Legal work can be necessarily reactive–we’re often responders, whether to litigation, regulatory inquiries, contract requests, privacy issues, new product questions, or anything else. But “put out whichever fire is burning hottest” is not a recipe for long-term success, at the individual, team, or company level. 

How do we want to work? Just what kind of Legal team do we want to be?

A few principles:

1. Ask the hard questions.
2. Break down roadblocks and connect people. 
3. Understand customers’ needs and priorities. 
4. Engage on the highest impact work. 

1. Ask the hard questions

We say the quiet part out loud.

Risks cannot be uncovered and understood unless all relevant information is laid bare. We probe the depths of our business decisions and reach for the edge cases. We do this by being unafraid to ask questions, and then being unsatisfied until we have full answers. Sometimes these questions may not be welcome, or may result in an unexpected reevaluation of the path being taken, and we’re okay with that.

We speak up and are comfortable with being uncomfortable. We will always do it respectfully and with a collaborative intent.

While this approach can create temporary discomfort, it will help ensure teams reach the best solutions based on the right information.

2. Break down roadblocks and connect people. 

We help people help each other.

We are not a silo. The legal team occupies an enviable perch within a company–we touch nearly every part of the business. This gives us particular insight into what disparate teams are doing and their typical practices. We bring this knowledge to all of our interactions. We explain what other teams are doing and facilitate connections that help both teams improve.

We are unblockers. We will escalate an issue where necessary, or pilot a respectful conversation amongst teams that may have competing priorities. When necessary, we go above and beyond legal-related tasks to help ensure others have the resources and information they need to create the best products they can.

3. Understand customers’ needs and priorities. 

We care about customers.

The company is an in-house legal team’s client, and a common trap for legal teams is the belief that they are therefore responsive only to the company and not its customers. In other words, “customer” for legal teams is often narrowly defined as the company and its employees. 

Our Legal team understands that “customers” has multiple meanings for us and we can best serve the company by also serving its users.

In everything we do, it is necessary and useful to ask ourselves what the law requires, what risks may be present, and what our advice may mean for our business goals. End users also must be part of that thought process. This will sometimes be obvious–for example, when advising on how to design a checkout flow that is intuitive and informative. Other times it may be less obvious, like when negotiating a vendor contract or handling an employment issue. But in everything we do we must ask ourselves, how does this ultimately enable the goal of serving its customers? And if it doesn’t serve that goal, that work may not be the right use of the Legal team’s energies.

Regardless of the directness of the customer benefit, we will always strive to understand customers and to bear in mind that ultimately there are real people using our products. The Legal team bears responsibility for the success of that experience in the same way engineers and designers do. 

4. Engage on the highest impact work. 

We do the work that matters most.

We are and will remain a lean team. There is always more work than there are people to complete it. We will ruthlessly prioritize to ensure that our focus is on the issues that are most impactful. We will take a long-term view of impact and arrange our work accordingly.

Our engagement will not run in proportion to risk quantification. Some risks may be large but well understood and so less in need of our attention. Other risks may be smaller but more acute, more imminent, or more opaque, and so more in need of Legal’s discerning eye. We will be transparent and candid regarding our prioritization, and will clearly communicate to anyone seeking help what they can expect in working with us.

5. We respect all others…and ourselves.

We treat everyone with respect.

Whether it’s the CEO or the newest employee coming to us, we take all questions and requests seriously. A quick first response is not about meeting an SLA–it’s to acknowledge the time and care the person took to think about a legal issue and reach out to us. We show respect by being responsive and setting clear expectations and then meeting those expectations–or being candid about why we can’t do so.

We build trust through knowledge, insight, and collaboration. People will be willing repeat customers of ours not because they have to be, but because they know their own work is improved through collaboration with Legal and because their experiences with us are positive and fulfilling. 

We will always be kind to everyone, which does not mean we will always agree with them. We will proactively and loudly admit our own mistakes and kindly and quietly help others understand theirs. We have strong opinions but our minds are easily changed by superior arguments, relevant data, and new information.

We will be kind to ourselves. We understand that we do not always have the answers, and that we cannot guide every issue to a satisfactory resolution. We will take time off and put our phones down. We support each other and take care of ourselves.