Career Advice Columns

Corporate Counsel Columns 2020

• May 7, 2020
  

  Hire a Terrific In-House Lawyer Now

  This month’s column is intended to serve as a reminder that hiring indeed continues, and some of the needs are pressing.

• April 20, 2020
  

  Video Interview Tips Specifically for In-House Counsel

  To be clear, we all absolutely HATE video interviewing. Outside recruiters like me, internal HR folks, and especially the actual hiring manager CEOs and GCs … none of us want this. And so a strong preference to wait for the traditional process has become an added reason, beyond macro conditions, to kick the hiring can down the road.

• March 5, 2020
  

  Your Value in Times of Uncertainty

  Your company likely already has a crisis plan ready if needed. But be the leader who goes the extra mile to do something lawyers do really well: issue spot.

• February 06, 2020
  

  Drawing Attention to Black GC List 2025

  The list of GC-ready candidates is impressive, and hopefully the folks behind the scenes at this initiative are pushing the list directly to CEOs, EVPs of HR, and even board members.

• January 08, 2020
  

  2030 Vision: In-House Counsel’s Role Will Grow

  I am stealing Heather’s title from Corporate Counsel’s January cover (“2020 Vision”), but with a twist of chutzpah. I am going to share my predictions of what in-house careers will look like in 2030.

Corporate Counsel Columns 2019

• December 03, 2019
  

  Know When to Shut Up and Listen

  I realize that career advice columns often boil down to a variation on the phrase, “use common sense.” Yet, I was reminded recently that some lawyers can make $800,000 and fail to practice that concept.

• November 04, 2019
  

  Think Career Security, Not Job Security

  Career security is about access to decision-makers, and your inside counsel counterparts control millions of dollars in outside counsel spend.

• October 02, 2019
  

  3 Easy Steps to a LinkedIn Black Belt

  Failing to maximize your LinkedIn presence constitutes personal professional negligence.

• September 09, 2019
  

  Zombie Apocalypse Preparation

  I have no idea what is coming around the bend. No one ever really does; they just have opinions. Can an in-house lawyer prepare for the Zombie Apocalypse just in case? Answer: Yes, especially if you don’t focus on and stress out about job security.

• August 08, 2019
  

  Go Around Human Resources

  Let’s say you want to join the fictitious in-house legal department at Acme Corp. Either Acme has an active opening in its legal department, or it does not. What follows is a “how to” approach for each scenario.

• July 15, 2019
  

  Tips When Hiring Nonlocal Lawyers

  We’ve gotten pretty good at figuring out who is willing to pull the trigger on such a major life change. That assessment is just as important as matching credentials and culture fit. I painfully recall losing a client 15 years ago (FifthThird Bank) when one of our recruits got cold feet about moving to Cincinnati, after he had accepted the position.

• June 04, 2019
  

  What’s the Best Fit for Startups? The Entrepreneurial GC

  I love working on in-house positions with startups, especially first general counsel hires. And recent work has emphasized a request we often hear from clients in fast growth mode: “Get us candidates who are entrepreneurial.”

• May 08, 2019
  

  Play Offense With Your Career

  Always know where you stand, and be honest with yourself about where you stand.

• April 04, 2019
  

  The Weed GC: Culture Fit Matters

  I just took my search firm’s first order within the cannabis industry, a general counsel role for a leading grower of legal marijuana. Interest in the role is high (OK, the puns are easy!), but I’ve already rejected one of my favorite candidates.

• March 07, 2019
  

  It’s Hiring Season! Now Is the Best Time to Find Talent

  March through June is the most active window for recruiting at the professional level generally across disciplines.

• February 06, 2019
  

  Street Lawyering at Your Company—It’s Really Not a Bad Idea

  Wills, divorces, consumer credit problems, landlord disputes and traffic violations all have two things in common. One, handling such matters is firmly outside your job description. Two, if you are in-house with a large company, your rank and file co-workers in the field are dealing with personal legal issues such as these all the time.

• January 08, 2019
  

  In-House Counsel: Become a ‘Yes, And’ Businessperson in the New Year

  Whatever word we use to describe what you do for a living, however, here is what nonlawyer clients tend to hear: NO. At many companies, the prevailing view of the law department is still a hybrid of traffic cop and bureaucrat.