Canadian Lawyer InHouse

JULY/AUGUST 2019 24 INHOUSE acumen, being a good leader, manager. And I think the last and most important thing is just having a good moral compass and mak- ing sure that you're stewarding the company in the right direction. GOKHALE I think the relationship should always be at a level of peers. But whether it's a startup or as the company's evolving, there are other executives that may have a differ - ent view and a different relationship with legal from their previous lives. So, there's always that challenge that you have to deal with as your company is growing. LEUNG I would go actually a step further and say that, sometimes, relationships are very, very difficult. Because I think being the GC and being in the legal group is dif- ferent from every other department in that part of my job is to know what's going on in their departments. And part of my job is to stick my nose in and ask questions. Part of my job is to actually say, "I don't think you should do it like that, why don't we do it like this?" Whereas nobody in marketing is go - ing to ask me and say, "I don't think you're doing your minute books right." It's always me sticking my nose in their business, and some people are receptive to it and others not always. I think it's a very difficult job because nobody else has that role where it's your job to check on others. FORREST I sit on the executive team. I meet with all the executives separately and so very much have a seat at the table both for near- term issues but also setting strategy for the campaign. I think that is important because it allows you to see what's coming and to make minor shifts in the approach in order to avoid what might become speed bumps down the road. InHouse: When you went in-house, what were your expectations, what were the company's and how have those changed? FORREST When you're the first lawyer hired into a company, especially a company like mine that was growing quite quickly, there's a little bit of, "Oh, so now we need an in-house lawyer, what's that going to be like? Is this really something we need?" There was a period of time we were building up trust and showing how you can help the business. Once you've done that, they start to see you as an asset, they start to see ways you can help make more effective decisions, you can save money and you build up the trust that way. LEUNG I am the second GC at Bluecat, which is great because there's somebody out there to lay the foundation of what it is that I do. But this was my first GC role. And because we're a little bit smaller, we're a technology company, it's got that fluid feel to it, there are a lot of executives there that didn't really know how to interact with le - gal. And, so, I thought that was great, be- cause it allowed me basically to write my own job description. I can do what I want. And, frankly, there's more work than there is bandwidth, so I get to pick and choose and prioritize among all the different things. JUMA We were around for 92 years, and they hadn't had a lawyer at all, so I was try- ing to carve [out] my own niche. Actuaries are generally good risk managers. They were either doing things themselves or hiring external counsel or ignoring their problem completely. I thought, as my role, it's important to come out there and roll up my sleeves and kind of elbow [in] and make sure I'm adding value from day one. And in retrospect, that was probably the wrong ap - proach. I think it's really important to man- age change, especially when you're brand new in a role and in an organization that's been around for so long. If I were going to give advice to brand new general counsel, it's to have an approach for day one, for day 30 and for day 90 and have a transition in place so you're managing that change easily. What's easy for some of us was probably a lot of low-hanging fruit. So, the ability to identify that need and capitalize on that to get your quick wins early on. HARNICK Unlike everyone else here, I came into a fully baked legal department. I was not the first GC. So, there were some prescribed procedures and things as a public company that I knew that I had to do every quarter. And those were the first things on my list. The biggest surprise and the most pleasant surprise is that, as a general coun - sel, you have the ability to influence, so you might not make decisions for other people, but you can really influence how people think about a specific topic or the decision that they ultimately make. That's one of the most rewarding parts. InHouse: You all came from private practice. How does the change make you feel about your work every day? GOKHALE I find the best lawyers that you work with are those that make their clients' problems their problems; they're just very invested in wanting to make sure that the cli- ents' problems are resolved. But I think the difference when you're in this role is it really is your problem. It really is not your clients' problem, it is your problem. And, so, I think that comes with a lot of reward and satisfac - tion, when you're looking toward execution on something or resolving something. JUMA It wasn't until I landed this general counsel position that I have 100-per-cent job satisfaction. I think developing the skillset in our general counsel role, we're privileged to see the complete viewpoint of the entire organization, and transactional lawyers see a little portion of it, a little snippet, and they get like a really sexy portion of the legal work. We're in a really neat position to see the entire lifecycle of a product or service. LEUNG I liked finding out that I am very practical and very comfortable with risk. That's something I didn't know when I was in private practice because you don't get to exercise that muscle. But I love being part of the company and knowing it so well. And knowing how it operates and how the people work. And what it is that you do that you can make snap decisions left, right and centre and be completely comfortable with them. I think that's what makes us differ - ent from private practice lawyers. It's a gift

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