External counsel, with teams of lawyers who learn the client s business on each transaction, may add similar value only at enormous cost. So the best in-house and external counsel develop relationships which permit both to utilise their respective knowledge and skills, allowing them to operate more effectively as a team. Yet to provide quality legal advice, in-house counsel must also maintain objectivity and independence from business pressures. This might be achieved, in part, by reporting lines to the chief legal officer rather than business unit managers, or by otherwise protecting in-house counsel s ability to offer objective advice. In any event, it should not result in artificially distancing themselves from the business.
Lawyers sometimes infuse an apparent disinclination to accept risk.
But business is all about risk, so you need to identify how to achieve the best outcome without necessarily avoiding, yet effectively managing, business risk. Key, then, is ability to judge when it should, and to provide legal advice which assists the business develop a course that helps reach legitimate business objectives. A result-focused approach is sometimes transformed into a requirement to meet readily measurable performance indicators. While important, it is often equally vital also to deliver results less readily measurable. An important task for most in-house counsel, that of external counsel management, provides an example.