In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Ali Denson discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.
Texas Lawbook: What are the factors you consider when deciding about hiring outside counsel?
Ali Denson: Each decision to bring in outside counsel is distinct, but there are three main factors we consider. The first factor we consider is subject matter expertise. If the issue involves a highly specialized area of law, such as complex regulatory matters, litigation in unfamiliar jurisdictions or nuanced tax or securities questions, outside counsel can add value quickly, because they bring depth and experience we may not have in-house. Second is capacity and bandwidth. Even if we technically could handle a matter internally, timing often matters. If the team is already managing active transactions or competing priorities, bringing in outside counsel helps ensure we don’t sacrifice speed or quality elsewhere. Third, we look at risk and exposure level. Matters with significant financial, regulatory or reputational risk often justify external input, both for the benefit of specialized advice and for an additional layer of review and defensibility.
Lawbook: What does outside counsel need to know about you?
Denson: Coordination and communication are key. As noted above, when we engage outside counsel, we’ve already gone through the process of determining that their specific expertise is needed and that they are the right fit for the matter. Because of that, what matters to me in the working relationship is outside counsel who are proactive in their communication, keeping us informed of developments, flagging issues early and providing clear guidance about what they need from us and when. Equally important is the ability to distill complex legal analysis into practical recommendations that we can easily communicate internally, particularly when decisions need to be made quickly. Ultimately, in my opinion, the most effective relationships with outside counsel are those where they act as an extension of our in-house team, bringing strong legal expertise while also understanding the importance of collaboration, clarity and business practicality in how that expertise is delivered.
Lawbook: How is AI impacting your work?
Denson: As in-house counsel with a small legal department, on any given day, each of us is responsible for projects that may not be our historical area of practice, and AI legal research tools have been instrumental in supplementing knowledge in these areas. In particular, AI legal research tools have been useful as a first pass for unfamiliar or less frequently encountered areas of law. They help accelerate issue-spotting, provide a structured overview of relevant concepts and point us toward key considerations or authorities that we can then validate and build upon through traditional research and professional judgment. Overall though, AI has not changed the fundamental nature of our work, but it has meaningfully enhanced our efficiency and flexibility.
Lawbook: How is AI impacting your work and relationship with outside counsel?
Denson: AI tools have increased our ability to get to a baseline understanding of unfamiliar issues much more quickly. In a small legal department where we often operate outside our core areas of expertise, it means we can do more informed initial issue-spotting and framing before we decide whether to escalate something externally. As a result, when we do engage outside counsel, we’re often coming in with a clearer sense of the facts, the business context and the specific questions we want answered. AI has also influenced how we think about scoping and value. Because we can now handle more of the initial synthesis internally, we tend to be more intentional about when we bring in outside counsel and what we ask them to focus on.
Click here to read the Lawbook profile of Ali Denson.