(Author) Associate

How stressful is it to be GC/AGC? How is it to be part of the exec team? Do you feel supported/valued in that team?

Deputy General Counsel Responses:

• I’m in my second job at that level. The first one was terrible. 100% not valued by the business. The second job is way busier but awesome. I’m completely remote yet on a first name basis with the entire C-suite.
• Some weeks are 40 hours, others are 75. But, overall way better than firm life.

Associate General Counsel Responses:

• I moved into my AGC role 6 months ago. I knew my then-boss was busy, but I didn’t appreciate how busy or what they were busy with. The job can still mostly be done during normal business hours, so the added stress mostly comes from the rhythm of my day being constantly interrupted by a stream of minor one-off issues, or from managing a group of paralegals in connection with what used to be a minor party of my practice, or by added admin tasks. On the other hand, having only a dozen people above my on the org chart of a company with thousands of employees has its perks. As someone else said, every person above me on the org chart knows who I am, which feels good. I’ve also come to realize how much latitude and authority comes with being in that position since much of the actual work of implementation and execution gets done one level below the C-Suite. A different job than the one I had, and as far as work-to-comp ratio, I think the old gig was better, but the post-promotion job is more interesting and more satisfying (and the added $75k-$100k is still pretty nice).

Further Discussion:

• Author: What do you think it is that makes your second company much better than your first company?
• Deputy General Counsel: Management buy in of the legal function. Company one treated legal as only a cost sink. Company two treats legal as something important for a functioning business.
• Counsel: You can usually tell by the way legal is staffed if they find it important or not.

Give us your response and be a part of the discussion.