What I wish I’d known: moving in-house

For the new in-house counsel freshly arrived from a top-tier law firm, the future looks bright. Equipped with analytical skills hewn from a rigorous academic and practical training, the eagle eyes of a seasoned risk-spotter, and the quick wits of a problem-destroyer, new corporate counsel could be forgiven for thinking that the time is nigh to relax into the kinder work-life balance that company life promises. Continue reading “What I wish I’d known: moving in-house”

The world’s greatest management thinker: Clayton Christensen

Being ranked as the foremost management thinker in the world is not a title that appears to daunt Clayton M. Christensen.

At the age of 62, the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s leading lights in innovation. In both 2011 and 2013 he achieved the top billing on the Thinkers50 chart which compiles the global ranking of management thinkers. Continue reading “The world’s greatest management thinker: Clayton Christensen”

Whistle-blowers and the in-house lawyer – a question of ethics and objectivity

The term whistleblower is said to have been coined in the 1970s by US activist Ralph Nader to avoid the negative connotations of terms such as ‘informer’ and ‘snitch’, instead invoking the referee in a sports match, blowing the whistle to stop the game when there is unfair play. Continue reading “Whistle-blowers and the in-house lawyer – a question of ethics and objectivity”

A dangerous game of bluff

When I was talking recently with the GC of a multinational operating globally, they outlined the purpose of their legal function to me. They said it existed to ‘provide high quality legal services tailored to the organisation’s needs, carried out by more knowledgeable lawyers than could be secured from external providers, yet at a much reduced price than would be paid if solely using an external supplier’. Continue reading “A dangerous game of bluff”

The 5-minute financial analysis

If you’re anything like the picture of a lawyer painted by our contributor Edward Smith of TELEFÓNICA UK (see Where are all the lawyer-CEOs?), you might be thinking about flicking past this section out of fear of being outed as a finance-phobe. We know that’s a stereotype… but lots of our in-house lawyer friends have confided that, for many, finance is an Achilles heel. Continue reading “The 5-minute financial analysis”