Today we highlight Lucy Endel Bassli, Founder and Principal of InnoLaw Group, PLLC, and former Assistant General Counsel of Legal Operations and Contracting at Microsoft (who was responsible for enterprise-wide global clients and programs). Now Lucy works with general counsel everyday, and is the author of the just-released book, CLM Simplified: Efficient Contracting for Law Departments (along with serving as a strategic advisor to LawGeex).
While Lucy is a commercial transactions lawyer, she says she has embraced her “mutated operations gene” and is proud to sit at the intersection point of subject matter expertise in contract negotiations with a focus on efficiency and operations.
Get to know Lucy a little better:
Q: What do you think are the most important leadership qualities for lawyers to develop?
A: It’s important for lawyers to develop delegation skills and trust in other professionals to contribute in a meaningful way to legal work.
Q: How can you keep a legal team focused on overall company goals?
A: When I managed a team of 22 professionals, we had a cadence of reviewing our priorities against the priorities of the company. I felt it was critical for everyone to see how their work connected to the broader goals.
Q: What do you do to instill a culture of innovation with your team?
A: You have to lead by example. I have always explored new/better ways of doing our work and have experimented with my own work. I like to shine a light on what we can have learned from the failure, and I try to always reward attempts, even if they don’t work out as hoped.
Q: What have you implemented with your team to reduce burnout?
A: We always have made time for fun and casual interaction; group bubble tea runs have gone a long way towards that!
Q: What is the best career advice you would give a brand-new lawyer today?
A: Be creative and ask why things are done a certain way any time you sense something can be done more efficiently.
Q: If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you do instead?
A: I’d open the Barkfast Café–because brunch is not only for Sundays OR humans anymore (yes, I already have a tag line for my dog-friendly café!)
