Law firm partners and corporate general counsel are lawyers, but they practice law in very different worlds. They each handle money and decision-making differently, and often lack understanding on how the other party sees these important issues. It recalls the line from the old Paul Newman movie Cool Hand Luke: "What we've got here is a failure to communicate." Well, recently I read an article by a corporate GC that attempted to bridge that communications gap by giving his perspective on what he felt important for his outside counsel to know about his world view. You may not agree with all of these action items, but it's important to know that your corporate clients are likely thinking about them. How many reflect the way you practice law?

*Outside counsel should "stay in touch." In other words, communicate! Too often, outside counsel take for granted that inside counsel will have them on the top of their mind or tip of their tongue when a challenge arises. But GCs are busy folks who need to act quickly and may not always think of you first...

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