You Are Nothing More Than another Corporate Employee – Take It or Leave It

Gone are the days when corporations went out of their way to retain in-house counsel and allow them special privileges from the fear of losing valuable resources. In the post-recession era, the attitudes of corporations have undergone a sea-change towards in-house counsels who are increasingly viewed at par with employees of other business units within a corporation – expendable and replaceable. However, the in-house counsel continues to hold that s/he is special and thus above ‘regular' treatment, until the letter of termination arrives.

A part of the blame can be attributed to our legal education system where few law schools focus on in-house counsel ethics and mindset, but focus solely on a future in law firms or solo practice. The ‘dignity of the profession' and the need of a professional attorney to hold to high standards of ethics rarely match the reality inside multinational corporations.

As expressed by Stephen Kaplan, general counsel for Connextions at the Value Challenge conference held by the Georgia chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, in-house counsel like to think that we are special, but corporate CFOs and top managers are increasingly viewing the legal department as just another business unit. Kaplan is the president of ACC's central Florida chapter.

And it's not only the lot of in-house counsel, law firms are also affected by the same calibration. According to Kaplan, while in-house counsels are viewed as part of business teams, outside law firms are now seen as ‘vendors.'

The pressure on the in-house counsel is becoming greater than that of an attorney engaged in a law firm. You need to wear multiple hats at once, play the lawyer and the compliance officer from the same chair, and then you need to attend board meetings and have to answer to management and shareholders. It's no more a sheltered life that many would like to think, and definitely not if you intend to grow and be at the top of corporate rungs.

There are also challenges in dealing with outside law firms, where there may be elements out to undermine you and emphasize their expertise to their client, but to someone who is your employer. For the in-house counsel it becomes essential to fit in with external firms and build a relationship of trust without affecting the trust the employer places on him/her. And it is becoming tougher by the day when litigation matters are broken down into ‘tasks' and values assigned to each task. You are just another cog in the machinery, take it, or leave it.

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