In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Helen Xiang discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.
Texas Lawbook: What advice would you give other law firm lawyers thinking about going in-house?
Helen Xiang: To not be afraid of going in-house to a company in an area that you’re not familiar with. I was apprehensive when I first joined CCI because I hadn’t done any commodities or trading work, but I felt that my law firm training and the incredible mentorship I’ve gotten has helped bring me up to speed.
Lawbook: What are the factors you consider when deciding about hiring outside counsel?
Xiang: Subject matter expertise is so critical, because many times the questions we have for outside counsel are ones that we can’t resolve internally, so having someone who knows the industry and has either seen what we’re asking about or has the background and intuition to give no-nonsense, actionable advice really makes it easier.
Lawbook: What does outside counsel need to know about you?
Xiang: Communication is very important to me. I never mind if people send an extra status update email to keep us in the loop while things are happening, and it gives me comfort to know they’re looking and thinking about the same things I am.
I also value organization. Tell me what you’re waiting on me for, because when we’re sprinting towards a signing or a closing, everyone is tracking a lot of things, and I appreciate the extra little touches to keep us on track.
Lawbook: What were the biggest challenges in developing and implementing Castleton’s AI tools?
Xiang: The bulk of the work in developing policies and procedures around AI usage generally at CCI was done by our amazing compliance, generative AI and cybersecurity and IT infrastructure teams. I got involved when our principal investments team raised the question of using our AI tools to evaluate confidential information that they’ve received under NDAs. The biggest challenge was learning and wrapping my mind around everything that happens when you use an AI tool behind the scenes, to learn about how different programs for storage, retrieval and encryption all work together and how we square that with our confidentiality obligations. I then worked with our compliance team to draft the policy and held a series of meetings with our investment professionals to help them understand the restrictions and also incorporate their feedback.
Lawbook: How is AI impacting your work?
Xiang: It’s become one of my responsibilities to stay on top of developments and changes so I can update the rest of the legal team, our general counsel and our head of compliance. We’re thinking about how we can implement it in our work to be more efficient. So far, the chatbots are useful as another avenue to bounce ideas off of. Sometimes, I use it to generate form communications or responses to counterparty requests, and then I change language and rewrite portions to tailor it for what I need. Sometimes, it can give a useful framework to start from, but you still need the lawyer’s mind and the human touch to make the final work product shine.
Lawbook: How is AI impacting your relationship with outside counsel?
Xiang: Not too much at this stage. We’re certainly asked by outside counsel if they can use AI tools to review agreements for diligence, but we would still expect someone to review the AI-generated output to make sure it matches up with the underlying agreements and that our concerns are being addressed.
Click here to read the Lawbook profile of Helen Xiang.