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International In-house Counsel Journal logoInternational In-house Counsel Journal logo

Changing Perceptions: How to stop your colleagues from assuming you’re the ‘Department of No’

September 2024
ManagementGeneral

Abstract

An in-house colleague of mine once disclosed that he was known as the ‘Sales Prevention Officer’ in one of the businesses he worked for. And this sort of attitude towards the legal department is fairly widespread. Perhaps based on old realities and perceptions, businesses can often see the legal department as the blocker – a necessary but aggravating barrier to cross before they can achieve what they want. But how do legal departments transform this outdated perception? And why is it important to shift the dial on this issue?

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Author

Portrait image of Sarah Davis
Sarah Davis
General Counsel, The Legal Director, UK

Sarah is a highly experienced GC, businesswoman and NED with a pragmatic approach to securing commercially excellent results for values-driven organisations. She was at the Guardian for over 16 years, as Group Legal Director and then General Counsel, before joining ITV plc as Director Group Legal Affairs.

Company

The Legal Director

The Legal Director offers the services of an in-house lawyer: who isn’t on your payroll but knows your business inside out. who understands your legal challenges but doesn’t just tell you the law. Just like a large corporation has its own General Counsel, you can have a TLD lawyer on your team for anything from two to six days a month. No junior resource – no delegation – just experienced General Counsel, perfectly in tune with your business. We work for a wide range of organisations across the UK from finance to pharmaceuticals, food and fashion. Could we be working for you? With a clear fee structure and ‘per-day’ pricing, you will never get a bill you are not expecting. It’s a unique way to commission legal services

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