Chaos Is Part Of The Job

Navigating the Unpredictable: A Guide for In-House Counsel

In early 2025, I described professional life as akin to a raging wildfire. I urged in-house lawyers to stop battling what they cannot control and instead focus on moving forward.

That advice remains relevant. Since then, I have reflected more on what moving forward actually entails on a daily basis. Acknowledging that the environment is volatile is the initial step. Performing effectively within that volatility is the more challenging one.

The Landscape Has Not Stabilized

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If anything, the momentum has accelerated. You operate in an environment marked by restructurings, shifts in leadership, evolving strategies, and competing priorities. None of this is novel for anyone with experience as an in-house lawyer.

The difficulty is not the disruption itself. It is overcoming the notion that you must internalize every aspect of it personally, without limits, without rest, and without recognizing that the foundation keeps shifting beneath you.

Performing well does not demand flawless control over your surroundings. It demands a steady approach to your response when nothing around you is stable.

Address the Issue

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I encountered this phrase long before becoming a lawyer, but a close engineer friend recently reminded me of it. Tackle the issue without emotion and without considering office politics. I have learned not to dwell on the hypothetical worst-case scenario someone mentioned in a casual conversation.

When a reorganization is announced and reporting structures change, the question is not why leadership failed to consult you first. The real question is whether your existing contracts, authority delegations, and compliance duties still fit the new framework. That is where your focus should be.

When a new executive arrives with a different risk appetite, the problem is not that your previous advice is being questioned. The problem is understanding what this leader requires from legal and how to adjust your strategy without sacrificing sound judgment.

Simplify the situation to what truly needs action. Begin there.

Be Ready to Adapt

The advice you gave last Tuesday may not hold by Friday. That is not a failure on your part. It is the reality of this work. Facts and situations are constantly changing. A regulatory interpretation shifts. A key witness retracts. A vendor you depended on announces it is shutting down. A deal term you negotiated is reopened when a leadership member raises an unforeseen concern.

The most effective in-house lawyers I know do not cling to their initial stance out of fear that changing direction appears weak. They review. They reassess. They update their guidance when the facts demand it.

Consistency is important. Rigidity is not. Knowing where that boundary lies is part of the judgment you contribute.

You Are Engaging with People

This is the aspect that no legal education fully prepares you for. You are not managing statutes or contract clauses in isolation. You are dealing with humans, and humans are not predictable.

Employees are not predictable. Managers are not predictable. Executives are not predictable. Judges are not predictable.

The employee who seemed completely fine during last month’s performance review files a complaint this week. The manager who approved the policy you drafted decides to disregard it when it becomes inconvenient. The judge who indicated a positive ruling at the hearing issues a decision that goes the opposite way.

You cannot script human behavior. You prepare for variability, and you incorporate enough flexibility into your guidance to accommodate it.

Check In — Advise — Repeat

This is where the real work occurs for in-house lawyers who aim to be effective, not just technically accurate.

Regularly check in with your business teams, not only after something has already gone wrong; advise them before the decision is made, not after; and when they make choices you would not have made, guide them through the consequences instead of reminding them you warned them.

People do not return to the lawyer who says, “I told you so.” They return to the lawyer who says, “Here is what we do.” Do it again tomorrow and the day after. Consistent presence builds the trust that makes your advice worth heeding when the stakes are highest.

Panic Is Always a Choice

Chaos will come for you. It will not ask permission. It will not wait for you to finish the project you are already behind on or to take the vacation you have been postponing. When it arrives, you have a choice. You can treat every tremor as a personal disaster and exhaust whatever resources you have, or you can address the problem, adjust your stance, and continue moving.

The in-house lawyers who endure are not those who avoid turbulence. They are those who have learned to remain steady while everything around them does not. You do not have to extinguish the fire. You have to keep your composure while it runs its course.

Lisa Lang is an experienced in-house lawyer and thought leader dedicated to empowering fellow legal professionals. She offers insights and resources tailored for in-house counsel through her website and blog, Why This, Not That™ (www.lawyerlisalang.com). Lisa actively engages with the legal community via LinkedIn, sharing her expertise and fostering meaningful connections. You can reach her at [email protected] , connect on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawyerlisalang/).

Topics:

In-House Counsel

Lisa Lang