Premium Content: PROS, Inc. Technology Counsel Mary Isensee
In an exclusive Texas Lawbook interview with Mary explains the challenges facing in-house counsel, her pet peeves about outside counsel and what lawyers need to know about her if they want her business.
Texas Lawbook: What are the biggest challenges moving forward for GCs and in-house legal departments like yours?
Mary Isensee: In my current role, I would say that a huge challenge is the increasing regulation and scrutiny around things like privacy, ESG, etc. There are a lot of demands placed on companies. Just take the privacy world, for example. As a global company, PROS has to manage privacy laws of multiple jurisdictions. In some cases, there may be contradictions or even conflicts. Keeping abreast of that and educating the business team is an ongoing challenge, but very necessary, not only as a legal challenge, but a business challenge.
Lawbook: What do you look for in hiring outside counsel?
Isensee: I’m a big believer in relationships, so I am more likely to look for outside counsel who has been referred to me by others or who I know personally.
For Mark Curriden’s full profile of Mary Isensee Click Here.
Lawbook: Do you have pet peeves regarding outside counsel?
Isensee: I would say either giving more information than needed or giving you the law without applying the law to the facts. I am going to outside counsel for an expert opinion, which should be clear and concise. There will always be grey areas, but I expect that outside counsel should opine on what those grey areas are and the risks around them. I would say that providing excellent customer service is also paramount. Even if outside counsel can’t respond to the substance of a question, a quick acknowledgment goes a long way. Ultimately, my internal clients are looking to me for guidance, and I need to know that outside counsel has my back.
Lawbook: What does outside counsel need to know about you?
Isensee: Outside counsel should understand how important customer service is – getting the right answer quickly is huge. At the end of the day, I have business owners that I report to, who are looking at me in doing them the same favor. You want your outside counsel to help make you look good. That requires outside counsel to understand the ask (ie., are you looking for a brief response in a paragraph or memo) and the business. This is especially so, where you are dealing with commercial issues that may be more time sensitive.
Lawbook: How important is diversity in your hiring of outside counsel? Have you ever fired a law firm for its lack of diversity or would you under what conditions?
Isensee: PROS has established relationships with several law firms. I am not personally involved with making hiring decisions. I will say that diversity is hugely important to PROS as a company. PROS was recently designated as 2020-2021 Great Place to Work-Certified, has multiple employee resource groups, and over the years, has consistently improved metrics of female and historically underrepresented minorities as employees and in management.