Your Role as General Counsel

By guiding you through the first 100 days in a significant role, this Special Report seeks to address some of the challenges of the demanding role of General Counsel. It is a must-read for any current or aspiring GC, in-house legal teams, HR directors, CEOs and private practice lawyers who wish to know what to expect from the in-house teams.

The role of General Counsel has never been more demanding: cuts on spending and doing more for less; a demanding board and Executive Committee; and a plethora of law and regulation.This Special Report, by Ian White and Simon McCall, seeks to help address some of these challenges. By guiding you through the first 100 days in a significant role, it will show you how to navigate between acting as wise counsel to management while leading your team successfully.It also covers:working with the board;coaching;developing a legal strategy;taking on the company secretarial role; anddeveloping your career within legal and beyond.This Special Report is a must-read for any current or aspiring GC, in-house legal teams, HR directors, CEOs and private practice lawyers who wish to know what to expect from the in-house teams.

Acknowledgements 7I. Introduction – why you need this Special Report 91. Who has this Special Report been written for? 92. How this Special Report is set out 10II. Legal consigliere or functional manager? 131. Introduction 32. Functional managers 143. Legal consiglieri 14III. The first 100 days 191. Creating a sense of success 192. Ways to generate ideas about a successful first 100 days 213. Credibility, rapport and trust 224. Listening 25IV. Developing a legal strategy 291. A preliminary comment about strategy 292. Legal strategy 29V. Managing the legal team 371. Finance 372. Marketing/business development 383. HR 404. Operations 465. Reflections on the legal team 48VI. Building your department 491. The importance of teams 492. Be clear on the strategy 493. Devise a plan 504. And finally… 59VII. Coaching and mentoring 611. Coaching 612. Mentoring 72VIII. The GC and the board 751. Background to your board relationship 752. Build your relationship with the board with care 77IX. Taking on the role of company secretary 831. A bit of background 832. Understand the nature of the role 843. Get an understanding of boards if you don’t already have one 87X. What next? Reinventing yourself 911. The importance of thinking ahead 912. Re-evaluating your career 923. Staying in a legal role 934. Moving away from the GC role 945. Moving to a new career 95Endnotes 99About the authors 101About Globe Law and Business 103Notes and ideas 104