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Managing budgets in big companies could be seen at the same time as art and as a challenge. And art should never be under pressure.

In recent years, in-house legal teams have faced growing pressure to manage budgets more effectively while maintaining high standards of service. In this article, I will share best practices for managing legal budgets, and address trends, challenges, and strategies that have shaped the budgeting landscape for in-house legal teams.

M&A transactions involve numerous legal, financial, and operational challenges. As in-house counsel, we are responsible for businesses’ right risk allocation and risk mitigation, while we bear significant responsibility in ensuring the deal progresses smoothly and can be closed successfully. Given this high responsibility, effective collaboration with external counsel is crucial to navigating these high-stakes deals and ensuring a smooth and successful transaction. Drawing from my experience, I will share best practices for selecting, collaborating with, and managing external counsel during M&A projects to achieve optimal outcomes and make your life easier in the post-closing and integration stages.

Working with external counsel can be a crucial aspect of managing legal issues, especially for companies that need specialized expertise or extra support for their in-house legal team. To make the most of these collaborations, it’s important to follow some best practices that ensure efficiency, alignment with business goals, and cost-effectiveness. Here’s my straightforward guide to help work effectively with external legal experts.

From staying loyal to specific lawyers irrespective of the brand they work under to focusing on fixed fees, Selvita General Counsel and Executive Management Board Member Dawid Radziszewski shares his best practices in terms of working with external counsel.

From relying on chemistry to counting on reputation being representative, Zito Director of Legal Affairs and General Services Tamara Mohoric Selak talks about how she picks her external “firefighters” and how she nurtures long-term collaborations with them.

Bringing in external counsel can flip legal headaches into big wins, protecting your interests and pushing your goals forward. But how do you make sure your partnership with legal experts goes beyond just getting the job done? The magic happens when you master working with external counsel – mixing careful planning with lively communication to reach new heights of legal success.

I have always been passionate about learning languages, traveling, and getting to know people from different cultures. While studying in law school in my hometown Warsaw, Poland, I applied for the Erasmus Student Exchange scholarship. I went to Stockholm, Sweden, to study law for one year. This year turned into more than a decade, during which I earned an LL.M. in IP law and worked as in-house legal counsel and as Head of Legal for Swedish IT/SaaS companies with global operations. Now I am back in Warsaw, but I am still working internationally.

Navigating the complexities of managing multinational legal teams requires a blend of strategic foresight, robust communication skills, and a profound understanding of diverse legal frameworks. Drawing on over two decades of experience, former Paysafe Associate General Counsel Christopher Fischer shared during the 2024 CEE General Counsel Summit his strategies for aligning diverse teams toward a unified goal, emphasizing the necessity of effective leadership in the globalized legal environment of the time.

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