Tips for In-House Counsel to Accelerate Growth

 

What is an In-House Counsel?

An emerging business or a company may have to encounter hurdles along its way. One such is the legal issues, which include contracts, employment issues, securities, mergers, and other like matters. An in-house counsel takes care of these complex legal issues and will act as the backbone of the business. In simple terms, a lawyer that works as an employee for a business or a company is an in-house counsel. They can be either part of a more extensive legal department or independent. The legal works may include drafting contracts, proofreading critical legal documents, and advising the legal aspects. 

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In addition to these legal works, they may also have to take part in executive-level decisions to deter the company’s risks. Most of the in-house counsel lawyers are generalists. They have access to the company’s core team. As they involve at all levels, they can foresee possible problems for the company and deter those hurdles. 

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What does an In-House Counsel Offer?

In-house counsel lawyers focus more on the business side and risks along with it. They are part of all the meetings and decisions to be well aware of the business they are involved in. This, in turn, helps in getting an in-depth idea and working of the business. 

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Moreover, since they have only one client, the business will get undivided focus from the in-house counsel. They have a close-knit connection with the business’s management team, which makes them the best to deal with legal issues. Another advantage is that there won’t be any conflict of interest as the in-house counsel not only looks out for the smooth running of the business but also impacts in the internal matters of business decision making.  An in-house counsel facilitates the business in the following ways:

• Offers Accurate Legal Advice

If a business uses counsel from outside to handle the legal issues, they would not have a proper understanding of the business and the problem. Even if they are experienced, it would not be easy to provide legal advice suiting to the business or company’s nature. 

On the other hand, an in-house counsel is an integral part of the business with intimate knowledge of the business as they have interacted closely with all the departments. Hence, they could provide more accurate legal advice. It also avoids friction due to differences of opinion among employers while dealing with important matters.
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• Prevents Unnecessary Litigation

Well experienced and knowledgeable in-house counsel can even stop potential legal issues before they materialize into something worse. They can educate the decision-makers of the business and minimize legal matters, and prevent other crises. A nuanced understanding of the business helps them advise on proper management of the business from a legal perspective. The solutions provided by them early in the process adds benefit and are much easier than getting external legal advice.

• Smooths out legal issues

Legal issues can emerge at any moment while running a business or a company. Therefore, it is crucial to have an in-house counsel who is always accessible. This can save valuable time, which can be used in focusing on the legal issues at hand rather than running behind finding a lawyer to represent the business or company. Right legal action at the earliest helps the business from further escalating to other issues. 

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• Checks on all Aspects of the Business 

An in-house counsel not only takes care of the legal issues in business. As mentioned above, a legal matter can have an impact on all other aspects of a business. Since in-house counsel involves various departments’ decision-making, they can foresee these issues and give valuable advice. Engaging with finance, marketing, strategies, operations, and human resources puts them in a unique position to offer advice. 

• Cost-effective

External law firms dealing with critical client matters related to business will be an expensive process. In-house counsel has a fixed cost provided by the business or company, but they are cost-effective when compared to external agencies. It also saves extra costs for travel and other necessary processes. The in-house counsel having an understanding of the business policies and strategies can make the job worthwhile.  

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Conclusion

Every business, large or small, is prone to legal issues. If it is not addressed properly, the business can be drastically affected, leading to paying huge amounts as compensation due to which the business would go on a loss. Therefore, in-house counsel is crucial for such legal matters to be dealt with with the utmost importance to protect the business and accelerate its growth.
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Five Events Solo and Small Law Firm

There is a lot of effort going into the legal industry today. And efficiency is the key for most solo lawyers and small law firms. With limited time and money, it is only a wise decision for all such solo lawyers and small law firms, to attend only the best legal conferences available.

Various legal events happen all over the world every year. Choosing and attending one of these law events can be a challenging one. So here we select five of the best legal events that will help you to grow your business.

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ABA Techshow

Technology is slowly becoming an integral part of law practice. Even in recent times, technology plays a vital role for lawyers. And this dependence on technology will only increase with time. Therefore ABA Techshow is one of the best legal events that a solo lawyer or a small law firm must attend.

ABA Techshow is one of the largest and industry-leading law conferences in the world. It brings thousands of lawyers every year from all over the world. An expo is also held along with the conference. The event generally takes place in Chicago every year. However, in 2021 a virtual event will take place due to the pandemic. The five days virtual event in 2021 begins on 8th March and will continue up to 12th March. Since it is a virtual event in 2021, you can attend this event from the comfort of your home.

According to its official website, a five-day pass for the conference and expo should cost between $25 and $295. However, if you want to attend the expo only, then it is free of cost. It is better, however, if you attend both the law conference and the expo.

ISBA Solo & Small Firm Conference

The Illinois State Bar Association’s (ISBA) conference for solo and small law firms is one of the best legal events dedicated to solo lawyers and small firms. Unlike other legal conferences, this one solely focuses on small firms and solo lawyers. From how to be a good leader to hot-topic issues in important practice areas, this conference has it all. It also includes topics on the use of technology and marketing in the legal field. 

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The conference generally takes place for three days. In 2021 it is scheduled to be held from 3rd June to 5th June. The event will take place in French Lick Resort, located in French Lick, Indiana, USA. The pricing of the event is yet to be announced. Kindly keep a check on the official website for more information.

Missouri Bar Solo & Small Firm Conference

The Missouri Bar Solo & Small firm conference (MOSOLO) is the granddaddy of all legal conferences for solo lawyers and small firms. Starting way back in 1996, it is the pioneer of all law conferences dedicated towards solo lawyers and small firms.

The basic structure of the event to include fun with learning has remained the same over the years. However, small incremental changes are made every year to keep it fresh. Unlike many other legal events, this conference also encourages members to bring families or friends with them to enjoy a vacation. 

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The conference invites participants from various fields including, business and corporate, family, ethics, juvenile, real estate, trust, and estate planning, and general practice. The number of participants who attend this conference has increased significantly. In 1996 this event started with only 250 people. However, in 2019, this number has increased to over 700 people. 

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As of date, the Missouri Bar is yet to announce the dates for the 2021 conference. The official dates will be available on the Missouri Bar website when announced.

LMA Annual Conference

The Legal Marketing Association (LMA) Annual Conference is another must-visit conference for all legal professionals. LMA brings together all types of industry specialists. As a solo lawyer or a small law firm, you must consider the business side of things along with all the litigations of your clients. Hence, this is one of the perfect marketing legal conferences that you can attend.

Each year this legal event offers an opportunity for around 1500+ lawyers and business professionals to participate in this event. They can connect with their peers to learn about some of the new challenges in the legal business side of things. The main focus of this conference is to be able to enable you to handle the business and marketing side of things. As a solo lawyer or a small law firm, you may not have a lot of employees, and attending such a conference surely helps.

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The LMA generally holds this annual conference sometime in March to April every year. However, in 2020 the pandemic delayed this event to October 2020. LMA is yet to announce the dates for the 2021 conference, which will be announced on its official website soon.

CodeX Future Law

Technology is changing the landscape of every industry, and the legal profession is no exception. Hence, the use of future technologies is the main focus of the CodeX Future Law Conference. The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics organizes this conference every year, with some of the prominent industry-leading people, who are shaping the future of law as its speakers.

Unlike any other legal event, this event is unique. It engages in cutting-edge technologies, with its applications in the legal field. Starting from the use of Artificial Intelligence to chatbots this conference has it all. The 2019 conference also included an optional section for The Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law and Policy, which is relatively new, and not many people know about it. Hence, you should definitely attend this conference, if you want to be on that bleeding edge of things related to law.

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The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics will host the 2021 conference on 8th April 2021 at the Stanford Law School. For more information, visit the official website.

Conclusion

So, here are five of the best legal events that you can attend in 2021. There are a lot more conferences that you can visit, but here are the select five that are the best for you. Some of the other important events which you can visit include the Clio Cloud Conference, Lawyernomics, and The Summit.

If all goes according to your schedule, attending at least one of these legal conferences regularly, you will most likely get more out of them. By involved in various networking and educational programs, it will be a good investment in your profession.

 

Why Is It Hard To Argue With Lawyers?

Lawyers are great at grabbing minimal fragmented irregularities and utilizing them to tear the contentions separated. Law is extremely demanding and mind centred work. A great many people are basically not used to or even ready to contend at this level.

Lawyers have since quite a while ago persevered through all ways of jokes and profoundly dug in social generalizations. There are numerous functional advantages to lawful preparation. The lawyers do not just see how to contend a point; they additionally know how to win the point. Fortunately displaying a powerful contention is educated expertise that has little to do with formal legitimate preparing and a considerable measure to do with a couple of useful techniques.

The following is a list of a few reasons why it is so hard to argue with a lawyer.

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1. They identify the issue and never deviate from it

Lawyers perceive the primary purpose of discourse and stay with it until the end of time. When somebody challenges the perspectives of a lawyer, their common response is to protect themselves with all accessible knowledge and information. They are more willful if the issue is a profoundly defensive one, for instance, identifying with issues like murder, domestic violence, human rights, equality issues, money-related issues and significantly more. An ordinary individual’s mind would not think about the conceivable outcomes however a lawyer’s brain knows all. A lawyer will adhere to this point and control everybody around. We can contend as much as we need however we will never win a contention until and unless we know how to contend like a lawyer.

The principal matter of worry here is that our level-headed discussion will rapidly and hopelessly get off from the current subject to one that does not advance the present issue by any means. This is the place it is simple for us to end up plainly lost in an ocean of disconnected issues.  Be that as it may, a lawyer’s point will be the same all throughout.

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2. They leave their emotions at home.

Feelings never win a controversy. When we feel firm about a subject, it is likely that our perspectives are educated by past individual encounters. A forceful carried away reaction to somebody testing these perspectives leaves us helpless against sentiments of individual assault, as well as we freely feel the burden of the moment. This can prompt outrage, hatred, envy or misery. We may continue searching for confirmations to shroud our feelings yet someplace or the other we tend to demonstrate them. Be that as it may, lawyers are experts. They keep their feelings bolted someplace safe. Regardless of what the worry is, they never let feelings stifle their point.

The feeling makes it troublesome for us to show a persuading situation. Negative presentations of non-verbal communication, for example, shouting, crying, moaning, eye-rolling, or ridiculing is a misuse of the mental vitality required to win our debate. It sustains the rival’s mental and enthusiastic safeguards. Lawyers comprehend this point exceptionally well and regardless of what feelings bound them, they never escape the situation.

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3. They never move away from their words

A technique regularly utilized by lawyers is that they never move away from their talking. They get their prey by understanding the recurrence of words in light of the fact that the individuals who have constrained contentious abilities tend to roll the words. The guilty party tries to get off the brain of a lawyer by drawing him into insignificant points. Presenting an auxiliary conversational topic is frequently an endeavour to move the conversational scene to endeavours in which he/she is happier to talk about.

For a lawyer, the verbal confrontation never moves far from the focal issue to comparable sub-issues. They generally return to their original theme and never leave undealt with.

Government officials regularly utilize the methodology of moving from their topics, however, lawyers never do this. The outcome is around open deliberation that neglects to advance the first point or arrive at any strong conclusions. Lawyers are constantly careful about this reality.

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Conclusion

A lawyer’s capacity to win a contention can be summed up by a couple of key aptitudes-

•    sorting out thoughts
•    conveying them effectively.

Keeping the exchanges in the correct way by seeing precisely what the theme of level-headed discussion is, is the secret to the lawyers’ system.

Regardless of what procedures the opponent uses to divert, threaten or move the conversational ground underneath. Lawyers continually take the topic back to the first point.

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How To Find An Right Attorney By Specialty?

Finding the right lawyer can be an alarming assignment, and picking the wrong lawyer can have unscrupulous outcomes. The quick tip is to pick your lawyer in the same way as you would select any specialist. Finding a decent lawyer might be the most critical advance you can take towards winning a legitimate case. You will need to take as much time as necessary with the pursuit. Concentrate your endeavors to find a good lawyer that has managed your particular legitimate issue previously and that you feel comfortable with. Setting aside the opportunity to locate the correct lawyer will be justified, despite all the trouble, as they will probably enable you to win your case.

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One of the quick tips to find a lawyer is that you need to discover somebody who is experienced and can surely deal with the kind of case you want. Beyond any doubt you can discover many and enticing alternatives however quickly picking the correct one could here and there be an overwhelming errand to do.

1. Determine the sort of lawyer you require

Depending on your circumstance, you require a legal advisor that can walk you through the procedure very well. It isn’t good to employ a lawyer who deals with large firm concerns merely for a family issue. In instances of financial cases, you certainly require a lawyer with involvement in taking care of such confusion. In instances of a family dispute, you require an attorney that essentially sees the family law, has the experience, and offers moderate administrations. The idea of your lawful issue will decide the kind of lawyer you have to procure. Most lawyers gather their training in specific fields, for example, family law, criminal law, individual damage law, insolvency, or common cause. Accordingly, it is essential to counsel a lawyer with ability and involvement in the training territory for which you require his administrations.

2. Check out your financial plan in connection with the lawful administration that you require

You most unquestionably don’t expect to burn through a large number of dollars on a little case. The lawful administrations you need will decide the sum you will pay as a cost of the legitimate administrations. Continuously look for lawyers who you think you can afford. Ensuring the accuracy of the financial plan is the second quickest tip to find a lawyer.

3. Search the Internet Precisely

The Internet has developed to become an amazing platform to find anything that we want. You can also utilize the Internet to assemble data and approve referrals. An all-around refreshed site talks a million words about a particular lawyer. With the names surfed and selected, you may choose to give the selected lawyer a visit to their office to approve some data about them. These days certain websites additionally help us to effortlessly interface with various lawyers. One such website is myadvo.in.

4. Check out legal advisor appraisals

You have to take this data carefully as some great legal advisors are appraised ineffectively on the grounds that they have chosen not to promote themselves or their organizations with a specific website. On the other hand, since some lawyers pay for their reputation, they are rated nicely. Make sure that you check if the ratings are true or not.

5. Review online postings of lawyers

Numerous sites offer free surveys of organizations. A few spots to search for legal counselor audits include- LegalZoom, Rocketlawyer, Avvo.com, etc. A few websites, for example, LawHelp.org, concentrate on helping low-wage people find lawyers. Cross-reference audits from more than one website enable you to counter any predisposition while searching.

6. Choose a lawyer that you are contented with

Besides the knowledge and solid information of the law that the lawyer has, pick a lawyer with who you feel that you would coexist and like working. In the event that the lawyer makes you awkward in any capacity, you ought to pick somebody distinctive. Additionally, consider how well the lawyer addressed your inquiries. On the off chance that he or she delayed or didn’t take care of your needs, it is better to pick another person. On the off chance that more than one lawyer has the capabilities you are searching for, you ought to pick the one that you feel most comfortable with.

7. References

Another quick tip to find a lawyer is to speak with our near and dear ones. References from companions, relatives, neighbors, business partners, etc are the ideal approach to find a lawyer. Our known people have no personal stake, money related or something else, in prescribing a specific lawyer and can convey any positives or issues they experienced in their dealings with a specific lawyer. The ideal approach to discovering a lawyer is through informal exchange and references. Wide varieties exist in the aptitude level and mastery of every legal counselor. So proposals from companions and associates are a decent approach to find quality legitimate ability.

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Do follow these quick tips to find a lawyer easily!

 

6 Time Management Tips For Busy Lawyers

INTRODUCTION

Everyone has the same 24 hours to create a difference in living. These 24 hours a day need to use very efficiently to get a competitive advantage. Time is the most essential factor. Being a lawyer is a tough business because you have a lot to complete in a very limited period of time. Filing a single document may look easy but it requires loads of research, background work, and understanding of the law. With many cases and the double amount of work in each case, time management is important. In this article, the importance of time management and how effectively time should be managed is discussed.

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IMPORTANCE OF TIME MANAGEMENT

To accomplish any target within a shorter period of time, time should be managed in a way where tasks are completed with quality. This not only helps to attain deadlines but also to build focus, explore more opportunities and reduce stress. This helps in bringing positive change in life, both personally and professionally. The most valuable resource of any lawyer is time. Once wasted will never come back. Lawyers are always busy with research, drafting, preparing arguments, preparing for meetings, meetings with clients, communications with clients, filing of documents, etc. With such high expectations and much less time, lawyers often set back themselves.

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Track the time that you actually use to work and the time we just waste in order to work. The 24 hours of a day can be distributed with 6 hours of rest, 6 hours of recreation which still leaves us with 12 hours of working. This time if utilized in a fashion which we think can work wonders. Learning some of the tips can help us identify the areas where we need to work on and how time can be managed.

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SOME IMPORTANT TIME MANAGEMENT TIPS

1. Prioritize wisely:

Not every task which comes up need to complete immediately. Every task which needs to be completed can be categorized as per the deadline and urgency of the matter to be completed. Starting a day with a to-do list for the day helps us prioritize the works which need our urgent attention. Making a to-do list is easy but following the same is difficult.

2. Track your time:

Fix a time to complete all the assigned tasks and make sure the tasks are completed accordingly. Fix a time to reply to all your email communications. Fix a time to read the latest updates of the case. Minimize interruptions, this is the most important aspect of doing a job within a specific time. Take up a task, plan the time which will be required to complete the task and during that task stay away from any form of disturbances or interruptions like calls, social media, etc.

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3. Reduce task-switching:

It takes time to establish and re-establish the tasks. So complete one task and then switch to the other. The requirement for one task is not the same as the other. Some may require research work while other tasks may require drafting. The shifting just wastes our time and makes the work lengthy and does not reduce the workload. Delegation is important and you do not need to do everything by yourself.

4. Important to say no:

Sometimes telling the truth is better than leaving someone hanging. If a task is taken up for which we are not prepared or we do not have time, then it is better to say no than to pile up the work and ultimately complete no task effectively. Also, for every event a person is invited to, it is important to attend the same.

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5. Learn to control meetings and calls:

Some meetings run for the entire day and then at the end of which there is no productive result coming of it, so in short, the entire day seems to be wasted. This point can be solved in two ways, firstly decide upon the point to be discussed in the meeting and make a list of it. Yes, the list cannot be taken as exhaustive in nature but certainly can give a structure to the meeting. There are situations where the meeting is heading otherwise but not the main point, in this scenario, take up the task of bringing back the meeting on track. The same goes for calls, avoid getting into calls of unlimited duration.

6. Prepare for the unexpected also

There may be times when the last moment urgent case might come up which requires your immediate attention. If a person plans unrealistically or overbooks a person then it gets really difficult to attend the last-minute urgencies.

So have some time in your book of management to deal with urgencies and still manage the time for those tasks which have their deadlines.

We spend an ample amount of time doing nothing, and not realizing that we are wasting time. So primarily understanding the essence of time is important. Only then we can plan to use it and invest in tasks that are necessary. If you are still confused, then there are many courses and seminars available which teach us how to effectively manage and utilize time.

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CONCLUSION

If I ask you to be ahead of time, it may sound unrealistic but it is true. If a task is deadlines for a month from now, start working on it half an hour daily and not at the last moment. This way we save ourselves from deadlines, also save time and be prepared for urgent matters. Keeping a record of the time spent on various tasks helps us understand what will be the time required in the future for the same task.

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