Sunday, October 13, 2013

The Three Types

Lawyers often get classified by the area of law that they practice.  You're a corporate lawyer, litigator, employment lawyer, etc.  While this classification system is helpful in telling what you do, it's not the only way of classifying attorneys.  There's another classification that will go even farther in predicting the success of a lawyer on your in house team.  There are only three types - Transactional, Strategic, or Hybrid.

A Transactional lawyer is one that thrives on the day to day.  Whether it is reviewing and negotiating contracts or managing litigation, the Transactional lawyer gets stuff done.  Law teams cannot survive without this type of lawyer - someone has to do the work.  This guy is the one who will work 15 hour days if required and will be good friends with many of the rank in file in the organization.  They like him because he gets stuff done, quickly and efficiently.  He may be a 'business lawyer' in the sense that he takes business concerns into consideration when negotiating that agreement or setting that litigation strategy.  However, he doesn't think strategically.  He doesn't know how to add long term value to the organization other than doing more volume.  He'd have a hard time describing what value add the legal team provides in terms other than dollars saved on outside counsel. The transactional lawyer is best as an individual contributor or lower level manager.

On the other hand, the Strategic lawyer thinks long term.  Her every move is based on how to strategically help the company achieve it's goals.  From the structure of the contracting process to better meet the needs of the sales team to the review and analysis of new product developments to achieve the most effective regulatory compliance, she's constantly thinking of the big picture.  She'll tell you the real value of having in house legal is managing the risk on a more global level.  Setting policies and providing advice that allows the company to navigate the challenges that growth inevitably brings.  Unfortunately, she's not as good at getting the day to day done efficiently.  She spends most of her time in meetings and may have a harder time prioritizing sales contracts over less important litigation.  She's great as a leader and makes a great GC or upper manager for a larger organization.

The rarer of the three is the Hybrid.  We all like to think we're a Hybrid, but few of us actually are.  A Hybrid can spend a significant amount of time everyday doing the day to day transactional needs.  Negotiating those agreements, training with HR, managing litigation and juggling it all effectively.  They can also sit in on the meetings and provide strategic advice for the two, three and five year plans of the company.  We'd all like to be a Hybrid because there are more opportunities open for them, they can succeed at the roles of either a transactional or a strategic lawyer.  But, this person is happiest as upper manager or GC for a smaller organization where less resources tend to mean broader job descriptions and wider roles.  Often a Hybrid will evolve into a Strategic lawyer over time as the organization they're with grows and their role grows with it.

There's value in knowing which type you are, and which type you've got on your team.  Knowing that you're better at the transactional side, you should take the opportunities to get strategic experience.  Knowing that you've spent the majority of your time dealing with the strategic, you may want to dive into something transactional to keep your skills sharp and reacquaint yourself with the day to day priorities.  And knowing you are a hybrid, you should seek opportunities that allow you to do both.  So, what type are you?