Just found out the other Product Counsel on my team gave notice. We both report to the GC. There’s a paralegal and a compliance lawyer as well. No other lawyers in the U.S.

Likely they’ll hire a new Product Counsel but in the interim I suspect I’ll absorb most of their work. My WLB has been excellent so there is room to take on more work and responsibilities. Any advice for making this transition?

like
Posting as :
works at
You are currently posting as works at

Triage triage triage. You want to ask the powers at be for their priority list and focus on those.

Never “I can’t do it I’m so busy”, but instead “I want to do ensure I set aside enough bandwidth for your priorities”

likehelpful

I don’t know, maybe, do your job and help the gc through this?

likesmart

OK, what are you looking for? Sympathy? This is your job. They pay for the times it gets more difficult.

likefunny

Hold on to your butts

like

Definitely make sure that the GC understands when you're working at an unsustainable pace. You obviously need to step up and help pick up the slack until they can fill the role, but you want the GC to understand that they need to backfill the position.

like

Your company only has a GC and two Product Counsels on the entire US legal team? What's the size of this company? Generally, F500 with larger teams offer more protection against people having to subsume roles as a result of departures, which almost always materially worsens WLB.

Globally about 5000 employees, 50 lawyers. U.S. has 300 employees and is growing aggressively, it is the highest revenue in the global org but smallest by head count.

Technically my boss has approval to hire two new attorneys and another compliance officer but the org is conservative on hiring to prevent over hiring and my boss declined an additional headcount. That might change now.

Start by talking to GC about how you intend on triaging and approaching the additional work until someone else is hired. Come with a plan as I’m sure they’re busy trying to set up recruiting, but you’ll need their buy-in for the process you want to follow. Bonus points if you already have an intake process, but if not, it could be helpful to create a simple one now: a shared mailbox, Google/microsoft forms, or something that feed into a task list, and that tracks urgency/priority.

Also get good at talking to your business people about how to prioritize. Everyone thinks their stuff is urgent, but you need to manage that by giving them a realistic “spot in the line” instead of just saying no like SC2 said. You’ll specially need your GC’s support here in case people complain and escalate IMO.

Related Posts

What is a good credit card to get for travel?

Talked to a recruiter today and he said he would give my resume to the company for the job position. It sounded like a cool job. How likely is it I’ll get a call for an interview?

like

Anyone figured out a good way to keep hearings public? I'm trying to figure out if I can get the courts to post zoom links for hearings somewhere.

likesmart

Annual review coming up. Looking for suggestions for asks…

8 YOE, Current 125 base, TC ~140.

Median base for my title/geo ~170 (mean ~166, 0.75 ~226).

Certs: CIPM, M365 Security Admin/Architect, AWS SOA, AN, & Security.

Vet, Inactive TS.

Highlights of the year: flew out on 12hr notice to evac E Europe-based employees & families, plugged 3 exposures before they became breaches, built TVM/privacy program from scratch, onboarded new CNAPP.

(-) Still a student (GIB: BA/MS expected ‘24)

like

What should be the expected salary in Thougtworks for 9 years YOE?

Skills : Full Stack .Net Development with Azure

like

What is the average salary for an account manager in employee benefits at brokers firm? And what about a senior account manager salary? I have 7 years of experience in the health insurance industry. I want to see if I’m on track or if it would be out of line to ask for a raise.

like
like

Any news on Novartis internal re org? Any change that is incoming? ... Is any other company like ZS or axtria also undergoing similar changes

like

Trying to do some initial research on laptops for business school and trying to determine if a new Mac book pro could be used at Wharton (or honestly any school!) for finance (not quant finance major though!)

like

My father is visiting us for 6 months. He takes insulin injections daily . Anyone know good way to get insulin injections to us they need constant refrigeration, or if he can buy them in US.

I’m having the hardest time finding a new job. I have 12 years of HR experience, a masters in HR, SHRM certification, and all I keep getting are rejection emails. I’ve never experienced this difficult of a time searching for new opportunities. Is this normal once you hit a certain level in your career or is it just me?

likehelpful

People can be terminated for requesting Work from home option due to health issues? Please share the inputs and if anyone know about the legal terms.Thank you.

Hi Group, seems like it should be basic format, but I just can not get it to work. a list of data and want to alternate shade (blue,white,blue,etc) each line but if I have multiple lines I want to group together and they all shade the same. I want to group by the same data in column A, and the number of rows that are the same could vary. So let’s say row 1& 2 same entry in column A(blue) row 3 different (white) row 4,5,6 same as each other different to other rows (blue) etc… help 🙏

like

👍👍 Need a technical cofounder to help me get an accounting software platform off the ground.

DM me freaks…pls…😀😂😎

10+ years accounting exp, financial stmt audit, corporate acctg, outsourced acctg, the works 🤦‍♂️

Let’s ‘disrupt’ this staid, boring industry once and for all

funny

Which one to choose Infosys or cognizant
I want to know in terms of below points
1)need wlb
2)job security
3)decent annual hikes
4)projects preferably devlopment

If you have any idea please do let me know

like

I need help. I'm dealing with multiple losses in the same week and having a hard time... I took some time off from work but I have no motivation to do anything. I don't want to go back to work and don't care about my work right now. I want to quit but I don't want to make a rash decision but need a long break. It's also not fair to my team that I can't give it my 100%. What can I do?

like

Best NY companies for healthcare PR? Looking for insights based on culture/work-life balance as well as salary.

like

Earlier Gamestop was supposed to file for bankruptcy, now they could make many more file for bankruptcy.
Play safe!

likefunny

Today, I have completed 1 year in nagarro. But my designation doesn't change from associate engineer to engineer. What should I do?

like

I was not getting any proper job, I joined a company as System Admin (the position name is only in pen and paper their actual work is data entry operator) on 3rd party payroll. The company only gives salary which is lowest in market. they don't provide any facilities. there is no career growth, learning facilities in this company. Still I am not getting proper job. Now I am forgetting the things I learned. Fully frustrated with my job. Please suggest how can I overcome the problem.

like

Additional Posts in In-House Counsel

What is the in-house interview timeline these days?

like

How is productivity measured for in-house attorneys? Is there any analog of billable hours for in-house lawyers?

like

Anyone have insights into working in house at Cirrus Logic?

like

Forgive the basic question but can you contract around state statutes? For ex, customer wants to insert state contractor payment statutes and have that state law govern. I’m assuming the way around this is to have another more preferable state as choice of law?

likesmart

Vanity Marketing Mags (e.g., Vanguard Law)

Anyone done a feature for Vanguard Law or similar? How did that work out for you? Did your outside counsel receive a shake down to sponsor the piece?

I have been stiff arming Vanguard for years but am curious if there’s any actual benefit. Or at least funny stories.

like

Would you say most in-house roles tend to hire from BigLaw?

like

Is anyone at meta able to share the position levels. I’m trying to compare to my current company structure. Thanks!

like

Does anyone know how much base compensation is at a tech company that’s more video game related? Product counsel interview coming up at a company called MacroHard if you catch my drift cough cough. 4 YOE, big law.

like

Would taking a director of legal operations position (jd preferred or a plus) make it hard to get back to practicing in a firm or another company?

like

Very specific to retail and/or hospitality in-house roles: has anyone found a good solution for predictive scheduling? Our retail division has one set of software for scheduling and one for payroll, and neither of them can handle predictive scheduling compliance issues unless they’re used for both the scheduling and payroll functions. I’m coming up empty on ideas for them to bridge the gap, but I’m also new to my compliance counsel role, so I would be overjoyed if anyone has suggestions.

like

Any product counsel for AI-related companies here?

like

A client (in the banking industry) is looking for what they’re calling a software/dev ops attorney to report directly to the GC. Thinking 6th year+. Would need to be based in the south. Can provide more details if you dm me.

like

Can anyone refer me to the Starz/Lionsgate Legal Affairs, Counsel role? I’d be happy to send you my resume first. Thanks!

likesmart

I’m entering salary negotiations at a Fortune 500 company and am looking for trustworthy resources for salary data that I can share with the company if they ask where I got my numbers. I know Glassdoor, but what else?

like

Should litigation come out of legal or the businesses budget? My understanding is business? Any thoughts here or advice…

like

Does anyone have insight on the M&A team at Intel Corporation? Curious about pay, WLB, culture, etc. Thank you!

like

About to do my first interview for an in house job (coming from a midsize firm).
What are some questions typically asked, and good answers to those questions?
What are some good questions to ask?

like

Looking for advice on business trips. My boss kindly asked me if I want to go meet a client out of state along with business folks. It will be my first visit to a client. What do you think are the benefits of these trips? I’m fairly new in my career and in-house so would appreciate any thoughts. Thanks!

like

How long did it take you to find the right position the first time you went in-house? I am 5 months into it and regretting turning down the (lowball) offer I got a couple months ago.

like

I have one pro bono case that I kept when I left my firm to go in house. It’s a matter completely unrelated to my company and I have malpractice insurance through the nonprofit organization associated with the case. I’ve made clear to my client that I’m repping this client in my personal capacity. No one has asked me specifically about pro bono stuff at my company - if I know there’s no conflict of interest, is this something I should disclose? To whom should I disclose this?

like

New to Fishbowl?

Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
That was just a preview…
Sign Up to see all discussions
  • Discover what it’s like to work at companies from real professionals
  • Get candid advice from people in your field in a safe space
  • Chat and network with other professionals in your field
Sign up in seconds to unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.

Already a user?
Login here

Share

Embed this post

Copy and paste embed code on your site

Preview

Download the
Fishbowl app

See what’s happening in your industry
from the palm of your hand.

A phone with Fishbowl app

Scan your QR code to download
Fishbowl app on your mobile

Download app

Sign up for free to view this conversation on Fishbowl

By continuing you agree to Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Already have an account? Log in

Sign up for free to continue using Fishbowl

By continuing you agree to Terms of Use(New) and Privacy Policy(New)
Messaging rates may apply

Already have an account? Log in

For account settings, visit Fishbowl on Desktop Browser or

General

Legal