What makes a general counsel search succeed.
Technical excellence is necessary and insufficient. The rest is judgment, standing, and temperament.
By Elena V. Marlowe, Partner
General counsel searches fail in a particular way: the appointment looks fine for eighteen months, and then a risk that should have been named is not, a deal that should have been questioned is not, and the cost arrives all at once.
What we look for
Technical excellence is necessary and insufficient. The senior in-house lawyer who succeeds is the one who can hold the confidence of a board, say no to a chief executive, and build a function rather than merely run a desk.
- Judgment under ambiguity, not just doctrinal command
- The standing to be heard in the room where decisions are made
- A temperament suited to the specific culture of the company
These qualities do not surface on a CV. They surface in a structured assessment and in candid referencing, which is most of what a real search actually consists of.
— Athena Recruits
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