After 18 years as the only in-house counsel at the conservation company Ducks Unlimited Canada, Gary Goodwin knows what it takes to fly solo.

So does Susan Nicholson, who has 17 years’ experience as general counsel at Ingersoll, Ont.,-based CAMI Automotive Inc.

Running a one-person law department involves juggling a huge array of challenges and demands, according to Rees Morrison, vice president, law department consulting, at Hildebrandt International, which advises organizations large and small.

Ducks Unlimited, for example, where Goodwin is corporate counsel and director of corporate services, has a staff of more than 400 and 20 offices across Canada.

“With multiple issues and jurisdictions, the legal and regulatory demands can be quite complex,” Goodwin says.
What the solo in-house counsel needs most, Morrison quips, is “a crackerjack administrative assistant” and “a good therapist.”

So what are the key skills, strategies, and best practices involved in running a successful one-person legal department? Here are the top 10 tips suggested by Goodwin, Nicholson, and Morrison.

1. Clarify your role

When Goodwin started at Ducks Unlimited in 1989, his predecessor had left due to ill health some months earlier, so there was no one to provide him with any direction. “I was left to my own devices,” he says.

Morrison says this is a typical situation for people to find themselves in when they are hired as solo in-house counsel. Often they will be the first lawyer the organization has hired and, he says, “There will be tough teething problems.”

The first thing you need to do, according to Morrison, is clarify your role: “Are you a part of the executive team, or just someone drawing up contracts? You need that to be spelled out in writing.”

2. Understand the business you’re in

Even today, after 17 years at CAMI, Nicholson says it sometimes surprises her to realize that her business is manufacturing, almost as much as it is law.

But she says it is crucial for a solo in-house counsel to integrate herself with the business as much as possible, so she knows what issues are likely to emerge.

Furthermore, this business knowledge helps make her a respected member of the corporate team. And, as Goodwin points out, “The legal function should be seen as enabling the business.”

3. Prioritize

You can’t be a specialist in everything and you won’t have time to give your full attention to every legal issue that immediately presents itself. So you need to figure out how you can best spend your time, what needs your personal attention, what you should hand off to outside counsel, and what should go on the back burner.

In making these decisions, you should draw on your knowledge of the business, your understanding of what is most important to your organization, as well as your insight into your own strengths and weaknesses.

In some cases, Nicholson suggests, you may choose to hand off an important matter to outside counsel, even though you could handle it yourself, simply because outside counsel will ensure that it keeps moving forward in a timely manner, while you may be distracted by other matters that come up.