“I’m a law student but I don’t want to go into private practice! What else can I do?” Private practice in Malaysia has become increasingly volatile, competitive and challenging. If you are studying law but have come to a realisation that working in a typical law firm is not your cup of tea, don't worry – it is not the end of the world! With a law degree, there are endless career gateways available at your fingertips beside the common career paths. In-house counsels are one of those career paths. They are generally hired by a company’s legal department and are integral in handling legal issues arising or in connecting with a company's day-to-day operation. However, making a career choice without knowing how it works could be a daunting task.
Therefore, Taylor’s Lexicon interviewed Ms Tan Lih Choon to reveal her life as an in-house counsel in a multinational corporation to provide law students with a glimpse of what to expect if they opt for this career path.
Why did you choose to be an in-house counsel and how did you make that choice?
Ms Tan Lih Choon started her career as a civil litigation lawyer and joined in-house after 5 years of private practice. The main reason that motivated her to make such a transition is that her strength and interest leaned toward legal drafting and she prefers approaching issues without moving with urgent haste. In addition, she also discovered that her accumulated litigation experiences were more beneficial and useful in a company’s legal department instead of a corporate law firm.
Thus, her experiences in private practice, strong interest in contract drafting and interest in businesses provide her with a springboard to join a multinational corporation focused on technology that fits her expected salary.
What does your typical day look like?
According to Ms Tan Lih Choon, days as an in-house counsel are largely the same. Her work can be divided into three main pillars.
Compliance and Advice: As Ms Tan Lih Choon was the data privacy officer of the company, issues relating to data protection and security are among her top concerns. Further, in-house counsels are often commercially driven and are involved in the company's decision making. While getting the business on board, they need to evaluate and monitor the legal compliance of the company’s decisions, have an eye for detail to spot issues and tailor effective legal advice to avoid litigation and disputes. As an example, when management decides to implement an e-wallet in their business, in-house counsels need to advise the requirement behind such a project and the legal risk involved. In that sense, they have to provide support and work with almost every department in a company.
External solicitors: A well-known part of working as an in-house counsel is dealing with external solicitors. As Ms Tan Lih Choon has about 5 years of private practice experiences, her knowledge and hands-on experience in court proceedings makes it easier for her to communicate and negotiate with external solicitors for court representation and provide relevant information which is necessary for the litigation suit faced by the company.
Contracts: As businesses and law are constantly evolving and continually developed, Ms Tan Lih Choon has to review, prepare or revise contract templates and implement improvement. The nature of the contract will also depend on the business and project involved at that point in time such as business partner agreement, collaboration-type agreement and consumer contract. In that sense, it is essential for in-house counsels to understand the business structure and the relationships of stakeholder and business partner of the company.
How would you say your job differs from lawyers?
Clients: In private practice, solicitors mainly deal with external clients and are engaged for a specific cause of action. Their salaries might also differ according to the profit-sharing of a law firm and they are generally expected to bring in their own clients. Further, there is some flexibility in terms of choosing your clients and charging your legal fees. On the other hand, in-house counsels deal with fixed internal clients and receive fixed salaries. In that sense, they do not have the pressure to bring in clients and only focus on the company's development and progression. Having said that, it also indicates that you do not have the liberty to choose who you work for.
Areas of law: In private practice, depending on the size and the structure of the law firms, some solicitors might specialize in a specific area of law. However, those who focus on general dispute resolution will get exposed to a wide area of law. Therefore the work is unpredictable and each case turns on its own facts. However, in-house counsels only focus on laws that relate to the company's specialised business area. Thus you would have a grasp of the area of law in which you need to touch on after working for a few months. As Ms Tan Lih Choon worked for a multinational corporation that specializes in technology, she mainly focused on competition law and data protection law.
Objective: The objective of private practice especially civil litigation is to resolve issues that have arisen. However, as an in-house counsel, Ms Tan Lih Choon’s main objective is to avoid issues and minimise the legal risk. Thus, she focuses on dispute prevention of a project or company’s general operation. Therefore, “boss” generally wants more than just legal analysis but solutions to manage the risk. Further, having litigation experiences are beneficial for in-house counsel as knowing how a dispute arises will boost your ability to avoid disputes.
What is the one thing you love about being an in-house counsel?
Having a more balanced lifestyle is what Ms Tan Lih Choon loves about being an in-house counsel. Working at a traditional law firm means that there are tight deadlines and tough billing targets which you are expected to meet. The working hours are generally longer and the expectations are higher since clients are being charged based on how complicated the case is and the hours needed to dedicate to that case. For in-house counsel, although there might not be big differences in terms of workload, there are fewer unexpected schedules and you will have a better idea of the upcoming work. Therefore, it provides her with a more balanced lifestyle.
What is the one thing you dislike about being an in-house counsel?
Although the advantages of having a legal career outside the typical “law firms” are appealing, there are caveats that need to be considered before committing yourself to this career path. Working in-house also means you are working at the same place as your client. All companies have a pyramid-shaped hierarchy and office politics might be a daunting experience for some people. The one thing that Ms Tan Lih Choon dislikes about being an in-house counsel is the difficulties to deliver advice to the company’s management directly as you could not bypass the chain of command to get approvals for your project and proposal. Therefore, it is important to develop your interpersonal skills and learn to deal with and live with them.
“You have no choice but to learn to live with each other. It’s either you tolerate your colleagues or they tolerate you and it often depends on who has the higher bargaining power.”
What is the most challenging aspect of being an in-house counsel?
For Ms Tan Lih Choon forwarding legal advice to non-legal colleagues and management who do not appreciate or understand the legal concepts is the most challenging aspect of being an in-house counsel. The lack of legal knowledge and the appreciation of technical details could be a barrier for in-house counsel to convey messages effectively. To make things worse, in a diverse workplace where coworkers may not speak the same language, explaining the law might be extremely difficult. Therefore, to be a great in-house counsel, you must have the ability to communicate clearly, shortly, effectively and in layman terms.
If you’re comfortable sharing, what has been the most memorable moment in your career as an in-house counsel?
The most memorable moment for Ms Tan Lih Choon while working in-house was when she got a difficult project implemented and her advice was taken into account. More often than not a company's legal department will not be the priority when it comes to the company’s decision making compared to the profit-making department. People have less interest in the law and focus more on the profit-making and operational part. Therefore, an in-house counsel needs to be firm if a project isn’t legally permissible. You must be able to provide creative and commercially savvy solutions to achieve the desired result for the company.
“In-house counsels always try not to be the deal-breaker, but there are circumstances where we need to stand firm especially when there are clear cut statutory requirements which need to be fulfilled.”
Do you have any advice for aspiring law students or young lawyers who intend to be in-house counsel?
Ms Tan Lih Choon does not advise fresh law graduates to join in-house without first having a few years of private practice experience. As the hands-on experiences in private practice are valuable for the company and your salaries might well depend on that too. Further, It’s impossible to make career choices without first conducting a self-assessment. She stressed that sometimes the issues might not be the environment but the area of law that you are practising. Therefore, you might want to experience another area of the law first before committing yourself to in-house.
Lexicon hopes that the Life-As Series has achieved its purpose and given you a clearer depiction of what life within these areas of practice is like. We would, however, like to note that everyone has their own individualised experiences, and this article is purely based on the input of the lawyers we interviewed. On that note, we would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms.Tan Lih Choon. Lexicon could not have produced this article without her generosity, advice, and experiences.
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