"If you want to give yourself the broadest possible appeal, a corporate or commercial role with experience of contracts may be best. However, to improve even further, you may look to gain exposure to litigation, employment or corporate governance. There also may be soft skills you need to develop, such as showing that you have strong interpersonal skills, whether communicating with senior executives or employees at lower levels.” Such is the helpful advice offered in this slim volume.
The format of the book is innovative, available only electronically for a ridiculously low price, but instantly available. The author is legal adviser at Bank of Ireland in Dublin.
Ambrose provides the main characteristics required by in-house lawyers, which he suggests come to being a team player while also acting to ensure the client makes decisions which have been tested and probed, and overall to act “as policeman of a client’s conduct”, while being acutely aware of their needs.
There are useful chapters on ethics, managing risk (in particular exposing oneself to unnecessary risk by taking on too many roles), and a particularly helpful chapter on effective writing.
This book would be a useful reminder to those providing in-house advice whether in the public or private sector. It is also helpful in dispelling some of the illusions often attributed to lawyers in those parts of the profession: it’s as tough as anywhere else.
David J Dickson, solicitor advocate
