Premium Subscriber Q&A
Charlie San Miguel decided to become a lawyer after being hit with a frivolous lawsuit by a former employer. He is now VP of legal at Enterprise Products and GC of Texas Monthly — not to mention a musician who plays for two rock bands.
He is also recipient of the 2021 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department. And The Lawbook’s Mark Curriden had a chance to question him about the current role of in-house counsel and what he looks for in any relationship with an outside firm.
Texas Lawbook: What do you see as the most important legal and business issues facing corporate legal departments such as yours in the year or two ahead?
Charlie San Miguel: I think these can vary among companies and the industries they operate in, but in the oil and gas space, large companies will see increasing challenges in technology and cybersecurity, expanding regulatory compliance and in corporate social responsibility.
Lawbook: What do you look for in hiring outside counsel?
San Miguel: Extensive experience in the midstream oil and gas industry, a willingness to invest time in learning about how my company and our leadership operate, responsiveness, and excellent work product.
Lawbook: Do you have pet peeves regarding outside counsel?
San Miguel: Overworking a matter without sufficiently keeping me in the loop about what work is being done and why.
For Mark Curriden’s full profile of Charlie San Miguel Click Here.
Lawbook: What does outside counsel need to know about you?
San Miguel: That I work for a company that prides itself on being a fast-moving innovator, which can be a demanding expectation for our outside counsel. For the level of outside counsel that we typically engage, however, this is ordinary operating procedure.
Lawbook: Any life or career mentors?
San Miguel: Absolutely. The first significant career mentor was the owner of the company I left to work for when I was sued. When I told her I was thinking about law school, she was incredibly supportive and told me that I needed to aspire to bigger things than working for her. She created opportunities for me to handle the company’s legal matters before I took the LSAT, then sent me off to law school with lots of good advice, a new laptop and a cash bonus to get started with.
My other key mentors all came out of my seven years as a lawyer at Direct Energy. I still credit Lisa Delsante, the head of my first legal team there, as the best manager I’ve ever had. I also had the good fortune of working with a great general counsel, Jamey Seely, and on the business side have been mentored by one of the company’s former senior vice presidents, Dan Kipp. I still keep in touch with all of these folks and greatly value their opinions.
Lawbook: How has the job of an in-house counsel/assistant GC changed during the past decade?
San Miguel: I think changes have been more apparent at the GC level, where the demands and the breadth of required expertise have continuously increased as technological and compliance risks have grown. The role isn’t just one of legal manager anymore. It’s a strategic business role as well.
At the AGC or similar level, I suspect the answer varies from company to company, but it seems to me that having a real commercial understanding of the businesses we support as in-house counsel has become increasingly important as the increased demands at the GC level necessarily require that those directly supporting the GC can also effectively serve as strategic business advisors.
Lawbook: Tell us about Tackle Life Ministries and your role with it.
San Miguel: TLM is a new nonprofit organization based in Spring, Texas. Our focus is on helping people that have fallen through the cracks and need a significant level of support — whether financial, emotional or otherwise — on a temporary basis. We are referred to regularly by school counselors in the Spring area when they identify students that are working hard to improve their positions but struggling with things like homelessness, financial challenges or the like.
Lawbook: What has been your best day at Enterprise?
San Miguel: I find a lot of excitement on closing day for any major transaction, and my role at Enterprise has given me the opportunity to celebrate that many times. It’s a benefit of my role for which I’m very grateful.