Almost every law department struggles with ways to create career paths where none exist. In the traditionally flat structure of a law department, there are simply not enough management appointments to go around.
One general counsel, Susan Lichtenstein at Baxter International, is working on a solution. “You can’t have 75 of your people demoralized because they’re in those [nonmanagement] jobs,” says Lichtenstein. With only seven management positions in the department in addition to her own, Baxter’s GC relies on leadership opportunities to motivate the lawyers in her department.
