The Briefing Outside Counsel Owes You Before The CFO Meeting

Building on Adrian Moffatt’s “The GC Communication Guide: CFO Edition”

General Counsel are lawyers, but they are also executives — and like any executive, they have clients of their own. The CEO, the CFO, the Board: stakeholders who measure risk in dollars and quarters, not legal standards and motion deadlines. What makes perfect sense in the legal department’s conference room doesn’t always translate to the boardroom. Bridging that gap is one of the GC’s most demanding roles — and in some ways, harder than what outside counsel face. The GC doesn’t get to pick her clients.

Adrian Moffatt’s guide does a great job of highlighting these challenges and providing concrete advice to General Counsel. But the guide raises another question: what should you, as General Counsel, expect from your outside lawyers to help you make those conversations successful?

In 2011, I left the practice of law to work as a leader within the P&L for a global EPC contractor. And during the six years I worked there, I learned what it was like to be a client of in-house legal, and what it was like to report up to C-Suite stakeholders like the CFO. I know what it feels like to walk into that room without the right briefing. And I know what it feels like when you have exactly what you need.

The best outside counsel understand the GC’s role in bridging the gap between legal and business and that with a little forethought, and an honest conversation about what the GC actually needs to succeed with her own clients, they can provide support that goes well beyond the specific legal question. Here’s what GCs should be expecting of their outside counsel — and what good outside counsel should be working to provide.

The Bottom Line

Adrian’s guide is right: GCs need to speak CFO fluently. But that fluency relies on what they’ve been given before the conversation starts.

The most effective outside counsel understand that their job doesn’t end with legal advice — it ends with making sure you have what you need to walk into any stakeholder conversation prepared. If that’s not what you’re getting, it’s worth asking for it directly. Most good outside counsel will deliver it once they understand it matters.

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