For those of you who are fans of Bill Maher or Dua Lipa, the idea of “New Rules” is a familiar one: identifying issues and committing to a new way doing things to improve outcomes. As we near the end to a challenging year, I have been thinking about my personal “rules” for being an effective General Counsel, and how they’ve evolved over time to reflect an ever-changing professional landscape. These “GC rules” have helped me whether working full-time or part-time, internal or external, as a newbie or a lifer. And because the whole purpose of developing rules to live by is to evolve and grow, I hope this list encourages you to reflect on your own rules (and maybe even share them with us!). So here goes, my current Top 10 GC Rules:

In my role as part-time GC and senior legal advisor, I work with a diverse portfolio of companies. Although my clients differ in size, management structure and stages of growth, among other things, my relationship with them is similar in one fundamental way. Besides helping to manage and address their day-to-day legal work, I serve another important role – that of counsellor. And by “counsellor”, I do not mean acting as their legal “counsel”; rather, I am referring to the support I provide as an unofficial mentor/sounding board - whether to a solo in-house lawyer, a larger client legal department, a paralegal, or a non-legal professional overseeing the client’s legal function.

"I think one of the best indicators of career satisfaction for an on-demand GC is that, like me, many lawyers choose this role at the pinnacle of their in-house careers. I am able to continue pursuing a professionally challenging career, while maintaining control over my time and my life," explains Outside GC Member, Lakshmi Sarma Ramani, in her recent article published in the ACC Docket's July/August issue. 

When Jon Levitt refers to his colleagues at Outside GC as a team of highly accomplished, “rock star” attorneys, he is only half-joking. The collective talent of the firm’s 60 lawyers is certainly a point of pride for Levitt and his co-founder and managing partner, Bill Stone. However, when used to describe the career achievements of long-time member, Lew Segal, nothing could seem more fitting.

As most seasoned lawyers can attest, the toughest deals usually come with the tightest deadlines and a level of complexity that prevents the use of a templated agreement. Although protecting the client’s interests is always the most important priority, what good is that goal if you can’t get the deal done? In this blog series, we will offer 4 tried-and-true steps for getting tough deals done both skillfully and quickly. This advice will be shared over 4 separate posts, starting with the necessary step of preparing yourself. 

Over the past decade or so, there’s been a changing of the guard in the legal services industry. As businesses of all sizes have grown more mindful of the bottom line, traditional legal models are revealing their limitations – both in terms of cost and efficiency – opening the door to innovative solutions designed to meet a growing need.

Being the chief financial officer of a growth-stage company means having a hand in nearly every operational function. In addition to running the finance department, the CFO works with other members of the management team on virtually all of the company’s key activities and decisions. When the company does not have an in-house general counsel, the CFO is typically asked to manage the company’s legal affairs, too.