Lessons from 260 Conversations with In‑House Legal Leaders

Lessons from 260 Conversations with In‑House Legal Leaders

Over the last two and a half years I’ve spoken to about 10 to 12 in‑house legal professionals every month. I’ll do the math for you — that’s roughly 260 in‑house legal professionals, give or take. About half of those were general counsels, in industries ranging from big, big organizations (I can’t name them due to confidentiality, but suffice to say they’re major players in major industries).

These are the people who make the decisions about the legal aspects of large organizations. I’ve spoken to people in the U.S., Canada, Chile, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Netherlands. I’ve noticed some patterns and learned some things over these two and a half years and 260 or so conversations.

This is not part of any study in particular. I have participated in various studies, but this is not the viewpoint of my employer or colleagues — just my own takeaways. And again, I won’t name names in the interest of confidentiality. Here’s what I’ve learned about people like that — people who hire other people, and more specifically people high up in the hierarchies of large, influential organizations — and the types of people they like to work with.

1. People Like Responsiveness

At least the people I’ve spoken to really like responsiveness. That has been one of the most common things I hear, an overwhelming amount of the time. I wouldn’t put a number on it, but we could say an overwhelming amount of the time people like a prompt reply.

I’m mindful of that in my own practices, both at Thomson Reuters and for my own company. If somebody sends you an email or a message somewhere, respond as soon as you can. It’s often really not that big a deal — it just takes a minute. Usually you only need a few sentences.

I often just use voice‑to‑text on my phone so it only takes a short amount of time, and I can take care of what I need to take care of. I’m in the business of doing outreach, and I can tell you you’re much more likely to get a participant for your studies when you reply quickly to messages or emails you’ve sent. That’s been consistent over the last two and a half years, both from the feedback I hear and from my own experience.

2. Competence Is Extremely Important

People absolutely value competence. It’s an essential ingredient. People like to work with people who know what they’re doing. They don’t generally want to have to worry about whether you’re going to do a good job. They want to hand over what needs to be handed over and trust the person to do the right thing.

I hear a lot of feedback about how much one person admires another person for their expertise. The phrase I hear most often is “subject matter expertise.” People want you to know their niche.

3. People Like to Work With People Who Are Nice to Work With

That may sound obvious, but people like to work with humans. Someone who shows up as themselves, who is authentic, relatable, and empathetic. Basically, the same qualities you’d want in a good friend or colleague — those are good in any working relationship.

Be a human. Be honest. Be open but professional. Don’t be afraid to make a few jokes, comment on how the weather’s been bad, whatever. You don’t have to be best friends, but you do need to acknowledge the other person as just another person — even in a professional setting.

Sometimes these relationships do become more personable and friendly, and even friendships develop while working together. People like that even more — they trust people they can be friends with.

How Organizations Choose Who They Work With

Another takeaway I have is that organizations will respect you whether you go deep in a specific niche or go broad.

Some organizations really value deep expertise in a particular topic. In the legal area that could mean acquisitions or litigation, for example. If a firm is really good at a particular type of litigation, people value that.

Other organizations prefer partners who can take care of a lot of their needs across a wide area. That’s why many large organizations like working with big law firms — they have legal needs in many countries, sometimes dozens or more. Large law firms can provide those services directly, or have subsidiaries or partners in those countries.

Many large organizations don’t have lawyers in every country where they operate. In smaller markets, they may not have an attorney on staff at all. In those cases, a large international firm with representation in that country — or at least the knowledge to cover that market — becomes valuable.

It’s just a case of different needs requiring different services:

• If it’s a very specialized need, they want a specialist.
  
  

• If it’s broad or multinational, they want someone who can cover a lot of ground.
  
  

Wrapping It Up

So to sum it up:

• People like responsiveness.
  
  

• People value competence.
  
  

• People like working with people who are nice to work with.
  
  

And when it comes to the organizations themselves: some want specialists, others want broad‑capability partners who can cover a lot of needs.

That’s what I’ve learned from 260 conversations over two and a half years with in‑house legal leaders at some of the biggest organizations in the world.

Copyright © 2025 Ryan Badertscher. All rights reserved.