To be useful to business, in-house lawyers must be critical
An in-house lawyer can be a business’s best friend, but only if they’re willing to be critical, writes Dr Jim Baxter
In-house solicitors are at the heart of a business’s risk management strategy, providing critical advice on legal, commercial and reputational risks. Unlike external legal advisors, they are embedded within the business, allowing them to offer timely, commercially aware legal advice from a position of understanding of the business and its wider objectives.
This position also has its major challenges. The very qualities that make in-house solicitors effective – deep business knowledge and close working relationships with key stakeholders – can also put their independence at risk. When legal advisors become too embedded, they risk losing their objectivity. No in-house solicitor is a purely neutral observer within the organisation, but too much pressure to support business objectives can lead them to lose sight of ethical concerns, which in turn can put the business at risk.
To be most effective, in-house solicitors must strike a delicate balance: they need to be a friend to the business, but a critical friend. They must work collaboratively with executives and operational teams to achieve strategic goals, while also maintaining the ability to provide a dissenting voice when needed, challenging decisions that pose ethical or legal risks.
The ethical tightrope
To strike this balance, solicitors need both independence and influence. Without independence, they will stop challenging decisions. Equally, without influence, their challenge will not be listened to. In either case, the business will lose a critical element of its risk-management infrastructure. In worst-case scenarios, this can contribute to corporate scandals, regulatory failings and reputational damage.
It is therefore important to ensure that in-house solicitors are empowered to uphold professional and ethical standards while remaining an integral part of the business. To fulfil their role effectively, in-house solicitors need both structural and cultural empowerment within their organisations.
Structural empowerment means having the right reporting lines – ensuring that the legal function reports directly to senior leadership, rather than being subordinate to commercial functions. It also includes clear governance frameworks that define the solicitor’s role, reinforcing their duty to the rule of law and their obligations as officers of the court.
Cultural empowerment, on the other hand, is about fostering an organisational mindset that values legal integrity as a business asset rather than a constraint. Leadership teams must respect and uphold the independent judgement of their legal advisors, recognising that ethical, well-managed organisations tend to be more resilient and sustainable. This requires that legal advice should not be seen as an obstacle to commercial success but as an essential component of responsible business leadership.
The ethical practice framework
The Law Society’s ethical practice framework for in-house solicitors, developed by the Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre (IDEA) at the University of Leeds, is designed to support in-house solicitors and their employers in navigating these ethical challenges.
The framework helps in-house solicitors develop strategies for resisting undue pressure and upholding professional integrity while remaining commercially engaged, as well as providing advice for how to foster solidarity within the profession.In-house lawyers often work in relative isolation, particularly in smaller legal teams or as sole counsel. The framework encourages knowledge-sharing and directs solicitors to already available networks.
The first version of the framework is now available for consultation, to be reviewed and improved based on in-house solicitors’ experience of putting the guidance into practice.
By equipping in-house solicitors with the tools and resources they need to remain independent, empowered and effective, the framework aims to ensure that they can continue to serve as a crucial part of the ethical backbone of their organisations. This in turn safeguards compliance, protects reputations and contributes to long-term business success.
Dr Jim Baxter is professional ethics consultancy team leader at the Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre at the University of Leeds