SCCAInterested in being an in-house counsel but unsure about what they do? Ms Angeline Joyce Lee, President of the Singapore Corporate Counsel Association (SCCA), gives us a first-hand insight into what in-house counsel do.

Q. What is an in-house counsel?
In-house counsel are employed by a single company. They provide legal advice and other services relating to the business of the company. Technically, the company is their client but of course in practice, in-house counsel provide their services to the board of directors, the management, and the business units or departments of the company they work for.

Q. What are the duties and responsibilities of in-house counsel? Do they play a non-legal function within the company?
Their primary responsibility is to manage the legal risks faced by the company. This involves providing legal advice, drafting and negotiating contracts, keeping up-to-date on changes in the law which affect the company, and ensuring that the company complies with statutory requirements. They also manage the company’s relationships with external counsel, and any litigation that the company is involved in.

Depending on the company’s organizational structure, some in-house counsel also handle corporate secretarial and compliance work. Compliance has gained importance in recent years and it is common in Singapore for in-house counsel to take on the compliance function as well.

Increasingly, in-house counsel are also called upon to advise the company on
business-related issues. As in-house counsel deal with many aspects of a company, they acquire a good knowledge of the company’s operations and business. This is essential to enable in-house counsel to be effective in discharging their legal function. This knowledge, combined with their legal knowledge, places in-house counsel in a unique position to assist the company on business issues or strategies. It is also not unusual to find in-house counsel assuming responsibility for human resource or corporate communications.

Q. What are the challenges facing an in-house counsel?
Globalisation and the increasing number of cross-border transactions by companies will create new challenges for in-house counsel, especially since lawyers generally specialize in particular disciplines and jurisdictions. Another challenge facing in-house counsel is the need for them to maintain professional integrity in the face of the commercial interest of the company in getting a deal done. In-house counsel often face this direct pressure from the business people and they have to always remember that they are there to protect the interests of the company.

Q. How is working as an in-house counsel different from working as a lawyer in private practice?
The in-house counsel principally has one “client” while the lawyer in private
practice has many different clients. The in-house counsel is also an employee of its client, whilst a practitioner is not. Practitioners are required to be admitted to the bar and to hold practicing certificates whereas in-house counsel have no such requirements.

In-house counsel see transactions in the overall context of the company’s business and strategy; this is generally less obvious to the practitioner. Practitioners need to be able to bring in business; in-house counsel have a captive client (although, of course, they still have to ensure good service to the client).

Q. What does the SCCA do?
It creates a platform for in-house counsel to interact, share information, and develop/upgrade their skills. The SCCA also provides opportunities for continuing education, and communicates and represents the interests of in-house counsel with one voice on issues that concern the legal community. You can find out more about the SCCA on its website at www.scca.org.sg.

Juris Illuminae Vol. 3 Issue 4 (February 2007)