How to improve your partnership with Legal
Great partnership deals only get done with great internal partnerships.
That is why, last year, I published guidance from seasoned Product leaders on how to build a better partnership with Product.
The response to that piece was so positive that I’m sharing another installment today.
I’ve collected guidance from some outstanding legal leaders (and lawyers-turned-commercial-leaders) in tech. I asked them each a simple question: what is one thing that BD/Partnerships leaders should do to work more effectively with their partners in Legal?
The advice below ranges from basic (e.g. when to enlist Legal early) to advanced (when to push back on your Legal team). Together, the items below serve as a checklist that you and your entire team can use to ensure you’re building a productive partnership with your Legal team.
I am so grateful to the senior legal minds who contributed insights below. The wisdom they’ve shared comes from their first-hand experience on thousands of deals and litigation at startups, BigTech and law firms. Their knowledge extends far beyond the title and company listed here.
Ron Bell, Chief Legal Officer @ Collective Health
Will Dickinson Principal @ Kaleo Legal
Sunil Daluvoy, Co-founder @ Sift
Michael Haswell, Partnerships executive & startup advisor
Alykhan Kurji @ Head of Strategic Partnerships @ Google
Andrew Lucking, fmr Head of US Legal @ LiveRamp
Barry Luong, Associate General Counsel, Product @ Meta
Junna Ro, fmr General Counsel @ Metromile
Adrienne Sum, General Counsel @ Quizlet
Cecilia Ziniti, fmr General Counsel @ Replit / Founder @ GC AI
How to improve your partnership with Legal
Form your own point of view on the agreement - including the legal aspects.
Owning your deal means understanding the legal agreement that will govern it. This means rolling up your sleeves and digging into the contract.
"Have a point of view on the deal, including the legal aspects, and see legal as a partner to getting the deal done. If there are legal issues we need to push, be able to explain to your counterpart the "why", ideally without legal on the call, as opposed to 'legal says so' or deferring. Cecilia Ziniti
The best BD people are those who read and own the four corners of the contract. Alykhan Kurji
I often encourage deal leads to redline the agreement for their lawyers to review. Reducing concepts to draft language not only forces clarity of understanding and appreciation for nuance, but it also reduces the workload for your overburdened lawyer. Mike Haswell
Indemnification, limitations of liability, intellectual property, and representations and warranties are "legal issues" *only* until the board asks an executive why the company is so exposed in litigation. Ron Bell
Engage your Legal team as an advisor on your deal, not an obstacle to overcome.
Your job isn’t to close the deal solo. Your task is to assemble and lead a deal team. Your lawyer should be your co-pilot.
Commercial lawyers do a lot of deals and they're business people too, so don't underestimate their value as a deal strategizer and partner. Adrienne Sum
Treat your lawyer as a member of the deal team and encourage them to contribute their structured thinking and informed perspective across all aspects of the deal. During one in-person negotiation, for instance, my lawyer noticed a subtle shift in the partner's body language, depending on the degree to which a particular issue was a deal breaker for the partner. It allowed us to identify a number of unequal trades and expedite the deal. - Michael Haswell
Partnerships with legal counsel yield the most benefit when we understand what your business goals are, and what you are trying to accomplish. Junna Ro
Enlist Legal early in the deal cycle.
Timing is everything. The later you bring in your Legal team, the less you will be able to take advantage of their perspective, insights and ideas.
First, get Legal involved early so that they understand the business case and can be ready to support you and provide any advance guidance that can make the deal-making process go more smoothly. Adrienne Sum
When the business team has gone down a path and brings Legal in late in the game, there are often limited options available to pursue. Junna Ro
Push back if Legal says your deal has untenable risk (without quantifying it).
The best partners challenge each other. You need to be prepared to challenge your Legal team if you’re not getting what your leadership team needs to make an informed decision.
Every deal is a combination of benefits and risks. It is your job as a BD leader to quantify the upside benefits of the partnership. And it is Legal’s job to quantify the Legal risks. If Legal tries to tell you there is too much legal risk, you may need to push back on them. Ask them to provide relevant cases and a range of the damages awarded so that your leadership can weigh the business benefits with the Legal risks. Sunil Daluvoy
Specify your ask of Legal, including your timeline.
Recognize that your Legal team is juggling numerous high-stakes projects. Give them a sense of your timeline. And set realistic timing expectations with your partners.
Along with the request to Legal, also communicate the level of urgency, value/risk to the business, and desired approach to the issue. That will help Legal prioritize among other requests, determine the amount of time or resources to dedicate to the issue. Will Dickinson
Prioritize the issues in your agreement.
It is unlikely you will get everything you want. So take time upfront with your Legal partner to prioritize what matters most.
Throughout the development of the deal and negotiations, make sure to communicate [with Legal] and align on priorities for the business deal (what points matter and how much, what risks are more bearable than others, etc.). Barry Luong
To truly help Legal, build a strong relationship with your external partner.
Your lawyer will likely add friction to your deal. That is often their job. But the relationships you build with your external can overcome that friction.
I have consistently found that the most successful and rewarding partnership negotiations happen when both the BD/Commercial leads take efforts to build strong cross-party relationships. Not only does this help really ease friction to get a deal consummated initially, but these relationships tend to make it really easy to resolve the inevitable friction that pops up from time to time in even the most successful partnerships. Andrew Lucking
Contract negotiation is more than a legal process; it's also about getting a relationship started on the right foot by problem solving and forging trust between the parties. Ron Bell