As we enter the next decade, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

In-house teams have been moving out of the shadows for a while now and are increasingly seen as an integral part of the business.

More than ever now, it is about bringing more to the table than just our legal expertise. In a highly interconnected environment where change is fast, complex, unprecedented and unpredictable, the threats we face as a business today span across legal, political, technological, social, and ethical issues. The pandemic is but one good example where in-house teams around the world had a seat at the table, working with their businesses to advise on a myriad of issues not just confined to the law.

To distinguish ourselves and create value, we must be multi-disciplined and develop other attributes – such as greater knowledge of the business and financial acumen. By being creative and collaborative problem solvers that participate in and shape discussions – not just on the law, but around long-term impact on business strategy – we can enhance our contribution and be seen as “go-to advisors” to the business.

Adopting and adapting to technology solutions is another key skill for modern in-house legal teams to be able to work effectively and provide value. Traditionally, as an industry we have been slower in doing this – but new pressures brought about by the pandemic have somewhat served as a catalyst. This year at Accor we rolled out a new Contract Management Tool to replace an ageing management system. There are obvious benefits of technology – for example, better risk and security management, optimising efficiency (especially when there is a need to extract vast amounts of data from contracts across multiple jurisdictions) and reducing human error.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

Apart from being multi-disciplined and commercially savvy advisors that know the business inside out, first-class communication skills are key.

Developing strong relationships with business partners requires the ability to read your audience and to tactfully tailor your message to different audiences. Learning to talk like a businessperson, and not a lawyer, helps – I find one of the best ways to learn to do this is spending time with business partners, engaging them, hearing them converse and seeing how they express their concerns.

Developing a “communication strategy” is also helpful – for example scheduling in-person update meetings, monthly -fortnightly status reports to business units on outstanding matters – all assists to facilitate communication and outreach.

At Accor we also strive to empower the business by giving them the power and confidence to execute some matters with less hand-holding from legal – this is done through training them on routine matters, training them to better spot legal risks, keeping them updated on the latest legal developments, and creating precedents for the business to use.

Lastly, legal in many companies also has a reputation of being the naysayers of the business – I would suggest focusing on the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’, when approached with a request, instead of answering no. Try to be creative and constructive in coming up with solutions while mitigating legal risk – and always stay approachable to the business.