We spoke to Bruce to get his take on the ever-evolving environment for in-house lawyers and learn more about his career in the profession.
Having worked in private practice and in-house, run a consultancy and been the Founder Director of CLL before heading back to a law firm – as its GC and Company Secretary – nobody quite understands the in-house legal role quite like Bruce Macmillan.
What attracted you to make the switch from private practice to in-house?
I originally trained as an auditor with Arthur Andersen. What I most enjoyed there was the emphasis on advising clients on how to make things more efficient. That drove me to do my articles with a law firm called Goulden’s (now Jones Day London). Goulden’s was almost unique at the time in that, rather than putting trainees in one area of law for six months, then another area for six months, and so on, they put them on all areas simultaneously – intellectual property in the morning, real property in the afternoon – I really liked the variety!
Later, after working at S.J. Berwin in Brussels, I still wanted a legal role that would offer opportunities to work on everything at once while making a direct, positive impact on how an organisation operates. The in-house legal role provides this combination. It’s a contrast with giving abstract advice as a private practice lawyer and not being involved in what happens next.
What was the biggest challenge you faced when moving in-house?
There was no route map – no clear definition of what your role is, what you should and shouldn't do, or guidance on how to set people’s expectations of you. When I was about two days into my first in-house role at Cable and Wireless, some people who were significantly more senior than me wanted answers to legal queries within hours. There was no one around to consult, so I had to work things out from first principles - which was both exhilarating and terrifying. So the big challenges are around learning what the role is, what it should be, how you should do it, what the boundaries are and not letting yourself be taken advantage of.
How did you become the Founder Director of CLL?
I'd been involved in good practice initiatives for over a decade, working with trade groups, non-departmental bodies, lawyer groups and others. Through this work, I realised that if there’s no clear answer to a given question or problem, getting a responsible body of professionals together to try and agree on what a reasonable answer might be is a good starting point.
Then I started doing some management consulting and coaching work for in-house lawyers and law firms. As part of that, I became involved with RPC, who expressed an interest in helping clients in a way that no other law firm does.
I had a conversation with RPC’s then Director of Brand and Talent, Clint Evans. We talked about how we could help in-house lawyers with the one thing that they don't get from law firms – advice on how to do their job, as opposed to advice on the law. That led to us setting up The Centre for Legal Leadership.
Looking at CLL now, did you foresee how it has developed since its inception?
It has become everything I hoped it would. Rebecca (Cater, Head of CLL) and the team have done a great job since I stepped down. The diversity and geographical reach of the user base, the relevance of the learning materials and the quality of the thought leadership are all more than I dared hope for. It’s a lasting source of good for in-house lawyers, the reference point that I had been looking for 20 years earlier.
How has the in-house role changed during your career?
It’s changed in terms of its importance to businesses because the world has become lot more regulated, more complicated and a lot riskier. There's also more aggression in law and regulation. Old certainties in things like international trade and political stability have changed, too. I think the role has become more important and even more necessary. The Post Office scandal and shortcomings within that are a perfect illustration of the role of the internal lawyers as well as the importance of managing external lawyers.
One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is that there’s still no formalised accreditation for in-house lawyers. There's nothing like ICSA (The Chartered Governance Institute, a qualifying and membership body for company secretaries and governance professionals), or CPD (continuing professional development) for in-house lawyers. So, with no formally defined in-house legal role, it’s hard for organisations to set expectations when hiring or setting up legal teams.
What do you look for when hiring in-house lawyers?
Four As: attitude, aptitude, availability and affordability.
If you work through those criteria in that order, it’ll always work.
Nowadays there’s increasing movement of lawyers between in-house posts. This means it’s easier to find people with good corporate backgrounds. General business training and development programs in areas like behaviours, marketing communications, life planning, time planning are all good for legal teams, too, and they help us recruit people who have the attitude, aptitude and well-rounded experience to fit into an in-house role.
What advice would you give to private practice lawyers contemplating an in-house move?
Go on secondments. Talk extensively with people who have made that move, especially people who have been through the honeymoon period and understand the in-house role deeply. Read CLL’s online content end to end and attend events.
But most importantly, own and define your career plan. Nobody else is going to do that for you. And when your in-house career is on track, contribute to developing our trade. There are many questions that still have no answers, roles that are yet to be defined and areas of business that are unregulated. We have many thoughtful people contributing to the development of the in-house legal profession, but we need more. By contributing to your environment, you’ll be helping to build better careers for everyone in it.
What are the unique challenges of being the GC of a law firm?
Irwin Mitchell, has 3,000 staff, 26 offices, probably around 300 separate types of legal service offered and around £300 million of revenue. There's a lot of complexity there. However, when you get the language right, you can define your environment and get colleagues to buy into it.
At the same time, there are around 1,600 lawyers who, in their own areas, may be more knowledgeable than I am, so I must juggle the balance of politics, policies, competing legal priorities and internal risk prioritisation. We have many people who know their bit of the pie, but not the whole picture. So the role has many advantages, and some extra challenges, too. My measure of a good day is when I get a good surprise, a bizarre surprise and no bad surprise. I've been very lucky over the last six years to be able to build and develop a team of 55 professionals to cover the company secretary, compliance, in-house, legal and regulatory functions. Seeing them grow and develop personally while improving the service we deliver to the firm is very rewarding.
Away from office, how do you relax?
Well, I've had a bad year for injuries, so my cycling, running and swimming have all taken a back seat. However, I have a one year old daughter and an amazing partner so I love spending time with my family, our cat and my old classic car, in which we took a two-week road trip around Europe a couple of years back with the roof down. That was lovely.
