7 Habits of Highly Ineffective Lawyers

A post from JD Hull at his What About Clients blog is a lighthearted look at what makes a "useless" advisor to in-house counsel. Mr Hull notes the following attributes:

1. Be risk-averse at all times. Clients have come to expect this from their lawyers. It's tradition. Honor it.
2. Tell the client only what it can't do. Business clients are run by business people who take risks. They need to be managed, guided, stopped. Don't encourage them.
3. Whatever you do, don't take a stand, and don't make a recommendation. (You don't want to be wrong, do you?)
4. Treat the client as a potential adversary at all times. Keep a distance.
5. Cover yourself. Write a lot to the client. Craft lots of confirming letters which use clauses like "it is our understanding", "our analysis is limited to..." and "we do not express an opinion as to whether..."
6. Churn up extra fees with extra letters and memoranda and tasks. Milk the engagement. (If you are going to be a weenie anyway, you might as well be a sneaky weenie.)
7. As out-house counsel, you are American royalty. Never forget that.

I recently read an article from a former in-house counsel, who has now returned to private practice (and apologise to him because I cannot locate the article to attribute the comment). He noted that the best external lawyer was the one who when consulted would say:
"Yes, there is a problem - but I have some solutions."

The Harris Cost Lawyer/Mahlab Recruitment survey found that one of the most pressing issues for in-house counsel was keeping aware of corporate activities that may have legal implications. In-house counsel needs to be able to find solutions to issues brought to them by their internal clients. They don't need external counsel to simply present them with barriers - too many external lawyers take the approach recommended in point 2 above.