Eight in-house career killers including thinking ‘it’s not my job’

We asked a group of Scotland's most senior in-house solicitors what crucial advice they would give other general counsel to avoid career killing moves.

Sharing their experiences anonymously, these solicitors are offering their advice for fellow general-counsel or would-be in-house lawyers on what not to do.

1) Oversharing

Definitely do not overload your colleagues with technical legal jargon or overcomplicated advice notes – executive summaries are your best friends and people tend to just not read anything longer than a few paragraphs, so keep your advice short and succinct.

2) Isolation

To not be aware of or interested in the wider organisation in which you work – you must see the bigger strategic picture and understand the organisation’s purpose, vision and values in order to provide meaningful in-house support.

3) Overreaching

Do not over commit. You cannot know everything and do everything. Make sure you can access other sources of specialist advice, whether through counsel, specialist legal advisers or leadership training.

4) Textbook talk

Do not just parrot the law to people seeking your input.

As an in house lawyer you also need as much as possible to offer practical solutions to the legal issue i.e. advise more around the decision that requires to be made.

5) 'It's not my job'

When something new comes up, don’t say “it’s not my job”. Yes, that needs to be balanced with ensuring you don’t advise on areas of law where you are not qualified to do so, but there are times when new legal issues land on your desk and you need to have the gumption to get stuck in and deal with them.

6) Lost in the weeds

Not realising that your business is looking for the answer rather than all the detail on how you reached the answer.

7) Going solo

Not linking up with and working well with other departments in your business. The legal team should work with colleagues in finance, HR, operations, technical, quality control etc rather than working in a silo.

8) Don't be the problem

Slowing progress of your organisation rather than enabling progress.