Top-level general counsel give their views on what marks out an exceptional in-house legal team in a risk-driven global economy.
Donny Ching, legal director, Royal Dutch Shell… on winning friends and influencing commercial colleagues.
‘You can tell who the really great lawyers are by the way they interact with their business colleagues. Those who are constantly being consulted, being involved as a core member of the team, sometimes leading the negotiations. You can see the dynamics in the discussions and the negotiations – which are the lawyers that are genuinely very respected. And those are the lawyers which are getting the best outcome.’
Benoit Belhomme, general counsel (GC) Western Europe, British American Tobacco… on working in contentious sectors.
‘Like a doctor, you need to understand your patients to give the right remedy. You share the pain as well. Controversial industries like ours tend to have a culture where lawyers are more part of the business. You have to frequently adapt and people know legal is a crucial element to maintain a licence to operate.’
Kirsty Cooper, group GC and company secretary, Aviva… on the need to promote your team.
‘Some people are better at promoting themselves – which is quite important to a team. At Aviva, our team is strongly recognised internally but it’s important to be seen to be recognised externally too. It’s a fine line, a balance, of self-promotion and being recognised – to show off your good points. Others just don’t think it’s important – I used to be in that camp. But now I believe it gives the team a real boost.’
Maria Leistner, managing director and GC EMEA, Credit Suisse… on an evolving role.
‘People now look for in-house experience. The job has become entirely different. Long gone are the times, ten or 15 years ago, that a bank like ours would go externally to get a partner from some top firm as a GC. Now, if you haven’t had the experience of working in-house, the risk work – it is very difficult.’
Edward Smith, GC, Telefónica UK… on focusing on what matters.
‘We aspire to put our board in a position where it has more, or better, options than our opposition. We aspire to do this regularly. This to me is what marks out a superb legal team. In my current role, I don’t buy into having lots of key performance indicators and measurable scientific output. Legal advice at its best isn’t about that; it’s about putting your client in a position that they have levers to pull. If the legal team is doing that, and it is recognised as such, then it is doing well.’
Alexandre Menais, executive vice president and group GC, Atos… on the changing demands on GCs.
‘The various economic crises and their impact on the legal community have led to the creation of a global legal system: a legal system not related to any state or country, without a national legislative body and without international agreements. With this new environment, as can be seen in the past few years, the position of the GC is mutating substantially. The GC must grow from the transitional role he/she had up until now.’
Andrew Garard, group legal director, ITV… on attracting young talent.
‘There is quite a significant drain of talent from private practice to in-house roles. The generations coming through are not really motivated by big partner salaries, the thing they want is the lifestyle. With the bonus and share scheme you can earn what partners earn in the silver circle, plus health benefits and we still provide an allowance.’
Chris Vaughan, GC and chief corporate officer, Balfour Beatty… on building links with the business.
‘My philosophy is that unless you are properly embedded throughout the business you are never going to make much of a difference and you are never going to see really what’s going on. You’ve got to have people at the coalface, sitting with line management, making a difference every day.’
Mark Amsden, group GC and company secretary, Morrisons… on the need to communicate.
‘What makes the team outstanding is its empathy – all the people we’ve recruited is because of their ability to get along with people in the business. This is a supermarket – we have people from a wide range of backgrounds. Team members go to strategy meetings in different divisions of the business. People regard them as part of the team rather than some business blocker from some lofty place in the business. Members enjoy coming to talk to us because we often find a way through a problem and it’s practical – we don’t talk down to people.’
Siobhan Moriarty, GC, Diageo… on the talent entering the profession.
‘People now make choices to go in-house at earlier stages in their career. The work is far more interesting from the inside because you see things at a far earlier stage of creation. Law firm work is interesting but you’re brought in at a later stage. There’s a new generation in-house – most of our more recent recruits were not in London or North America – it’s mostly from Asia and Africa.’
Deborah Prince, GC and company secretary, British Heart Foundation… on the power of delegation.
‘Any department that is micro-managed by their head of legal is just a recipe for disaster because it means the [legal head] is just completely stressed out all the time and there is no room for growth for the people who are working for them. I leave my team to get on with things. I’m always available if they are struggling or just want a second opinion but basically it is up to them to make the job what they want to.’
Paul Lister, director of legal services and company secretary, Associated British Foods… on the Christmas party test.
‘A hallmark of a great in-house department is getting invited to the Christmas party – we want to be seen as one of the team. If we are close to the business and know what the business is all about, then we can apply our legal background and add value. If on the other hand you have no idea what the business is about – you may as well be in private practice. We could outsource that to anybody – and what would you be adding? I am a firm believer in having a central team – lawyers reporting to lawyers. I don’t have lawyers reporting to business guys. I expect my lawyers – if they have an issue – I expect to hear about it.’
Kirin Kalsi, UK head of legal, E.ON… on managing risk.
‘A great in-house team is one that balances the management of risk with allowing the business to achieve its objectives and goals. If you are only looking at risk – you won’t get anywhere. If you are only looking at being an enabler then I don’t think you can manage the risk effectively. That is the ultimate objective of an in-house legal team. To be able to balance the two.’
Adrian de Souza, group GC and company secretary, Land Securities… on the need to focus.
‘We outsource nearly all of our work – probably about 99% of it, spending £15m-20m. We see our responsibility as providing quality legal provision within the group. What we do is focus on that delivery and innovation.’