?) productivity book comes out. I am in the final stages of submitting everything to the ABA. More news on that as things progress. And if you are looking for some fun in January, please join me and a host of others who will be presenting at Laura Frederick’s (of How to Contract fame) ContractsCon 2024! I will be there discussing indemnity clauses but the agenda is jam-packed with far worthier speakers and topics. So, I hope to see you in person in Las Vegas in January!
But, on with the business at hand. Like every year, I end 2023 with a blog featuring all the other people you should be reading (or listening to) as part of your day-to-day in-house life. For me, the hard part is choosing just a few to highlight. There are so many great content generators out there fighting for your (and my) attention. Unfortunately, I cannot list everyone (and I rarely repeat listing anyone I have listed in the past, i.e., I just assume you know they are still worth your time – they are!). [2] And, if you are interested in past winners, you can start by reading last year’s edition of “Best Blogs (and Other Media) for In-House Lawyers.” Instead, I try to list some new voices for you to check out. And, same as always, there is no particular order to my list (literally I am just typing as I find things in my Post-it notes, faulty memory, and Google Keep folders). Okay, where was I…? Right, enough yakking, let’s get on with the 2023 edition of Best Blogs and Other Media for In-House Counsel!
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Ten Things: Creating Standard Operating Procedures for the Legal Department (Just a Fancy Way of Saying “Checklists”)
If you have been a long-time reader of the blog or my books, you know that I am a huge fan of checklists. There is perhaps no tool as humble and simple as a good old-fashioned checklist. There is also nothing more powerful than a checklist, especially when it comes to productivity for in-house lawyers. Early in my in-house career, I had a friend and mentor who told me we needed to create some new standard operating procedures for the legal department. I got very excited as this sounded like a cool, exotic assignment. And it was about time my talents were utilized for just such a task. Then he pulled out a one-page document with a list of tasks and tick-boxes next to each one. I was kind of puzzled and said, “This is just a f*&%$# checklist.” He paused for a moment and then smacked me upside the head, “Say that with respect newbie. A good checklist can save your ass someday!” Okay, that’s not all 100% accurate. He did not call me “newbie” – it was something much, much worse. But, seeking to avoid further disorienting blows to the cranium, I became a fast convert to the power and beauty of a good checklist … ummm, standard operating procedures. Over the years, I created hundreds of checklists for myself, for my team, and for others. I still use them literally every day.[1] Like many things with the practice of law in-house, no one teaches you why a checklist matters or, more importantly, how to create one. You’re just expected to know how. I realized that while I write about them a lot, I have been remiss in not explaining the “why” and the “how” of checklist magic. This edition of “Ten Things” corrects this state of affairs and we will get elbow-deep into the slimy, bloody guts of creating a good one:
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Ten Things: Asking For More Legal Department Resources (How and When to Go Big)
In my last book, Showing the Value of the Legal Department: More Than Just a Cost Center, I tackle one of the fundamental issues facing all in-house legal departments: it sucks to be a cost center. You can check if you want, but I am pretty sure that’s what I said.[1] Why does this matter? Because cost centers are places the business looks to cut when times get tough, or the numbers need “improving.” And, historically, most legal departments have had a ”cut my budget” sign taped to their backs. This is due partly to those evil bastards in finance, and in part because most in-house legal departments have not aggressively marketed themselves to the business. It’s probably more the latter, but who’s keeping score?[2] By aggressively market, I mean taking the steps necessary every day to show the value provided by the legal team, and, more importantly, showing how the department can create even more value if properly nurtured. If you have been a long-time reader of the blog, you know that I have written about how to go about showing value and how to market the department. Now I want to take on yet another task in-house lawyers often suck at (my early self included), i.e., how to ask for more resources (and not get laughed out of the room).[3]
I’ll lead off with it is not easy, but it can be done if you prepare the ground in advance of the ask. And now that most in-house legal departments are heading into “budget season.” It’s the perfect time to rip the “cut my budget” sign off your back and replace it with a “we deserve more budget” sign – or button. That’s right, this edition of “Ten Things” takes you through the process of how to ask for more resources and – on occasion – get them:
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Ten Things: Having Hard Conversations Inside (and Outside) the Legal Department
I have a lot of fun with this blog – and I hope that comes through. But every once in a while, I like to delve into something more challenging, more serious. Today is one of those days. Last year, I wrote about how to deliver “bad news” to the business. A year or so before that, I discussed how to fire someone. Neither is a particularly pleasant topic, but if you are going to succeed in the in-house world, these are conversations you will have and you need to know how to handle. Now it’s time to discuss the last of the trifecta of pain, how to have hard conversations at the office. It’s a close cousin for the first two but, as you will see below, requires a slightly different skill set and mentality. Hard discussions for in-house lawyers usually fall within a handful of categories, i.e., you are acting as a manager (or the subordinate), as a co-worker in the legal department, dealing with a co-worker outside the department, or you are dealing with someone outside the company (like outside counsel). Regardless of who you are dealing with, most of us (including myself, even today) avoid these types of discussions because they are not fun and because no one wants to be the bad guy. For in-house lawyers, it’s an even more arduous chore because – while lawyers are usually great when arguing for a client or for a client’s position – we are the worst at having discussions involving ourselves. No worries though, grab some coffee and stick with me; we’ll get through this because this edition of “Ten Things” discusses how to have hard conversations at the office:
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Ten Things: ChatGPT and Generative AI (What In-House Counsel Need to Know)
Hello again everyone. I suspect a number of you out there have been wondering when I was going to get around to today’s topic. Hell, even I was wondering about it. Back in January, I identified ChatGPT as one of my top ten things for in-house lawyers to pay attention to in 2023, but I must admit that I am shocked at how quickly it has overwhelmed the debate about legal tech. To be honest, I was hoping for a moment when the pace of “new” ChatGPT information would slow down. It hasn’t. And likely won’t. But I think it’s important enough of a topic to at least try to take a snapshot of where things stand today for in-house lawyers when it comes to ChatGPT (or more generically, generative AI). Back when I was general counsel, I would have grabbed a few folks on my team and said, “Let’s jump into a conference room and whiteboard ten things we need to know about ChatGPT.”[1] As I have been thinking about and using ChatGPT, I realize we may need two whiteboards – there is a lot to cover! What I have done is read a lot about it and I have tried it out a number of times with many different asks. All to put myself back in the chair of an in-house lawyer and cut through the clutter to make sense of just what this tool is and what can it do to help me and the legal department. So, get your dry markers out, grab a big mug of coffee, and join me in the conference room as this edition of “Ten Things” tries to set out what in-house lawyers need to know about ChatGPT (and be sure to click through the links and check the footnotes for – a lot of – extra information):
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Ten Things: So You Want to Hold a Contest (and Not Go to Jail)?
I do love the folks in Marketing. They are always very engaging and fun, and they have cool giveaways they will share with you. But, I love them a lot less when they show up at my office door wanting to launch a contest. Tomorrow. Ugh. If you’ve been in-house long enough and your company has a marketing department, you will at some point probably need to figure out how to deal with contests and sweepstakes. These games can be great promotional devices, generating excitement and interest in your company’s products and services. For many companies, these are their most effective forms of advertising. As consumers, I know that many of us have entered such games – filling out a form, dropping a business card in a fishbowl, submitting a photo, clicking on a link on Facebook, getting a “Monopoly” game piece at the supermarket, or just buying a “Lotto” ticket at the gas station. As consumers, however, most of us pay little attention to what goes on behind the scenes of a contest or sweepstakes. As lawyers, we know that creating a successful one takes a lot of work by the business and the legal department, all of which will go to waste if the contest rules are not clear or if the sweepstakes runs afoul of state or federal laws. Unfortunately, sometimes your marketing team doesn’t understand all the work and complexity of pulling off a successful contest or sweepstakes. It most certainly is not as easy as showing up at your door and announcing that the company wants to launch a one tomorrow or even next week. As we say in Texas, that dog won’t hunt. Yet, with some forethought and planning you can work with your marketing team to set up a reasonable process to create and approve contests that meet everyone’s needs. This edition of “Ten Things” discusses the basics of creating legal contests and sweepstakes in the United States:[1]
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Ten Things: My Boss is a [Censored] – What Do I Do?!
One of the most frequent questions I get from in-house lawyers is how to deal with difficult bosses. I have been very fortunate because – while practicing law for almost 30 years – I can count on a couple of fingers the times I was stuck with a boss who was a real asshole. After talking with a lot of other lawyers (at firms and in-house) I realize how lucky I have been in my career. While rare, I definitely remember how miserable I was the few times I did draw the short straw. Practicing law is tough enough without having to dread coming into the office because of a boss that just makes your life miserable. Still, I survived and got through it. But it wasn’t always easy and some days it really took a toll. I think my revenge was getting to the General Counsel chair a few times and swearing a blood oath to myself that I would never, ever be a jerk boss – something I remind myself of every day. Unfortunately, the problem of crummy bosses in legal departments will never go away. They are out there and they always will be. So, if you want to be a successful in-house lawyer you’re going to need to learn how to deal with them whether they are legal department lawyers or executives in the company (lawyers have no monopoly on being buttheads). This edition of “Ten Things” will set out some of my tips on how to deal with troublesome bosses:
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Ten Things: How to Run a Government Affairs Campaign
If you are in-house counsel and are not paying attention to government officials and regulators (state, local, federal, international) you are making a big mistake. A company acts at its peril (e.g., Google, Microsoft, etc.) if it underestimates the importance of being aware of what various government regulators are up to or thinking. Your company can be impacted dramatically (good or bad) by what happens through government action (or inaction). Government action can come in many forms, e.g., taxation, new rules and regulations (business-specific or general), government sanctions, import-export controls, legal reform (tort law, patent law), merger control, data privacy/security, public company regulation, and dozens of other areas. Recently, I have read articles on potential new action around patent reform, product regulation outside the United States, data privacy, Internet/net neutrality, Fair Labor Standards Act regulations, and potential new regulations of financial advisors. Depending on your company’s business, some of these issues could have a direct impact on the bottom-line. In short, some part of your company’s business is affected daily by government action (or inaction) either in or outside your home country To be a truly effective in-house lawyer, you need to be on top of this important area. Moreover, being attuned to positive and negative governmental developments is an area where you and the legal function can add great value to the company and show strategic vision.
Ten Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel® 