Your primary role as an in-house lawyer is to help to control legal risk in the business at the levels that the business wants to achieve (not eliminate it). You'll also play an important role in helping the company achieve its commercial objectives. Sometimes these two priorities will conflict and present you with a new challenge. For further information, see Practice note, How to set organisational risk appetite.

As a general counsel, you'll be the first port of call for any kind of legal issue, so it is important to be familiar with the laws and regulations that apply specifically to your sector and to maintain a good general understanding of the other laws that apply to business in general. You'll also need to be a business leader and a commercial manager with some financial acumen, human interaction and project skills. For further information, see Practice notes, Demystifying company accounts and Legal project management: an overview.

Naturally, you won't be an expert in all areas of law, so you'll need to know when to call in outside help. Your responsibility will then be to budget for external counsel and ensure they meet your timescales and provide the advice the business needs. For further information, see Practice note, How to run a successful tender process.

Because your advice will relate to the law in the context of your organisation and its industry, getting to know the business inside out is the single most important thing you can do. Familiarise yourself with its:

Also learn about the competitive landscape in which your business operates. Another important part of your role will be to coordinate communication between departments. You'll have unique knowledge of different parts of the business, so will be able to act as an effective link between them. For further information, see Practice note, Communicating effectively: fundamental skills for lawyers.

Remember that you are now a cost centre, not a profit centre. This completely changes the way colleagues regard you and how you'll operate on a day-to-day basis. Instead of valuing you for the revenue you generate by way of billable hours, they'll judge you on your contribution to risk reduction and the business's ability to achieve its commercial goals. This means that you'll need to change the way that you look at your work as you will have an inexhaustible work supply. You will need to prioritise your work effectively, focusing on the most important and urgent tasks, rather than doing everything. For further information, see Practice note, Creating a tool to prioritise your workload.

You will also need to manage the financial aspects of the in-house legal function. This will involve budgeting for your own internal costs and those of any external counsel you may need. Occasionally, you'll need to present a business case if you want to secure additional resource. For further information, see Practice note, Working with the finance team.

You will be a manager at an early stage, so your colleagues will assume that you're a natural leader and decision-maker. Live up to their expectations by showing willing and taking the lead when appropriate. Then, if a crisis occurs in the business, you'll be trusted to step forward. Even if you have no direct reports, you will be expected to lead projects, make decisions and source and manage external counsel. Be prepared to work outside your comfort zone. Sometimes this will mean getting involved in matters beyond your job description but which still help reduce legal risk or help the organisation meet its targets. However, be careful not to become the default owner of everything that does not have an obvious business owner.

For further information, see Practice note, Crisis management for in-house lawyers.

Earning the trust of your commercial colleagues is vital. This doesn't mean saying yes to every request, but instead delivering on promises and commitments, and keeping clients informed in good time if there is a delay. If you have to say no to something, make sure you provide an alternative option that achieves the same outcome, or as close as possible. Expect to be challenged regularly. Become a trouble-shooter and a solutions expert, and stay firm with your advice.

You will have to learn to operate effectively with minimum resources. Do not expect the best IT systems or even any administrative support. Find a way to get by with what you have as there will be bigger issues to deal with. Make the most of readily available technology to work as effectively as possible and save time. For further information, see Practice notes, Demystifying IT for lawyers and Working effectively with the IT team.

Obtaining information and data is likely to be a major challenge. Hopefully, there will be some standard precedents for key business agreements. If there's an up-to-date contract database and matter management system, that's a massive bonus. You may need to be something of a detective and seek information out yourself. For further information, see Practice note, Data analytics and business intelligence: an overview.

Ask questions all the time and be alert to the things people have forgotten to tell you, whether deliberate or not. Be an excellent listener and always challenge and test assumptions and deadlines. You may not have all the information you need to do your job, yet ironically, you'll face information overload. You'll be copied in on far more emails than you can possibly imagine, so learn to filter and sift the information that comes to you. Although this process will take time, the better you understand your organisation, the easier your job will become. Use email filtering and filing apps to help you stay in control.

You will probably need to adapt your communication style when moving to an in-house role from a law firm. For example, unless you're preparing a formal report for a board meeting, your colleagues will not want lengthy, written communications. They will expect short and simple advice, and as you are all working towards the same end, they'll want you to come off the fence and tell them which course of action is best. Getting your clients to make a decision when they have limited time can be a major challenge. Using easy-to-digest formats such as tables, RAG (red, amber, green) reports and slide decks will help considerably. For example, see Practice note, Internal due diligence RAG report for the incoming General Counsel. For further information on communicately effectively, see practice notes:

Be prepared to spend a large proportion of your time in meetings and on conference calls. With so many meetings, you may wonder how you'll get your work done, but don't worry as after a few weeks you'll learn how to manage your time. In the early days, it will be useful to attend as many as meetings as possible as this will help you learn about the business and get to know your new colleagues. You'll probably get most of your instructions at meetings, so take the opportunity to ask questions.

Never feel that you are asking too many questions. It's better to do this early on rather than cause delay later and, in most cases, you'll be asking the questions that many others in the meeting wanted to ask. Don't worry about showing your ignorance in the early days because most of your stakeholders will want to help you understand the business and their role in it. You will often be put on the spot in front of senior management during meetings, so learn to anticipate and plan accordingly.

For further information, see Practice note, Moving into a new role: the first 100 days.

Learning to prioritise is essential or you'll soon be overwhelmed. Take your lead from the organisation's key objectives and main areas of legal risk. Accept that priorities may change, possibly on a daily basis. Getting to know the business and developing your financial awareness will help you to gauge where the greatest risks are and enable you to use your time effectively.

While you'll want to provide the best possible service, be wary of seeking perfection. Nobody will thank you for creating the perfect agreement if the organisation loses the deal because you missed the deadline while doing so. Keep processes under review, be prepared to challenge any that no longer work and be flexible. Where no processes currently exist, consider what you can do to increase efficiency and reduce legal risk.

Prioritise tasks that will bring long-term benefits, such as new precedent developments or legal updates. Your duty is to manage the key legal risks as best you can with the resources at your disposal and to be ready to deal with the crises when they happen. This is the in-house legal challenge and it's very satisfying when you get it right and can see the business benefit as a result.