In-house at an IGO: the keys to success

In my latest interview with a lawyer who has created a rewarding career for herself, I spoke with a senior lawyer on the in-house legal team at an intergovernmental organisation (IGO). She oversees a team responsible for a wide range of issues including staff disputes, intellectual property and procurement contracts.

Read on to learn from her about what it takes to be a successful in-house lawyer, including the art of delegating and how to stay calm even when the pressure runs high.

How did you end up where you are today?

I started my career as a litigation associate at a large corporate firm in New York and stayed until I was a senior associate. It was great litigation training, but it wasn't a career that was particularly family-friendly.

I decided to take some time out of the workforce after having a child. When I wanted to get back into the workforce, I applied to work for an IGO after I learned that IGOs essentially have internal litigation practices that work within their internal dispute resolution system. In my first role, I was hired to review and help update an IGO’s rules and regulations, which led to a job in a neutral position as a legal adviser to a peer review dispute resolution body. That allowed me to fully use the skills I gained over my years in private practice, but with a leaner, more constrained universe of laws to worry about. Also, interestingly, you have some input into the development of those rules. For example, you could advise changing a particular regulation if you observed that it wasn’t having the intended effect or that it was having unintended consequences.

Later, I joined the legal department itself of an IGO. And I found that intriguing because, in addition to litigation, it also involved policy work and giving advice on a broader set of issues.

Was there anything you missed about law firm work?

There are moments when there isn't time for the fulsome research and preparation that you wish you could do before advising on something. In a firm you  are more likely to be able to say, “Let's put in whatever resources it takes for our team to get this right." There is a certain rigour and comfort level in that. After a while, though, I started to really enjoy the challenge of a smaller team with a broad portfolio, and over time you do gain expertise and start to feel more comfortable giving advice quickly when you need to, and learning when you need to hire outside counsel or come up with some other solution.

What are some of the other challenges of being an in-house lawyer?

Your clients are your counterparts in other parts of the organisation, and you get to know them very, very well. And so there's often a little tug and pull of exactly who is responsible for what and an effort on the clients’ part to sometimes stretch what should be the proper responsibility of the lawyers.

For example, we advise on the legal aspects of policy development. Although we're not the ones responsible for deciding what the direction of the policy should be, sometimes that's exactly what our colleagues wish we would do. I do appreciate the fact that the legal department is called upon to do that, because it's a reflection of the fact that we are known for having common sense and good judgment. But you do have to resist a bit of mission creep.

What do you think allows you to be successful as an in-house lawyer?

Always being measured and prioritising good judgment above all else. Managing expectations.

On a more practical level:  It helps to be able to juggle and multitask, to be able to move from one matter to another during the course of a day and not become upset if you get pulled away from one thing you're trying to work on and have to work on another. You have to keep track of everything that's open. One thing that that can really ruin your reputation for reliability is when emails just go missing. It's not that you need to respond immediately, but you shouldn't have lost track.

With your important counterparts, both in your own team and with the clients, you need to set up a regular and systematic way to catch up from time to time. What you don't want is just the occasional ad hoc, “Hey, whatever happened with X, Y, Z?” An email like that creates stress for the poor recipient. You don't want too many meetings during your day—you have to have some time to think—but it's good to have regular catch-ups and stocktaking with your regular counterparts.

You have a reputation for being able to stay calm under all circumstances. How do you manage that?

Sometimes experience allows you to realise that everything isn't the end of the world. It’s important to be able to step back and trust yourself to be able to figure out a solution if people will just give you a minute to think about it. I think another part of staying calm is trying to keep interpersonal relationships as cordial and professional as possible — not being one of those people who reads an email that seems to have an edge to it and immediately takes offense: maybe they just wrote it too quickly.

What are some of the key skills that you rely on today that you wished you had developed earlier?

Being very consultative helps so much. I think in the earlier days I took more on myself with every question that came along. You get a better product and it’s a more enjoyable path to get there when you draw on the talents and expertise around you as much as you can and really try to turn as many of your tasks as possible into more of a team effort.

Many people struggle with delegation. Do you have any tips for how to delegate effectively to more junior lawyers?

Delegation is not about foisting off work to somebody, which is the mistake some people make at the beginning. It's about actually putting in the time to develop somebody else's skills. It's basically a long-term investment in training and development of that person to the point where they become a very important colleague. So in the early days, you may be very hands-on with it and it actually takes more time than it would have taken to do it yourself.

What's some of the best advice that you have ever gotten?

In my first full-time job at an IGO, I was so happy and I was just coasting along with it. People said to me, “it's great that you're doing this, but for your own career, you should think about what you can do next, because you don't want to keep doing the same thing over and over.” Since then, I have picked up and left behind a couple of comfortable and enjoyable enough situations, and when I've moved to something new and challenging, it has ended up being really rejuvenating and made my work life more interesting.

I would advise, especially in today's world, where it's not really an expectation that you stay in the same place and do the same thing your entire career, that even if things are going well, go ahead and be ready to make a change. Even if it takes effort and maybe a little rejection, try to make a change from time to time and get a new perspective and a new lease on working life.

Do you have any advice for people who are thinking about working in IGOs?

If a particular IGO intrigues you, take a look at its website, get to know what it does. What is its mission, and does it resonate with you? What does their legal department look like—is it large or is it very small? See where you can make a good case for your own background—which area of practice might your skills be transferrable to?—and then start looking at what kind of vacancies they have and be fully aware of what it would mean in terms of lifestyle. If you're working at a big firm, you may be talking about a pay cut.

Jon wants to hear from you

Are you currently reflecting on how to gain more satisfaction from your career? Or are you a fulfilled lawyer who would like to share anonymously your story with others who are struggling to find their own way?