Build your network before you need it
There’s a common illusion in corporate life that you only need to think about your next role when you’re ready to move. Yet every market shake-up, restructuring, or quiet round of redundancies tells a different story.
In-house lawyers, perhaps more than most, live in this paradox. Their days are spent managing everyone else’s risk, rarely their own. The contracts, the compliance, the counsel – all of it is designed to create certainty for others. But as David Lancelot, CLO & EVP Advocacy at LawVu, observes, “Looking for a job isn’t something you start when you think you’re moving jobs.” Careers built only in moments of transition remain reactive. The most successful ones, those that appear effortless from the outside, are the product of a long-term, deliberate practice of staying visible, connected, and curious.
That’s not about opportunism. It’s about discipline and consistency.
The compound interest of career development
In conversation with Scott Brown, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer at Heriot Brown, a firm specializing in in-house legal recruitment, Lancelot reflects on how easy it is for lawyers to fall into what he calls “the head-down decade”. You work hard, deliver results, keep your head below the parapet, and one day you look up and realize your professional world has become quietly narrowed.
Brown sees it constantly from the other side of the table. “The most common mistake,” he says, “is that people only start networking when they’re already in that vulnerable position.”
He describes career development as a kind of compound interest. The lawyers who consistently invest small amounts of time and energy each week – meeting peers, exploring their industry, maintaining a visible presence – see those efforts multiply over time. The returns are often invisible at first but ultimately exponential.
Lancelot admits he learned the hard way. After years of senior roles at companies such as eBay and Amazon, he found himself in a strategic review that left his position uncertain. “I realized I had no external network and no profile,” he recalls. “It was a cold start. That experience taught me that career development is a habit, not a reaction.”
Reframing career growth as compounding value changes everything. The network you build, the reputation you nurture, the curiosity you sustain – all of it accrues quietly until the moment it matters most.
Networking as intelligence, not self-promotion
Lawyers have an uneasy relationship with visibility – a discomfort that’s as cultural as it is practical. As Lancelot notes, “Our profession has literally trained us to avoid selling. There’s Supreme Court case law against advertising your services.” That aversion runs deep, shaping generations of lawyers who conflate visibility with vanity.
Brown sees that tension every day. “Networking can feel like a dirty word in legal,” he says. “But in reality, it’s intelligence gathering and relationship-building. You’re cultivating future opportunities, not promoting yourself.”
That distinction is critical for in-house lawyers. Networking isn’t about broadcasting; it’s about situational awareness. Building connections across industries and functions gives you visibility into what’s shifting – emerging technologies, governance trends, leadership moves – all the signals that shape strategy. It also sharpens your influence inside your own business.
As Lancelot puts it, “You’re not just building your own brand. You’re gathering intelligence that helps your business compete.” For a profession often accused of being risk-averse, that’s a quietly radical act. Treating external perspective not as a distraction but as a form of strategic advantage.
The visibility paradox
Modern leadership demands visibility, yet for many lawyers, it still feels uneasy. The instinct toward discretion, so valuable in legal practice, can quietly become a career barrier. Brown calls it “the shop window problem”.
“LinkedIn is today’s shop window. Your profile is your website. It’s where people decide whether to connect or not,” he says.
The point isn’t vanity. It’s presence. Visibility is how you communicate your values, your expertise, and your readiness to contribute. In a market where most opportunities are never advertised – a perspective, an area of insight, a consistent curiosity – puts you on the radar long before roles exist.
Yet visibility only works when it’s grounded in authenticity. Lancelot warns against performative posting. “Commenting on LinkedIn for inauthentic reasons feels bad because it is bad,” he says. “People sense it immediately. That’s why you have to know what lights you up, because that’s what people connect with.”
Visibility, then, becomes a form of leadership storytelling. Not “Look at me” but “Here’s what I’m learning, here’s what I’m thinking about.” It signals openness, confidence, and engagement, the traits every effective business partner needs.
The quiet discipline of being curious
When Brown and Lancelot talk about the best in-house leaders, they don’t dwell on intellect or technical expertise – those are assumed. The differentiators, they say, are curiosity and humility.
“The most successful people I interview are the most inquisitive,” says Brown. “They’re genuinely interested in others, and that’s hard to fake.”
Curiosity is what keeps you relevant: the constant search to understand the business, the market, and the world beyond your inbox. Humility is what allows you to learn from it. Together, they form the mindset of sustainable leadership: always learning, always listening, always connecting.
For lawyers used to being the experts in the room, this can be a profound shift. It means replacing perfectionism with presence. It means treating every interaction – with a recruiter, a peer, a startup founder, a student – as a chance to learn something you didn’t know. And it means doing it consistently, not just when your title changes or your job security wobbles.
Networking, in that sense, isn’t an external task. It’s an internal practice – the quiet discipline of staying curious.
What recruiters know that lawyers forget
From the recruitment side, Brown sees a truth that many lawyers overlook: the market doesn’t reward brilliance in isolation. “The people who are visible and connected rarely need to look for jobs,” he says. “The roles find them.”
That’s not luck, it’s positioning. Recruiters, CEOs, and General Counsel think first of the people who are active, visible, and credible. They remember who spoke at that panel, who commented insightfully on an industry post, who showed up to a conference prepared to engage.
Brown describes this as a kind of professional gravity, the invisible pull that comes from steady visibility. Inconsistent networking, by contrast, leaves even talented lawyers exposed. “You can’t suddenly build relationships when you’re on the market,” he says. “It’s too late.”
Lancelot frames it even more bluntly: “Ignoring career development until you need a job is like ignoring your health until you’re sick. Build relationships before you need them – it’s just smart risk management.”
The irony, of course, is that the lawyers who do this well rarely feel like they’re “networking”. They’re simply staying interested. In people, in ideas, and where the world is moving. Over time, that interest compounds into influence.
Brown often compares the process to farming rather than hunting. Cultivating relationships that bear fruit in unexpected seasons. There’s no instant ROI, no quick win. But the lawyers who commit to it, he says, “know that one of those connections will open the right door at the right time.”
For Lancelot, consistent visibility has become part of his leadership philosophy. He teaches law students and coaches professionals to view their network as a form of community stewardship. “Networking isn’t about self-promotion,” he says. “It’s about being part of a conversation that makes the profession better.”
That shift from “me” to “us” is where the underlying truth resides. The lawyers who thrive through disruption are those who see connection not as currency, but as contribution. They build bridges early, they stay visible, and they share what they know. And when opportunity arises, as it inevitably does, they’re already known, trusted, and ready.
The modern counsel’s edge
Career resilience is not about luck or timing – it’s about consistency. The quiet, cumulative work of showing up, staying visible, and staying curious. The modern in-house lawyer’s competitive edge is not just legal acuity but relational fluency – the ability to connect, communicate, and remain part of the flow of ideas shaping their world.
In an age of constant change, that’s what future-proofing looks like. It’s not waiting for the bridge to appear; it’s building it – one conversation at a time.
Or, as Brown puts it, “The people who stay connected are never starting from zero.”
Five ways to build career momentum
- Treat career development like a standing meeting
Block out one recurring hour every week to focus on your professional growth. Use it to reconnect with a peer, read about your industry, or update your online profile. Protect that time as fiercely as you would like a board meeting because it’s an investment in your future self. - Make your online presence work for you
Your LinkedIn profile is your digital calling card, not just a résumé but a reflection of who you are as a leader. Keep it current, focused, and written in your voice. Add a concise headline that captures your expertise and values, and engage regularly, so your name stays visible for the right reasons. - Engage with purpose, not volume
Thoughtful engagement beats passive scrolling. Comment on posts where you can add insight or curiosity, not just congratulations. Over time, meaningful participation in discussions builds credibility and expands your professional reach far more than endless connection requests. - Build relationships before you need them
Networking shouldn’t begin in crisis mode. Make a habit of reaching out to interesting people with no agenda other than learning from them. Ask for advice, share something useful, or simply express genuine curiosity. The best professional relationships start long before they’re needed. - Show up and contribute
Visibility grows from participation. Attend conferences, join panels, or volunteer to moderate a session – even virtually. If opportunities aren’t offered, create them by contacting organizers. The people who raise their hands early are often the ones invited to lead later.
In episode 45 of the Legal Leaders podcast, host David Lancelot spoke to Scott Brown about Consistent career development: Networking and profile building for Legal Leaders. To watch the podcast, click here.
