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CCCA_V2No4_LearningRopes-FIN.qxd:CCCA_V1No1_DriversSeat-FIN.qxd 11/24/08 3:20 PM Page 21 Cover expectations will be made infinitely“ Explaining our worth is a bit of an art, ” each business unit and determine whether it is a true deadline or whether not a science. they can wait a little longer,”says Smith. Managing and prioritizing clients’ Catherine Smith, Vice-President, Legal Services and easier, says Frank, if you’ve cultivated Government Relations, Best Buy Canada Inc., Vancouver those client relationships in the first place. “Like every lawyer, generated in-house or by external counsel, come with a one- you’re going to have to balance competing priorities. page executive summary. “But if you’ve been there long enough and you’ve developed the “What the lawyer has to do is yes, research the brief, but then right relationships, you can cut conflicts with your business unit to digest it to a concise and understandable form. It’s a matter of a minimum. Because they know you, they know that you know knowing where the risks are, but expressing them in the client’s what the priorities are, and you’ve proved that you’re not going to language. I actually like to sit with the business unit client and let the organization down.” explain it to them.They like that, too.And it builds relationships.” 4 Show them why you’re worth it 6 Specialize When the billable hour is no longer the bottom line, If you’re in a legal department of one,by default you’re in-house counsel have to find other ways to show going to be a generalist.If you work with several other lawyers, it’s likely worth your while to develop some management just why they’re indispensable. “Explaining our worth is a bit of an art, not a science,” says expertise — in an particular subject area of the law, say, or busi- Smith.“We can measure such indicators as all the files we worked ness unit in the company. on, the results of those files, [whether] the company met its busi- If you can become the go-to person about issues of, for example, ness goals and how we helped them do that, where our resources advertising, competition, privacy, regulatory, intellectual property, or went, the results of some of the actions that we took, and how licensing, says Frank, “you increase your value.You are offering a they furthered the company’s strategic goals.” product that other people can’t.Eventually,people rely on you.That’s Smith reports on such indicators monthly and quarterly to important in private practice, but it’s also important in-house.” Best Buy’s executive. “We’ll do graphs and pie charts, in Excel and PowerPoint. It permits our clients, who are the executives, Think like a businessperson to see trends coming year over year. It’s a very useful tool for us, 7 As in-house counsel, you have a duty to uphold the and it’s a very useful tool for our executives, because it speaks ethics and standards of the legal profession — but that doesn’t mean you can’t think like a businessperson, their language.”Which leads to the next point… too. In fact, you’ll have to.“Offer solutions that make good busi- 5 Speak their language ness sense,” says Frank.“If you’re going to be respected by your As in-house counsel, says Donald Sword, vice-presi- peers in the organization, you’re not only recognizing the legal dent, legal & regulatory and corporate secretary at issue, but the business issue also.” Johnson Inc. in St. John’s, remember that you’re in the translation business.“You have to explain the law to businesspeo- A. Focus on legal solutions, not legalities. “So often, young lawyers come in with a strict legal analysis,” ple, and you have to explain the business to outside lawyers. says François Lavallée, senior vice-president, legal affairs, with Good corporate counsel can talk to both.” Financière Banque Nationale in Montreal.“Be less concerned with “Legalese” just doesn’t fly in the corporate world, says Sword, legalities. Be more focused on providing solutions.” where speed is the order of the day and PowerPoint presentations For example, he notes, in a financial environment like his, deal- and Excel spreadsheets are the lingua franca. “If everything in ing with regulatory agencies is a fact of life.“You may be faced your company is done in PowerPoint, you’ve got to learn to with a situation where, from a strictly legal point of view, you express yourself in PowerPoint — not ten-page legal briefs with could refuse to cooperate or provide information to the regulator. footnotes.Don’t quote cases — and if you do,it had better be the “But you have to realize that because it’s your regulator, biggest case ever.They just want to know what your answer is.” because it’s your police, because tomorrow morning they will be A. Learn to love the executive summary. there again, you have to sometimes let go on certain issues, rec- That’s not to say that well-written, well-researched legal briefs ognizing the existence and the continuity of that relation- don’t have an integral place in the life of an in-house lawyer.The ship.You recognize the more important principle of establishing trick is to translate those briefs into language that your clients good faith with the regulator. You’re no longer thinking like can understand. At Best Buy, says Smith, all opinions, whether a litigator.” HIVER 2008 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 21