The Inside Counsel Revolution: Resolving the Partner-Guardian Tension - Ben W Heineman Jr

The Inside Counsel Revolution: Resolving the Partner-Guardian Tension Ben W Heineman Jr ISBN 9781634252799

The Inside Revolution: Resolving the Partner-Guardian Tension offers a thoughtful and compelling analysis of the evolving role that General Counsels and in-house lawyers can—and should—play in business and society.

Over the past 25 years, the legal profession has undergone a profound transformation. General Counsel and other inside lawyers have risen in responsibility, influence, and status. Once considered secondary players in corporations, they are now core members of top management, on par with Chief Financial Officers. They have shifted significant power from law firms to corporate legal departments, taking strategic control of legal matters and influencing law firm economics and billing.

Ben W. Heineman, Jr., who led this revolution during nearly two decades as GE’s top lawyer and now serves as a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Harvard Law School and lecturer at Yale Law School, captures the essence of this transformation. In this analytic and prescriptive book, he outlines the modern role of inside counsel—covering key functions, relationships, challenges, and ethical dilemmas—and presents a vision for lawyers as lawyer-statesmen: partners to the CEO, guardians of the corporation, and advocates for integrity and corporate citizenship, motivated by more than just financial gain.

The Inside Revolution is both concrete and visionary—a succinct statement of first principles from a pioneering leader of the in-house movement that reshaped the legal profession and defined the lawyer-statesman’s role in advancing performance, integrity, and risk management in global business.

Published by the American Bar Association in April 2016.

The Inside Counsel Revolution: Resolving the Partner-Guardian Tension Ben W Heineman Jr ISBN 9781634252799, 978-1634252799 & 9781634252805

Author
Ben W Heineman Jr