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5 Love Languages of In-House Counsel Courtship audio narration

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Fortune 500 companies each have legal departments. The legal professionals working in those departments are the in-house legal team. 

When in-house counsel faces an overflow of legal work, they seek the expertise of outside law firms to help manage the caseload, creating a strategic partnership.

Looking to win or improve engagements with in-house counsel?

Then take inventory of how well your firm answers one question.

“How are our legal services making their lives better?”

Let's review the what, who, and how from today's webinar recap.

Topics covered:

• Getting — and keeping — the attention of in-house counsel.
• How (outside counsel) adds value to build and grow long-term relationships.
• Bringing diversity, equity, and inclusion to the table.
• Deal-breakers that terminate client relationships.
• Credibility begins by understanding in-house counsel’s industry, business, and culture.

Leading the conversation:

• Traci Stuart, President of Blattel Communications
• Laurie Charrington, Director of Patent Litigation for Netflix
• Venessa Henlon, Senior Counsel, Real Estate Law for Gap
• Eric Coborn, Senior Product Counsel at Rakuten Rewards

1. Words of reaffirmation

communicate clearly, solve efficiently

Meet and confer

Have you ever been referred because of your expertise in law? Let's say you are sought after because you know sweepstakes law.

What happens at your first meeting?

Start here: 

• Understand in-house counsel’s preference for future conversations and ongoing communication.
• Clearly repeat the core issue described by in-house counsel.

Moving forward: Keep discussions precise, ask thoughtful questions, and deliver a feasible roadmap to victory.

If your emails are concise and easy to digest, you’re off to an amazing start. Keep the momentum going!

Here’s how:

• Clearly communicate how your experience aligns with client objectives.
• Demonstrate your understanding of in-house counsel’s situation.

With today’s economy, there’s added pressure to achieve best outcomes with fewer resources and more frequent leadership changes (this is likely true for larger organizations).

An ounce of empathy and a pound of active listening opens the door to clear and open communication.

2. Quality time

build lasting relationships

Can you resist temptations to make assumptions about in-house counsel’s issues?

Learn the challenges and goals of the in-house team.

They are strategic partners for their internal clients. Their job is to find solutions to business and legal issues and stay updated on regulatory changes.

Building and maintaining strong relationships is crucial to the success of any engagement.

One story shared this truth.

In-house counsel was working with an outside attorney who had a record of doing well but suddenly became less responsive. In-house counsel spoke with the attorney to address those issues. After, an email was sent to the founding partners.

Then, the firm took ownership of their engagements, created a plan, and staffed projects accordingly.

Trust between in-house counsel and the attorney made the outcome possible.

Partnerships built on a foundation of trust and respect make providing competent legal services easier to do.

3. Acts of (competent legal) services

listen carefully and provide legal support accordingly

When supporting disputes, avoid the pitfall of being an unnecessarily aggressive attorney.

During the webinar, Traci asked panelists:

Use three words to describe your relationships with outside counsel.

Venessa responded, “strategic-partner, respectful, and forthright.”

Eric replied, “relationships, practical, communication.”

Laurie added, “partnership, honesty, and ownership.”

The Professional's Professional

Eric specifically prefers outside counsel to handle all engagements with professionalism.

And shared past instances of outside counsel aggressively litigating and inflaming disputes.

When providing counsel, act as if, you share any negative consequences.

Then ask yourself,

• “What are the ramifications of acting on my guidance?”
  • “How would this be perceived by their management chain?”

When working with an in-house team, being practical and pragmatic is a surefire way to prove the kind of strategic partner you are.

Beyond counsel’s conduct

Panelists agreed the most important element of a successful client relationship is having effective communication.

They expressed desire for outside counsel to engage in open communication and responsiveness.

Panelists defined how they view open communication and responsiveness.

Acknowledging receipt of an email – within 24 hours – is perfectly suitable in certain situations.

Afterward, it’s wise to include the date a request will be handled. This sets realistic expectations moving forward.

In-house counsel needs confidence outside counsel understands the assignment, can staff a project properly, and manage all deadlines.

Focusing on open communication and responsiveness is half the battle to forging relationships built to last.

If your firm does, take a moment to congratulate yourself – you’re performing sound acts of legal services.

4. Gift giving

free CLE's and wise counsel? yes, please.

Panelists demonstrated an abundant willingness to continue learning about industry and practice group updates. They shared which associations contribute the most value to their professional growth.

Resource for you, resources for everybody!

Eric mentioned what a valuable resource the Association for Corporate Counsel (“ACC”) continues to be for him.

Venessa shared her sources of information.

• As her practice handles commercial real estate law and transactional work, insights provided by the International Council of Shopping Centers (“ICSC”) have been useful.
• A person on her team is a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (“ACREL”) organization, which sends regular newsletters and webinars.
• The most interesting information source Venessa mentioned is her daughter’s perspective on what’s trending on TikTok. (a wise decision).

Laurie shared how helpful “chips” or the ChIPs Organization has been for her professional growth.

Here’s the mission of the ChIPs Organization:
“ ChIPs is a nonprofit professional organization that advances and connects women in technology, law and policy. We accelerate innovation through diversity of thought, participation and engagement.”

Here’s their mantra:

Our core belief is “pay it forward.” No one achieves success on their own—those who can give back must do so, driving increased equality, diversity and inclusion in our industry and society.

Laurie has been part of the organization’s growth in her membership.

All panelists expressed gratitude about how their current business relationships invest in their continued growth. They also appreciate all efforts by firms to provide business and industry updates, wise counsel, and offers to webinars, roundtables, and other marketing events.

They continue to reiterate great emphasis on the importance of continued learning that happens between them and all their valued relationships.

What does this mean for you?

• Are you interested in artificial intelligence? 

• Do you have expertise with patent litigation? 

Action Plan:

1. Invite in-house counsel to your next event.
2. Host a CLE or webinar and invite in-house counsel.
   

Do what makes sense for you.

The real value of gift-giving means enhancing learning for all parties.

Those moments are truly priceless (until accounting receives your reimbursement forms).

5. Touching hearts, opening minds

be kind, take ownership

Ideally, successful relationships (of any variety) are void of unexpected and harmful surprises.

Panelists were asked when they were pleasantly surprised or delighted by outside counsel.

Eric shared how he recently met attorneys at their firm’s marketing event.

Eric greatly appreciated their efforts to invest in him and his continued growth. As a result, Eric regards them as friends – not just colleagues.

Then, Venessa recounted her story of delight.

“ Outside counsel treated us as if we were their only client.

When our administrative assistants or paralegals had questions, they always communicated respectfully – always responsive and informative.

They treated all team members the same.”

The webinar revealed the greatest missed opportunities firms like yours can capitalize on.

Key takeaways:

• how few firms don’t conduct feedback surveys from their clients.
• partners should initiate seeking feedback from stakeholders.
• great opportunities exist to align your experience with the in-house team’s goals and objectives.

That concludes the webinar recap. Thank you for reading!

(PS: I wrote this article and created Harbard University in 24 days)

Imagine what we could do together.

Learn more about me here: harbarduniversity.com/about-brian-keleman/

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Enjoy a beautiful day,

Brian H. Keleman

Legal Marketer