Legal Backing
Legal advice, costs coverage and representation through insurance cover, independent of any employer organisation.
Advocacy
Advancing the interests of the in-house community with stakeholders and policy makers.
Mentoring
Mentoring and advice in times of conflict and crisis to help you navigate to clear waters and avoid
professional calamity.
Comprehensive In-House
Legal Protection
Mitigating Conflict Risks: Safeguarding Your In-House Legal Career
Most in-house lawyers have no plan for handling a conflict with their employer-client. Almost none have insurance cover for such eventuality, relying on the insurance policy of their employer. Many are operating in environments where awareness of their duties, role and value is low. Yet conflicts are common and the inadequacy of governance around them has come to the fore in corporate scandals and regulator attention, along with the practice of attacking individuals not only organisations.
Taking personal advice as to your legal duties and available options can be expensive. Defending yourself against an accusation or a claim, even more so. Relying on insurance designed to protect an organisation with whom you have a conflict or potential conflict is a high risk proposition.
IHL membership is designed to address these issues.
Your Questions, Answered
Explore our FAQs to get answers to some of the most common questions about our work and your IHL membership.
The Institute of In-house Lawyers is a professional body dedicated to supporting and advancing the in-house legal community.
A membership fee is payable on an annual basis to join the IHL and access its benefits. The fee structure is being shaped. Sign up here for updates and early access.
Once you are a member you will be able to access mentoring support on demand, by choosing from a list of our experienced mentors, and be able to book a meeting with one of our mentor experts.
Mentoring support is different to legal advice, which you will also be able to access through your membership insurance.
In the way the profession has evolved, every in-house lawyer needs personal insurance to cover a range of eventualities. Membership of the IHL comes with the cover you need. Insurance is provided as part of the sign up process, once that is live on the site. As part of your membership, you can then access legal and/or representation when you need it. Your insurance will renew as part of your annual membership renewal.
There are so many experienced general counsel and other experts in the legal community worldwide. Those who have navigated the challenges and opportunities, as well as those with more specific skillsets like regulatory, conflict and leadership specialists. For these people, mentoring others is a way they can pass on their experience, support others, and help the in-house legal profession be as strong as it can be, for all the benefits that brings.
Initially, we will welcome applications from senior leaders in the in-house legal profession. Such applications will be evaluated against agreed criteria by the IHL board. Sign up here for updates on when applications open
We welcome collaboration with organisations aligned to our purpose. You can Contact Us here to discuss your proposal.
With the evolution of the legal sector has increased the need for representation of the in-house legal community with policy makers, the business community and wider stakeholders. As the legal profession evolves and re-shapes around technological advancement, shifting business models, ethical pressures and the geopolitical landscape, there is a need for a dedicated representative body for the in-house community and for that community to have a strong, clear voice. This does not exist today.
The advocacy work of the IHL focuses around thematic issues that affect the in-house legal community as a whole. These include the role and duties of in-house lawyering in delivering both growth and responsible business, ethical pressures, effective governance, appropriate regulation, and the role of technology.
Advocacy work is ongoing and you will be able to contribute in a range of ways to shaping and participating in the engagement programme. The benefit of engaging with a cohesive voice is to maximise collective energy and outcomes, and avoid specific individuals being disfavoured for engaging on challenging topics, or there being governance or reputational issues caused to particular individuals or employers from such engagement.
You can keep in touch with the strategic priorities through the Insights tab and Sign Up here for updates and information on how to get involved.
It is a stark reality for the in-house legal profession today that in-house lawyers are exposed to legal claims against them personally. Whether this is from third parties such as suppliers and partners, activist shareholders, claimants in class action law suits, or from an employer-client directly, the litigation landscape and the tactics that surround it are changing.
Legal advice and representation in relation to any court claim or accusation you face is one of the benefits of your IHL membership. You access such advice and representation through your personal IHL insurance policy. This ensures you have the protection and defence you need and that is personal to you and entirely independent from any organisation or external interests, including those of the IHL itself.
We also recommend leaning on the mentor community in such circumstances, to help navigate the challenges and think through strategy. Mentoring is different to legal advice.
All types of in-house lawyers are welcome at the IHL, including full-time, part time and contracted workers in the in-house legal world. This includes all fractional GCs.
If you are fractional and have your own insurance policy through a services company, you will want to check your cover is complete and the extent to which you will benefit from the additional cover included in your membership. More information on this will be available when membership applications go live.One of the primary areas of focus for the IHL is the business community – those who employ in-house lawyers. There is typically a low level of awareness within that community of the role and duty of in-house lawyers and the environments and governance arrangements relevant to their work. The advocacy work of the IHL includes engaging with this community, along with other employer-client organisations such as public bodies and policy makers.
The opportunity is to speak as one community with a single voice. This means no single individual will need to be targeted or suffer detriment for their alignment.
When it comes to individual issues that may arise with specific employer-client organisations, the first port of call is for you to access your personal legal advice through your membership insurance. This assures you have the backing you need that is entirely tailored and personal to you, independent of any outside interests. We also encourage use of the mentoring service so you can work through live challenges with those who have experience in navigating them.
You are also able to request ‘dear board of directors’ letters from the IHL to set out the standards expected by the IHL of employer-client organisations and their treatment of IHL members. These also enable you to evidence the support of your professional body without the IHL becoming involved specifically in the details of your case, which is not viable from an operational or governance point of view.
IHL membership is personal to each individual. There is no corporate membership option. You should consider expensing your membership with your employer-client as an important requirement of fulfilling your role. However, your membership at all times remains personal to you and is not transferrable. The fee structure is currently being shaped. There may be a small number of pro bono memberships available which will be subject to partner or grant funding to be put in place.
You can sign up for early information on Membership here.
Membership
Membership is available to all lawyers of any background or qualification
working in an in-house environment.
Tailored for every in-house lawyer
This includes full and part time employees and fractional workers. You can expense your membership and the insurance it includes to your employer-client, but it is and
remains personal to you.
