Transitioning to General Counsel: A Guide to Timing and Strategy

Transitioning to General Counsel: A Guide to Timing and Strategy

The leap from Solicitor to General Counsel is not merely a step change in career, but also in outlook. No longer must you focus on tactical decisions that will have a positive influence on the outcome for your client. You will instead need to demonstrate the ability to step back and take a strategic overview of the situation. This ability to consider not only the legal aspect of a situation, but also to take into account cost and risk, is an essential quality that will enable you to shine in this new role.

When to transition to General Counsel

There are no hard and fast rules that dictate the timing for this move. Instead, it is a matter of personal choice and growth, finding suitable opportunities and exploiting them. You will need to work not only on your professional growth, but also the softer, interpersonal skills that will be essential for success in a General Counsel role.

You will begin to feel the timing is right to pursue a move in-house when you have developed a suitably wide professional network and have proven yourself in a variety of situations. You will have a finely tuned risk appetite and recognise strategies with a high likelihood of success. You will be able to apply your legal knowledge to open doors, enabling your firm to proceed with its ambitions whilst remaining compliant with all relevant laws and regulations.?

Leading by example

As a General Counsel, you will be uniquely positioned within a business to influence outcomes, and you will be responsible for a legal team whose successes will largely be attributed to your leadership. It is, therefore, essential that anyone for whom a General Counsel position features in their career aspirations embraces every opportunity that they can seize to develop their leadership and communication skills.

It is not enough to be a phenomenal lawyer, able to quickly digest complex information and foresee outcomes. A General Counsel must impart the benefit of their experience to those less experienced, support the development goals of their team and still enable the Executive Board to progress its plans without falling foul of legislative restrictions.

This is a highly complex role that will satiate the desire of many talented lawyers to excel in challenging and ever-changing situations, so taking the time to develop the skills and experience that will be necessary is essential prior to taking the leap and applying for your first GC role.?

Preparation is essential

Once you have reached a point in your career where you feel that General Counsel is an attainable goal, you will need to prepare for the right role. Once you have identified a suitable role in an organisation, the aims and ideals of which align with your own, you should take the time that is necessary to ensure that you will deliver an unbeatable application.?

You should rigorously research the company, its CEO, Executive Board members, clients, the industry within which it operates and its risk tolerance, based on previous corporate actions that are in the public domain. You will need to tailor your application to appeal to the company, detailing the way in which your experience, personality and leadership traits will support the business to succeed in its endeavours.

If you have relevant industry experience, you should precisely articulate the role that you fulfilled and how your counsel supported the achievement of strategic and tactical objectives that benefited your client's position within the sector.

Confidence and competence are the keys to success ???

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