To coincide with the annual launch of our GC Power List, we asked the City’s most experienced private practitioners: what makes an outstanding in-house legal team?
Eyes and ears
‘A good in-house team has the ear of the commercial client, an understanding of its drivers and the strength to speak out when it is going down the wrong path. Teams should ensure they understand the varied approaches to dispute resolution, adopt appropriate methods in different transactional documentation, and consider mediation as a clean and proactive process for disputes at any stage.’
Katie Bradford, head of property litigation, Linklaters
Good and bad
‘A bad in-house legal team is where lines of responsibility aren’t clear and you’re getting different instructions from different people. A good in-house team isn’t jealous when not everything goes through them.’
Mark Stamp, partner, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy
Clear communications
‘The principles are not rocket science, it’s achieving them in practice that is the challenge. The best in-house teams are extremely close to the business, have a solution-driven approach and are high on emotional intelligence. Of course, communication throughout the team to ensure a consistent approach to risk, both across business and jurisdictions, is a must.’
Johan Ysewyn, head of EU competition, Covington & Burling
Balancing act
‘In-house teams have to be much more commercial and plugged into the business than private practice lawyers. It is a fine balance because on the one hand you have to be close to the business but also stand up for the business. A very good in-house lawyer will maintain a high degree of professionalism and integrity. It’s that combination. If you really look at successful legal teams like Shell and Barclays, you see they have a very flat structure but a very able person in charge. It is crucial there is someone who can take decisions and ultimately be respected by the board.’
Oliver Bretz, founding partner, Euclid Law
Challenge the norm
‘The very best in-house teams do two things really well: they have a real clarity around the services and product they need to deliver to their internal client and they have an appetite to work creatively with external counsel to build solutions to address these needs. In-house teams need to constantly challenge the status quo – do we need to do this work internally? Are we using external counsel to best effect? What should we expect our external counsel to be able to offer us in terms of innovative pricing or disaggregated services? The dialogue on these sorts of questions should be regular and two-way in nature.’
Scott Cochrane, UK head of corporate, Herbert Smith Freehills
Appreciating value
‘In very good relationships I’ve had with in-house lawyers I’ve felt like an extension of the in-house team. Good in-house counsel are realistic about costs and the value of things – taking time in investing in the relationship so the external lawyers understand the business and what the issues are.’
Niri Shanmuganathan, UK head of IP and media and entertainment, Taylor Wessing
Generation game
‘Good in-house teams take the opportunity to get to know their panel firms better and better, and often across multiple practice areas too. Where multiple members of the in-house team know multiple members of the law firm, across a number of practice areas, then this is the foundation for a good relationship. Carry that across many years, even generations, then you have a great relationship.’
Ed Parker, London head of banking and finance, Mayer Brown
Different strokes
‘Ultimately what makes a good in-house team is not massively different to the qualities required for a high-quality private practice advisory team for a client. It’s all about the knowledge of the business and what matters most, ie its appetite for risk and what the real value to the business of an asset, matter or piece of legal advice is.’
Jonathan Earle, partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Tough decisions
‘At the moment, resilience is certainly a top requirement. However, more than ever before a good team must have the ability to understand the commercial drivers and pressures within the business but still retain their integrity as a risk officer and provide clear advice, even when on occasion it’s not welcomed. This then allows the business to make its decisions based upon a full understanding of the risk framework.’
Lee Doyle, partner, Ashurst
Simple explanation
‘If I were to pick one thing all strong in-house teams have in common, it is the ability to translate complexity in a simple way. The complexities of their business to the external counsel. The complexities of regulation and legal noise to their colleagues.’
Phil Sanderson, partner, Ropes & Gray