Skip to main content

Most Important Skills for In-House Lawyers in Tech

By George Khoury, Esq. on November 29, 2018 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

For in-house counsel to be successful in tech, just like in any other industry, it requires just the right combination of skill and luck. And while luck may be fickle and unpredictable, skills are learnable.

If you hope to succeed in tech as an in-house attorney, the following three skills are among the most important to continually be working on:

Ability to Adapt

Tech companies, like technology itself, change very rapidly. Startups and projects at existing tech giants can often go from unknown to world-wide-web fame overnight. Or worse, require everyone to start using some new platform.

But, when tech companies need to scale up quickly, if you have the ability to adapt and take on new roles, you could find yourself advancing faster than expected up the tech company ladder.

Interpersonal Skills

Tech folk, like engineers and programmers, are notoriously and infamously bad with interpersonal relations.

If you develop yours, and learn how to not "over lawyer everything," you'll be able to set yourself apart from others who might be content to let their interpersonal skills dwindle amidst the "tech bro" culture. Just try not to rest on your socially adept laurels too much.

Gaining Specific Industry Experience

While "soft" skills are important, there's really no replacement for the skills that develop after gaining relevant experience in an industry. So if you have colleagues working on matters you have little to no experience in, seeking to team up for a project or two can help you gain the specific, relevant skills to advance.

Related Resources:

Copied to clipboard