In a soon-to-be-released episode of The Corporate Counsel Show, two general counsel reflected on the things they love about in-house life.
Speaking on The Corporate Counsel Show, fractional general counsel, board member, and keynote speaker Ivana Kovacevic and RMIT University general counsel Alison Huitfeldt discussed the various aspects of being an in-house lawyer that they find vocationally motivating, as well as what they’re most looking forward to in 2026 and beyond.
Huitfeldt said she has spent most of her career as a corporate counsel, and having had a “short spurt” in private practice that she didn’t like, she returned in-house.
“I really enjoy leading teams and particularly working with them as we lead them through transformation in complex regulatory environments with lots of things going on,” she said.
“I think I was born to be in-house.”
From the outset, she said, she “loved working close to the business and being able to live and breathe what you work on, and get to know the business really well, building those deep relationships. From having those deep relationships, you become a much better in-house counsel that can really help shape and deliver outcomes, particularly if you’re involved at the start.”
In-house life, Huitfeldt went on, allows one to understand the commercial drivers and realities in a way that private practitioners may not get the chance to do. “You often just send off some advice, and that’s it – you don’t hear from it again,” she said.
Kovacevic offered similar sentiments, noting that the distinction between being in-house and in private practice is that, when working in the latter, “you just see the bird’s-eye view of an issue that’s been very well curated”.
“You get a really specific question, and that’s all you answer, and then you never see what happens, you never get to learn from it,” she said.
For those in-house, Kovacevic said, “you get to see the thing from start to end, and you get to influence it from the start”.
As such, “the issue might never come up, because you can shape it from the beginning”, she said.
“There’s just so much fun figuring out what the business actually needs to succeed,” she added.
For both Huitfeldt and Kovacevic, such vocational opportunities mean there is much to be excited about in the coming year.
“I really love developing and empowering teams, making them have a space where they feel there is psychological safety to grow and to make mistakes and to learn. So, I’m really excited about exploring AI as a team and what we can do together with that,” Huitfeldt said.
The development of proficiency in such new technologies, she went on, is a thrilling prospect, not just in terms of discovering ways to free up space and time for team members, but also through the existential exploration of how and where such change leaves the legal profession.
This latter point is what excited Kovacevic, because it presents new opportunities.
“I think we’re just really scratching the surface still [of possibility],” she said.
“It’s really exciting to be part of the journey to lead teams through that change. I really love the leadership aspect of it: to be surrounded by a team that you can lead through, make feel safe, figure out the best way to do this together, and then come out on top.”
“I think there are things we possibly aren’t contemplating yet about how things could be improved, and that’s what’s exciting – I don’t think we yet know what’s around the corner.”
Huitfeldt said: “The unknown can be exciting or be terrifying. I choose to go with the former.”
The episode featuring Ivana Kovacevic and Alison Huitfeldt will be released in mid-December.
Jerome Doraisamy is the managing editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in New South Wales, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
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