Shortly after the early years of my career, I moved from the attorneys’ world (more precisely, clerks’) into the world of corporate lawyers. The difference between the two became apparent early on. At least for me, the big difference was that, while working as an attorney, I was in contact with the client only in bursts. As an in-house legal counsel, there is essentially a continuous relationship between lawyers and business colleagues. This continuous relationship results in a kind of interdependence – working together both in good and bad times, celebrating joint successes but also facing challenges together.
When I got to my current workplace, Market Epito Zrt, the main expectation of me and my team was that we would provide continuous cooperation and support to colleagues. Based on the feedback received, this goal was well met. How? In this article, I will give some practical advice and ideas – primarily based on personal experiences.
First, it is in the common interest that all relevant colleagues know the legal provisions necessary for their work. That way, they do what is legally appropriate and correct even without close legal control. One way of ensuring this is legal education, during which relevant colleagues receive legal training at regular intervals. Another is when, in connection with specific projects, we teach the most important legal information (primarily contractual provisions) of a given project to colleagues working on that project. The latter is particularly useful, as it helps relevant colleagues understand what and how they should manage their projects.
Second, engage in legislation monitoring, in the course of which new and changing legislation is presented to colleagues in a comprehensive and understandable manner. This enables colleagues to always perform their work in accordance with current regulations.
Third, prepare sample documentation and policies. In order for our colleagues to be able to carry out their daily work without the support of the Legal Department, we prepare sample documentation and continuously expand its list, as needed. If a colleague uses the sample documentation without changes, the given contract does not need to be subject to legal approval. The internal policies also support colleagues in knowing what they should and can do. We hold classroom and online trainings for colleagues on the most important policies.
Fourth, one of my most important requests to the lawyers working in my team is that they constantly and proactively manage and supervise the tasks assigned to them. In my understanding, all of this means that our lawyers do not only provide legal support but also provide all manners of other support for the entire company to operate efficiently. In doing so, they monitor the most important project milestones, notify colleagues when such a milestone is approaching and inform them of what they need to do, participate in closings of projects, provide continuous consultation opportunities, etc. I believe that it is more effective even for us, as lawyers, to provide this support even if it is not always legal in nature as this way we can avoid facing a more serious legal issue later on.
Fifth, have an open-door policy. All members of the Legal Department are available in all circumstances, we address our colleagues with maximum openness, and we try to help them in everything. In my experience, this significantly strengthens trust in lawyers.
Sixth, keep in mind that all the above are worthless if the legal service itself is not of a high standard. In other words, one of the most important keys to our success is ensuring that the legal support we provide is always at the highest possible standard. This really is a basic expectation of all members of the Legal Department.
Seventh, as the cherry on the cake, our Legal Department takes an active role in the life of our company. We regularly hold team-building events and have created the tradition of holding the Love your lawyer day! event at the beginning of November every year for years now. That is the day when all lawyers make cakes and scones and we invite all the company’s employees to our office for a chat and to get to know each other. I am happy to say that this initiative is a great success. More and more colleagues visit us every year and we feel how much they love and appreciate us within the company.
With the help of all of these, we managed to ensure that, within Market, lawyers are not seen as an obstacle to an efficient operation but, on the contrary, we are respected and highly valued members of the entire organization. Of course, this requires legal colleagues with excellent professional skills and with a good attitude, without them it would certainly not be possible to implement any of the above. The key to success lies primarily in a good team and in good people!
By Andras Levai, Group Legal Director, Market Epito
