I had lunch with one of my mentors from my prior law firm life recently, and from our conversation, it dawned on me that some of my writing about in-house life may be misinterpreted as hating on Biglaw, or worse, disparaging the establishments that I’ve had the privilege to be a part of.
Let the record reflect that I am immensely grateful to my prior law firm homes and for the experiences I had in Biglaw. Those experiences have shaped me into the lawyer I am today, and I am not sure I’d be as good at what I do now, if it weren’t for those experiences. Here are a few of the skills I learned from law firm life that directly contribute to my success as an in-house counsel.
1. Litigation Strategy
I have no idea if this applies to transactional practice, but as a former litigator, I find that I am better able to partner with outside counsel on litigation strategy because I have independent experiences that I can call upon instead of solely relying upon — and deferring to — the judgment of outside counsel. Whether it is negotiation during mediation and the skill of tying offers to real numbers, deciding when to file certain motions, or creating rapport with and preparing witnesses, I learned these skills from prior shareholders with whom I worked. In depositions, I have questions to suggest. In arbitration, I have arguments to proffer. While I would never call litigation a game because the stakes matter to all involved, whether plaintiff or defendant, if I were to use the analogy, then my legal training in Biglaw (and small law) has taught me how to play chess instead of checkers.
2. Stakeholder Management
When you are an associate who reports to different partners who all have different styles and expectations, you quickly learn to create a system on how to keep them all apprised in a way, on a cadence, that works for them and their external clients. From this practice, I have learned to err on the side of over-communication over under-communicating because no one likes surprises in high-stakes situations. From this practice, I have also learned to keep track of preferences so they are not only in your head — from preferences as small as “one space or two after a period,” to communication preferences, such as whether emails, calls, or face-to-face meetings are preferred.
3. Client Service
Whether business colleagues are considered and treated as partners or customers may vary on the company culture, but I credit my ultra-responsiveness and commitment to timely execution to being trained that stakeholders are to be treated like clients. It is not a sales mindset that the customer is always right — but rather having the mindset that you want to encourage clients to come to you so you have to communicate and deliver in a consistent, timely way to foster a trusted relationship. Beyond being responsive, having a client service mindset also means anticipating customer needs and trying to understand their “why” so you can be a value-add as much as you can.
Could I learn litigation strategy, stakeholder management, and client service without being at a law firm? Of course! At the same time, for me, Biglaw was one of the best preparations for going in-house, besides bar association service (which I have written about before).
Meyling “Mey” Ly Ortiz is in-house at Toyota Motor North America. Her passions include mentoring, championing belonging, and a personal blog: TheMeybe.com. At home, you can find her doing her best to be a “fun” mom to a toddler and preschooler and chasing her best self on her Peloton. You can follow her on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/meybe/). And you knew this was coming: her opinions are hers alone.
