In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Laura Tyson 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?
Laura Tyson: When hiring outside counsel, I have always chosen the particular lawyer and team that has the best expertise for the matter. We are not loyal to law firms. We are loyal to individual lawyers, and we generally follow them wherever they go.
Lawbook: What does outside counsel need to know about you?
Tyson: Having been outside counsel for 17 years before joining EMG, I definitely have very specific expectations about what I want from my outside counsel and how I expect things to be done. There are a lot of great lawyers available, all of whom are capable of doing the work. The key is building relationships of trust and confidence. I am also very particular about communications, and I am not shy about telling my outside counsel how to communicate. For example, when you receive hundreds of emails every day, it is important that the subject lines be accurate.
Lawbook: How is AI impacting your work?
Tyson: I am still in the beginning stages of using AI for work. I use it a lot for personal travel recommendations and general inquiries. For work, I often use it to double check conclusions.
Lawbook: What am I not asking that I should be asking?
Tyson: My favorite things to do when I am not working are playing tennis, working out, swimming, hiking and spending time with my friends drinking wine.
The other biggest life-changing event for me was the death of my husband in 2018. He was 51 years old. Mike and I were married the summer before my junior year of college in 1991. In 2015, he was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer that had already spread to his lymph nodes and bones. He was not expected to live very long, but we were determined to try nonconventional methods including immunotherapy and other holistic remedies. We traveled all over including to the Cayman Islands and to Australia for treatments. He lived for three and a half years after the diagnosis until the cancer eventually spread to his brain. His death at such a young age has definitely caused me to focus on finding joy and happiness in every day of my life and to realize that every day is a gift.
Click here to read the Lawbook profile of Laura Tyson.