Episode 2: The value of in-house legal

Inspiring Legal

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Full episode transcription:

[00:00 - 00:09]: Welcome to Inspiring Legal, the podcast for in-house legal.
[00:10 - 00:16]: Get insights, learn from peers, life lessons from some of the most influential GCs.
[00:16 - 00:19]: If it's related to in-house legal, we cover it.
[00:19 - 00:30]: For more inspiration, go to Openli.com slash community.
[00:31 - 00:39]: In this episode, we will be covering a subject that I know a lot of you out there are sitting with.
[00:39 - 00:49]: How does management of a tech company see the value of what the legal team is bringing to the table?
[00:50 - 00:54]: How do you measure the success of your team's efforts?
[00:55 - 00:58]: And how do you make sure the management know what it is that you're doing?
[00:59 - 01:05]: From my past working at an in-house tech company and managing a lot of people,
[01:05 - 01:09]: one of my struggles was always that we were overloaded.
[01:10 - 01:16]: We were working so fast and the amount of assignments just kept on piling up.
[01:17 - 01:23]: At the same time, not everybody at management knew how much we were doing.
[01:24 - 01:27]: They didn't know how much we were actually contributing with.
[01:28 - 01:32]: Because what happens when you're in-house legal is that if you're doing your job well,
[01:32 - 01:36]: nobody really often notices because you're mitigating risk.
[01:37 - 01:39]: You're supporting closing deals.
[01:40 - 01:46]: And of course, the rep that you're supporting will know it, but it is the sales team who's closing the deal.
[01:47 - 01:51]: They're the ones normally getting measured by the impact on the MOR.
[01:52 - 01:58]: So how do you showcase the value you as a legal team is delivering to the business?
[01:58 - 02:05]: And how do you make sure management knows it so when you're at one point either in need of resources or need support,
[02:06 - 02:09]: well, they know why you're coming to them.
[02:10 - 02:19]: I think one of my own experiences was that make sure that you have a good understanding
[02:20 - 02:26]: of where the majority of the time and the resources that you are using in the in-house legal team
[02:26 - 02:29]: are distributed across the organization.
[02:30 - 02:36]: So if you're knowing that 50% of your time or maybe 75 is used on supporting sales,
[02:37 - 02:40]: try to document that amount of work.
[02:41 - 02:47]: I'm not saying you need to sit and use like a yellow post-it and write every time somebody in sales
[02:48 - 02:49]: are sending you an email or a Slack message.
[02:49 - 02:57]: But what I'm saying is that if you're helping closing 15% of the deals that month,
[02:58 - 03:04]: you as the legal team are making a gigantic difference, right?
[03:05 - 03:11]: So make sure that you know and you can show that you're doing that.
[03:12 - 03:16]: And another thing is also if you have a seat at the table,
[03:16 - 03:20]: and what I mean is if you're a general counsel or if you are a general counsel
[03:21 - 03:23]: and you're sitting and you have a seat around the management table,
[03:24 - 03:29]: and when sales are delivering their targets and their results for the month,
[03:30 - 03:35]: make sure that you're telling what you have contributed with,
[03:36 - 03:37]: how you made that difference.
[03:38 - 03:42]: And if you're not, and let's say that you're reporting to the CFO or the COO,
[03:42 - 03:47]: send them a report. Send a report every single month
[03:48 - 03:51]: of how you contributed on closing those deals.
[03:52 - 03:55]: What I experienced is that when you're able to do that,
[03:56 - 03:59]: all of a sudden management has a tendency to look and say,
[04:00 - 04:03]: Jesus, wow, okay, you did all that?
[04:04 - 04:09]: And on top of that, well, you're probably also the company's department of common sense.
[04:09 - 04:11]: That's at least what I often experience, right?
[04:12 - 04:14]: So you're sitting there and you're getting all these crazy questions.
[04:15 - 04:18]: They have nothing to do with legal, but they're still coming to you
[04:19 - 04:22]: and they're kind of like going, hey, Stine, we're kind of debating.
[04:23 - 04:25]: What about the Christmas party?
[04:26 - 04:28]: Do you think it's a good idea to have in the office
[04:29 - 04:30]: or should we try to find a venue?
[04:31 - 04:34]: And you're sitting there and like, what does this have to do with me?
[04:35 - 04:37]: And you're starting to kind of like debate with yourself.
[04:37 - 04:40]: Is it because like they're asking if something were to happen at the office
[04:41 - 04:44]: during the Christmas party or we're more liable? Is that why?
[04:45 - 04:51]: But what is often the case is that you are kind of like the reason of sanity.
[04:52 - 04:55]: You are the voice that often has that good balance
[04:56 - 04:58]: and understanding of what's right and wrong,
[04:59 - 05:00]: because that is what you do in legal, right?
[05:01 - 05:03]: You know what feels right.
[05:03 - 05:06]: You know what is good for the business.
[05:07 - 05:09]: And you also know what's not good for the business.
[05:10 - 05:13]: And when the company and the employees at the company start to realize that,
[05:14 - 05:17]: they start asking all these crazy questions.
[05:18 - 05:20]: Well, they're not crazy, but you know what I mean, right?
[05:21 - 05:23]: Those questions that really doesn't have to do specifically
[05:24 - 05:27]: with what it is that you're doing, but you're again, supporting the business.
[05:27 - 05:34]: So for me, measuring the success of the in-house legal teams
[05:35 - 05:38]: are of course much more than what you're bringing to the table
[05:39 - 05:41]: in terms of closing deals together with the sales teams.
[05:42 - 05:46]: But any business is, regardless of what we might want to think
[05:47 - 05:51]: and also hope, is driven by some commercial goals.
[05:51 - 05:56]: So if you're able to support those goals and show how you did it,
[05:57 - 06:03]: well, all of a sudden, they will not maybe have the same issues
[06:04 - 06:06]: with granting more headcounts, giving you bigger budgets,
[06:07 - 06:11]: because they can see all the value you're bringing to that team.
[06:12 - 06:17]: I am speaking with Jessica, and she is amazing, by the way.
[06:17 - 06:22]: She is the COO of Whereby, coming out of Australia,
[06:23 - 06:28]: moving to the UK, working for a Norwegian company that is growing fast.
[06:29 - 06:31]: You'll hear more about Whereby and what they're doing,
[06:32 - 06:39]: then moving to the US, and now not only managing the legal team,
[06:40 - 06:44]: but a lot of different teams across the organization.
[06:44 - 06:48]: And Jessica has a background. She has a legal degree.
[06:49 - 06:54]: So she will be sharing with us how she's measuring the success
[06:55 - 07:03]: of the legal team, how Whereby is trying to really elevate
[07:04 - 07:11]: legal support to the business, while also enabling good decisions.
[07:11 - 07:16]: So Jessica will be joining us. Stay tuned. Remember to subscribe.
[07:17 - 07:20]: And if you want to have more inspirational content,
[07:21 - 07:23]: you can always go to openleet.com slash community
[07:24 - 07:27]: and read some of the blogs that our community members are writing.
[07:28 - 07:29]: They're pretty inspirational.
[07:30 - 07:35]: So looking forward to listening in to Jessica's talk.
[07:35 - 07:40]: So let's stay tuned.