Resource Library

The cloud should be about more than making your legal department run smoothly. Today’s technology can bring acceptable levels of risk if the solution promotes business transparency and collaboration with global suppliers.

David Hirschfield, legal director for Galliard Homes in the United Kingdom (London’s largest private housebuilder), and recently honored as a Rising Star at the European Counsel Awards 2016, comes from a family of lawyers, and says he was exposed to legal discussions from an early age.

ACC understands that its members want to hear from fellow in-house counsel and learn from their practical advice on how to address matters of common concern. I further learned early on that the Intellectual Property Committee offers access to education and programming covering all areas of intellectual property.

I’ve held business and legal positions throughout my career, but in-house always seemed more interesting and active because we are involved in the success of the business.

Big data is a top-of-mind priority for in-house counsel. In fact, the ACC Chief Legal Officers 2018 Survey found that data breaches and the protection of corporate data keeps 70 percent of respondents up at night.

Two of my current roles continually teach me about corporate compliance. One role obviously performs this function, namely as in-house counsel with responsibilities for internal investigations and compliance advice.

It seems to me I get an awful lot of coworkers in my office who want to either vent about the company, their jobs, or even ask questions about personal legal matters.

As an in-house lawyer, it can be easy to get into a reputational rut at work. After working at one company for a while, you become known merely as “so-and-so, from legal.” But there are great career benefits to building a reputation in your own right at work.

John Harrison, general counsel for aeronautics group Airbus, has been a longtime advocate for the importance of the general counsel's position within the company.

Microsoft Assistant General Counsel Dennis Garcia has many roles — including an active Twitter user. Even though Twitter is an established social media platform, many lawyers still don’t have a strong Twitter presence.