In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Steven Scheinthal 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?
Steven Scheinthal: Extreme competency, confidence, the ability to make me feel good that I have the right counsel for the assignment — and someone that doesn’t see the relationship about needing to make the last dollar on any engagement.
Lawbook: What does outside counsel need to know about you? And what are your pet peeves about outside counsel?
Scheinthal: They need to understand our business. They can’t make me afraid of calling them for fear of being billed. Don’t tell me what I want to hear, but don’t feed me bullshit. There can be no surprises, and I won’t tolerate the failure to think outside the box. Moreover, there is so much fraud in litigation today that a lawyer’s failure to recognize deceit in defending us is unacceptable.
Lawbook: How is AI impacting your work?
Scheinthal: It makes things a lot easier and faster. I have used it to write memos, letters and do document reviews. It is a huge time-saver.
Lawbook: How is AI impacting your work and relationship with outside counsel?
The expectation is that outside counsel should be more efficient and save time on projects, which should save us money — but also should make us smarter about our matters, too.
Click here to read the Lawbook profile of Steven Scheinthal.