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This month’s Corporate Counsel features the magazine’s annual review of top legal departments.  The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. earned top honors this year for its impressive accomplishments on the precipice of a financial industry meltdown and for its highly-developed internal efforts to promote success within the legal department.  

Building a great team, of course, requires hiring great people, but Hartford Financial demonstrates how to push a legal department to truly excel.  And having a legal department that excels has never been more critical than it is now in times of tightening budgets and increased scrutiny on legal expenses.

Key lessons your legal department can learn:

• Hire not just talented staff, but talented staff with complementary strengths.  Each hire should strengthen the overall team and equip the department to be more agile in the face of changes to the business.
• Systematically implement mentoring and training programs.  These are long-term investments that will pay off in recruiting, retention, and productivity.
• Train lawyers within the legal department to hire and manage the relationship with outside counsel.  Legal departments of all sizes need their lawyers to take a consistent, strategic approach to working with outside lawyers, particularly in times of tight budgets.  Even though most in-house counsel previously worked as outside counsel, many would benefit from training to get the most from outside lawyers.   
• Take a hands-on approach to legal work.  Keeping in-house counsel actively involved in the matters they manage encourages a better result.
• Encourage innovation.  Lawyers are not natural innovators, and change often comes slowly.  However, a culture that encourages experimenting with new methods, new approaches, and new perspectives will yield more successes than failures.

You can learn more about Hartford Financial’s successes here:  http://www.law.com/jsp/ihc/PubArticleIHC.jsp?id=1202430800136.

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Corporate bonuses decreased by an average of 25 percent in 2008, and experts are predicting that companies will continue operating under reduced budgets for at least two more years. To compensate for slimmer compensation packages and retain valued employees, companies will need to boost morale in other ways.  

Here are some tips on how to retain talent when budgets are tight:

• Communication from Management. Employees want to be regularly informed and know what’s happening around them – even if the news isn’t positive. Status reports from management give employees a sense of visibility and control.   
• Give Employees a Chance to Talk. Periodic “Town Hall” meetings are particularly effective and give employees an opportunity to voice their concerns.  It might even be an opportunity to get some fresh ideas.
• Training and Development. This is a great time to cross-train your team and utilize the people who have institutional knowledge about your organization. Investing in training and giving employees an opportunity to broaden their skills demonstrates an investment by the company in their future. Training and development initiatives may also present an opportunity to identify top performers who can someday lead the team when times are better.

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Given the state of this economy, I thought this topic deserved some additional attention (See Part I). Even in an economic downturn, companies continue to hire lawyers – but they hire lawyers with different specialties than the ones who are in demand when business is good.

Corporations are trimming budgets now, and in an effort to reduce outside counsel spending, many are adding to their legal departments.   At the same time, candidates are skittish about making career moves in this market.   “Bonus-driven cultures” are growing more distant in the rearview mirror, and prospective in-house attorneys are now focused on base salary, job security, and corporate financial viability. Despite lay-offs, falling stock prices and general gloom and doom, recruiting top candidates is not any easier! 

A strong first offer still makes a powerful impression, and will increase the odds of landing an in-house counsel that may save the company hundreds of thousands in legal fees.

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We have been retained by National Grid USA to conduct a search for an Assistant General Counsel - Federal Regulatory. The position will be based either in the company's U.S. headquarters located near Boston, or in Washington D.C.

National Grid USA is a wholly owned subsidiary of National Grid plc. National Grid’s core U.S. business is the delivery of electricity and natural gas. National Grid is one of the ten largest utilities (by number of customers) in the U.S. and has the largest electricity transmission and distribution network in the New England/New York region. National Grid plc is an international network utility with principal activities in the regulated electricity and natural gas industries.  It is one of the largest investor-owned utilities in the world.  The company’s headquarters are in London, and it is listed on the London (Symbol: NG) and New York (Symbol: NGG) stock exchanges.

Reporting to the Deputy General Counsel – Regulatory, the AGC – Federal Regulatory is responsible for all federal legal matters for the company and will be the primary point of contact for the legal department to the transmission function.

Additional responsibilities:

• Assumes primary responsibility for federal energy regulatory matters.
• Manages and supervises a team of 4-6 in-house attorneys and outside counsel.
• Provides legal advice and counsel to senior management in electric distribution and transmission functions.
• Assists in the monitoring of gas pipeline filings affecting transportation capacity held by gas distribution companies in four states.

Requirements:

• 10-20+ years of experience on FERC matters.
• Experience managing attorneys within a corporate legal department.

In addition to an outstanding career opportunity and a fantastic work environment, the company offers competitive compensation and a comprehensive benefits package that includes a pension plan.  

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Finding the right candidate seems like the most difficult part of the recruiting process, but it’s frequently the offer negotiation that proves to be the challenge. 

A successful negotiation, of course, results in a hire. Ideally, the employer extends the offer and (usually after some consideration), the candidate accepts. Both sides are thrilled and eager to begin a future together.  However, the script doesn’t always read that way. Back and forth salary negotiations put the “new job honeymoon” at risk. 

Coming out with a low-ball offer that eventually is accepted by the candidate is not necessarily successful.  Even a low offer that is later accepted risks leaving both sides with less-than-stellar attitudes. Candidates view the offer as a measure of their value to the company.   They are not thinking – at least on the front end -- about legal department budgets, future raises and incentives, and benefits.   

The best outcome can be reached by understanding the candidate’s motivations and priorities. More vacation time might be worth less salary.  Sign-on bonuses are effective and often can be compelling, even if the salary is lower.  

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Global energy company seeks an executive-level attorney with strong energy project development experience for the role of Vice President and Assistant General Counsel. This position reports to the Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary of the parent company and also to the President & CEO of one of its divisions.

The Vice President and Assistant General Counsel is responsible for providing legal counsel to the parent company and its subsidiaries in connection with complex energy-related transactional, project development, asset management and finance matters, with emphasis on wind, biomass and other renewable energy sources. The position will also be responsible for assisting the company on compliance issues, including local, state and federal regulatory requirements and overall compliance with national, state and/or local laws and regulations in North America.

Specific responsibilities include:

- Developing and executing comprehensive legal strategies and solutions to lawfully facilitate the parent company's and its subsidiaries' commercial objectives while mitigating any associated legal risks

- Providing legal advice and support to the renewable energy business unit, in connection with complex energy-related project development, asset management and finance agreements, and ensuring compliance with national, state and/or local laws and regulations in North America

- Advising on North American national, state and local regulations and requirements, with an emphasis on renewable energy

- Assisting with managing litigation, administrative proceedings and policy matters with an emphasis on matters involving the renewable energy unit

- Providing support to the parent company legal function generally in matters not involving renewable energy, including gas, power and LNG matters

In addition to a great work environment with a strong leadership team, the company offers an attractive compensation package that includes both short and long-term incentives, as well as an annual perquisite allowance.

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