Recently at the 2010 ACLA in-house conference John O’Sullivan, chairman of Credit Suisse's investment banking department, was asked what specific skills were needed for a high powered GC position. O’Sullivan, who spent 20 years at Freehills as a partner before moving in-house to become an executive committee member of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), listed technical expertise, judgment/ experience and people management skills as the main qualities hiring committees look for.

An aspiring general counsel should already know the key areas of law that affect the business of the company they want to work for. For example a company involved in developing new technology needs someone with a well developed core of expertise in IP law, according to O’Sullivan. 

O’Sullivan noted that a candidate’s sense of judgment is the hardest area for an interviewer on a recruiting committee to judge. John Egerton, corporate recruitment manager for Mahlab, agreed: “Even when you are demanding those hard, technical skills and expertise, you can still end up with 10, maybe 15 candidates who may be suitable and it’s hard to differentiate between them.” Contrary to what many may believe, O’Sullivan also said that a CEO appreciates tough minded advice as long as there is also good judgment behind it. 
 
During his speech, O’Sullivan highlighted the need for GCs to be good team players, learning to see those they manage as assets to the business. “For many years when I was at Freehills I thought the only thing that really counted was my technical skills. Since then I have learnt the soft skills are really important,” he said.

Working as an investment banker for Credit Suisse since 2008, O’Sullivan relishes the challenge of working for a truly global organisation. “The law is a great training ground. The legal profession teaches you great skills and often lawyers don’t realise the skills they have. They are really well trained, really well qualified,” he said.