Experienced general counsel Sterling Miller is quick to acknowledge legal professionals are often resistant to change.

But the former legal chief said that times of uncertainty, such as those presented by a difficult economic climate, are a good time for legal departments to show their willingness to adapt.

As an example, Miller highlighted how one of his prior legal teams took the initiative to rewrite from the ground up a SaaS contract the company had been using for many years and that had generated some complaints.

Miller said the department worked to make the contract as short as possible, easier to understand through the use of plain English and more balanced so that it was easier for parties to sign.

The in-house legal team also shared the project’s completion with other internal departments who were likely to benefit, as well as the executive team.

The reworked agreement received positive feedback from the business, Miller said, and helped show Legal was not “an inflexible cost center that is of dubious value.”

“If the business sees you as a group that changes and adapts and leads, they're much more likely to appreciate what they have,” he said.

Miller, the CEO and senior counsel at the Hilgers Graben law firm, shared this advice during an April 19 session of the General Counsel Institute hosted by UC Berkeley Law Executive Education.

His talk was titled “How to be Successful in Times of Uncertainty and Change,” a timely subject given the current state of the economy and the rapid pace of AI-powered technological innovation.

Aligning priorities

Miller, a three-time GC and author of the “Ten Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel” blog, said properly prioritizing work is another essential activity for legal departments in challenging times.

One approach he found helpful as a legal chief was directly asking the executive team what key tasks they wanted his team to focus on in the week ahead.

He could then take the information he received and share it with his in-house department to divvy up the work.

As tasks were completed or new issues arose that needed attention, the legal team would update business stakeholders on its progress and seek further direction. 

The back-and-forth proved fruitful for Legal’s relationship with company leadership, according to Miller.

“The business started to view us as partners in terms of focusing on the right things, at the right time, with the right amount of effort,” he said.

Scrutinizing spending

Legal leaders also need to be especially mindful about budgeting during difficult economic times, according to Miller, who served as GC at Marketo, Sabre and Travelocity.com.

A key part of reviewing the legal department budget is examining the use of outside counsel and the attendant costs of doing so.

This examination may result in the legal team determining that some work could instead be brought in-house.

For those matters that still require assistance from a law firm, legal departments may want to try implementing alternative fee arrangements rather than sticking with the traditional billable hour model amid rising hourly rates. He provided some examples of alternative fee approaches in a recent blog post.

Additionally, Miller said it’s important for in-house teams to build strong relationships with the finance department.

One way he did so as a legal chief was to have a member of the finance department attend his monthly budget meetings, which provided them a window into Legal’s rationale for its budgeting decisions.

“Having someone on your side in the finance team I think is really critical when it comes to avoiding getting your budget slashed,” Miller said.

Positive attitude

While lawyers can’t control the circumstances that present challenges for their legal departments, they can control how they respond, said Miller.

He suggested that one way in-house counsel can maintain their sanity in tough times is by demonstrating a sense of humor, including by poking fun at themselves.

Miller said maintaining a positive, can-do attitude is another key soft skill for legal professionals facing difficult situations.

“When you bring that positivity to the office, when you bring it to the team, when you bring it to the company, it impacts how people see you [and] it impacts how they want to interact with you,” Miller said.

“It also impacts how you are going to do your job,” he said. “If you're feeling positive, you're going to do better than if you're feeling really, really negative.”