In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Richard McGee discusses the traits he seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with him and more.
Texas Lawbook: What are the factors you consider when deciding about hiring outside counsel?
Richard McGee: For individuals: communication skills, self and situational awareness, judgment/practicality, intelligence, lack of ego, efficiency and authenticity. For firms generally: firm experienced in our sector with similar matters, firm culture, bench strength and ability to marshal resources as needed to help us quickly and efficiently accomplish our objectives.
Lawbook: How is AI impacting your work?
McGee: It is “early days,” as we are rapidly learning new ways to be more efficient and productive through the use of AI. I firmly believe we need to lean into the use of AI, or we will fall behind our competitors and suboptimize our performance.
Lawbook: How is AI impacting your work and relationship with outside counsel?
McGee: I don’t think it has had a material impact at this point, but as I indicated above, our assimilation and use of AI is still in the early days. There are definitely some “use cases” where AI will perform some tasks that we would otherwise have outside counsel perform or provide assistance, but my hope is that the use of AI by both outside counsel and the company will lead to greater efficiency and productivity for both the company and our counsel.
Lawbook: What are some of the biggest challenges facing Texas GCs today?
McGee: A significant issue facing GCs generally is spiraling outside counsel rates. This is nothing new, as I feel like this issue has been in an “unsustainable” state for most of my 40-year legal career. I don’t know what the answer is, but it really seems to be somewhat out of hand. Partner rates at large firms well in excess of $2,000 per hour are hard to justify, but I probably said the same thing years ago when the $1,000 per hour rate was breached.
Click here to read the Lawbook profile of Richard McGee.