Throughout the years, I felt more and more frustrated with my work. As a lawyer, you spend evenings and week-ends crunching transactional documents and crafting legal memos. But you rarely see the outcome of your hard work. Bending theory into practice is up to the client.
However, I really enjoyed working for multiple clients in various industries. I felt I would lose something by committing 100% to one company. I didn't feel ready to be a legal in-house counsel just yet. But when Osimis and PaxFamilia, two amazing SaaS companies, offered me to join as a part-time flexible legal consultant, I jumped in.
However, transitioning from a pure advisory role to that of a company insider was harder than anticipated. To be honest, I struggled to adapt. But didn't really appreciate why until recently.
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It finally dawned on me one year later. At the start of 2020, I launched my startup Canyon. Our mission at Canyon is to help modern companies drive their legal operations. Before the launch, I wanted to deeply understand how in-house legal counsels were dealing with legal today. So I interviewed more than 50 legal professionals working in companies of all sizes and industries.
I realised that many company lawyers had felt the same way I did when I began working in-house. Some are still struggling, despite being in the job for more than a year.
It struck me that virtually all company lawyers I interviewed started their career in a law firm. But only a handful were realising that they had to change their position to successfully transition into an in-house role.
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Becoming a business partner is the end-goal. To achieve that goal, company lawyers should radically change their ways of working. Company lawyers should stop acting like consultants and start becoming leaders.
After a year or so working as a super legal consultant, I finally made the switch at eFounders, the startup studio I last worked at. For a change, I wanted to become a leader in my new role. So I've tweaked my ways of working to drive my legal operations more efficiently.
I'm also taking advantage of a handful of tools to assist me in my work. Chief among them is Canyon of course! In fact, I developed Canyon because I didn't find any effective solution to help me drive my legal operations. And using Canyon has been a game-changer for me.
Journey From Lawyer To Consultant
I hope to dive deeper in my organisation and my toolbelt in another post. For those who can't wait, I'm happy to discuss this privately. 😊
A few tweaks have allowed me to enjoy my work much more and build up the confidence to become a leader in my job.
Have you also struggled in your transition from law firm to company? Or are you still in the process of metamorphosing from a consultant to a leader?Legal consultants and lawyers are often seen to cross each other duties. When in reality both of them have different roles to offer.
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The method of working is similar in both professions as both of them go through research and prepare legal documents & cases for their clients. But there is some difference between a legal consultant vs lawyer that can’t go unnoticed.
The vital difference between legal consultants vs lawyers is the fact that; a legal consultant works as an advisor and makes sure that their client is acting within the legal boundaries. Whereas, lawyers besides guiding or advising can also represent their clients before the judge. Not just that, but they can advocate for their clients as well.
The word “legal” originated from the old English language and it means authority. And the word “consultant” is a French word that means “to take the advice of.”
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Primarily consultant lawyer and legal consultancy work are the same but still, there are quite differences when it comes to their duties and responsibilities.
Although legal consultant vs. lawyer sounds like the same profession. But due to the difference in licenses, the salaries are legal consultant vs. lawyers differs.
The difference between legal consultants vs. lawyers in simple words is a lawyer has a license to represent their clients in the court while a legal consultant doesn’t.
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They provide legal advice to their clients but can’t represent them. They may be educated in law but usually have not passed the bar examination
It is not compulsory but if they want a license then it is mandatory. This should only be considered if they want to represent clients in courts.
Before finalizing your attorney, you take legal advice from a legal consultant that whether you should hire him for your respective case or not.
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JD Lipton is an accomplished legal writer who specializes in civil law. He's a prolific legal practitioner & publisher who's been part of the community for four decades, writing on numerous legal & social topics to educate the common citizen about their rights.Head of legal. Chief legal officer. General counsel. Chief legal advisor. Whatever you want to call it — the role is a key position for startups (and in the corporate world) as a company’s primary source of legal advice.
With any successful startup, growth brings inevitable roadblocks or problems. This is why boards, founders, and CEOs are bringing this role in-house to provide value-driven solutions and advice on complex legal issues to help the company succeed. Deemed “one of the mightiest figures in the C-suite” by The Economist, an in-house lawyer can save your business time, money, and effort.
If you’re debating whether or not it’s the right time or decision to protect your startup, we break down everything you need to know about bringing on a lawyer in-house. While no company’s path is the same and industry needs vary, we examine the basics to see if an in-house lawyer may contribute to or inhibit growth.
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Robert Bird, Professor of Business Law at University of Connecticut and President of Academy of Legal Studies in Business, explains: “CLOs can rapidly apply legal judgment to regulatory problems facing the company and ensure that firms are fully compliant with relevant rules. A strong CLO will protect company value from being lost through government penalties and needless litigation.”
In addition to ensuring a company is compliant and protected, Bird continues: “Studies have found that elite CLOs are associated with less insider trading, accurate earnings forecasts, and fewer threats of litigation in the companies they serve.”
If you’re considering whether now is the right time to bring on a CLO, we’ve done the research for you. Below, we dive into what exactly the role entails and how having a trusted legal advisor in-house can impact your company’s growth — and bottom line.
Should Your Company Hire An In House Lawyer?
While every company has specific legal issues or needs, it’s likely that no two days are the same for an in-house lawyer.
The Acritas 2020 State of Corporate Law report describes the top three priorities for corporate law department leaders as: “improving functional effectiveness, increasing efficiency, and safeguarding the company.”
The responsibilities can range anywhere from privacy law to dispute resolution. On top of the day-to-day legal duties, the role of an in-house counsel or CLO has expanded to what’s now a strategic business partner that supports the organization, works to improve processes, and navigates complex challenges.
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A chief legal officer (CLO) specifically may provide counsel for the board of directors, chairman, CEO, and other senior management. Consider if your hire will have board-level authority on every high-value transaction or strategic decision.
On top of legal experience, an in-house lawyer should possess initiative, management and leadership skills, and business acumen to balance high-stake responsibilities.
Be sure to hire a person with the attributes you need. Most companies hire a generalist who is skillful and experienced in managing outside counsel as needed. If you feel you need a specialist in-house, then create a plan to make sure all legal issues get addressed properly.
Benefits Of Working In A Small Law Firm
If your lawyer isn’t able to provide all of the legal services your company needs, consider finding someone who can build (and manage) a team or has an existing network of specialists in specific areas of the law.
Every startup is unique so there is no one right answer. However, depending on what stage of growth your startup is at, there are criteria you can use to make a decision. If you’re debating between letting go of outside counsel or bringing it in-house, consider the following.
Alex Montagu, the founding partner at Montagu Law, explains: “The legal requirements of a company are informed by its revenues, the number of employees it has, the nature of its business, and the industry and locations in which it operates.”
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Of these requirements, Montagu explains what matters the most: “The most important factor is the company’s revenues. Typically, companies that have less than $20 million in annual turnover would be better off using outside counsel rather than hiring a full-time in-house lawyer because they are unlikely to have enough legal work to justify having one on staff. What’s more, one lawyer may not have the expertise to handle the different types of legal work that the company may require.”
There are also legal issues to consider if your company plans to expand globally,
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