Alex Advocates
Welcome to this month's edition of Alex Advocates. I'm Alex Correa, a Brisbane based legal industry recruiter and the founder of Alex Correa Executive. This month I want to talk about how influence is changing across the Queensland legal industry, and how your own approach and style can genuinely shape the success of your career.
Quick answer: The most effective in-house and private practice lawyers today rarely rely on being the loudest voice in the room. Their influence comes from trust, commercial acumen, and communication tailored to the audience in front of them, not volume or self-promotion. Building that kind of quiet authority takes judgement, timing and consistency, and it's becoming the defining trait of the lawyers organisations genuinely can't do without.
As a recruiter, I get the privilege of speaking with in-house counsel, general counsel and private practice lawyers across Queensland and beyond every day. Over time, I've noticed a quiet but real shift, not just in who holds influence within organisations and firms, but in how they earn it.
A Character Worth Learning From, for the Wrong Reasons
I've been reading a novel recently with a client character who is a genuinely loud, obnoxious bully, and who has a negative impact on everyone around him even when he isn't in the room. His fear based style undermines the people working with him, and it ripples right through the firm representing him, a firm that stays largely at his mercy because of the fees he brings in. Without giving away the ending, his behaviour doesn't work out well for him.
I'm not certain enough of the exact book title and author to cite them confidently here, so if you'd like this reference included by name in the published version, it's worth confirming those details before it goes live.
That character was such a stark contrast to what I've actually witnessed in practice, that it helped crystallise something for me: the best commercial lawyers today are rarely the loudest people in the room. Their visibility is earned through trust, commercial acumen and communication tailored to their audience, not volume or taking up space.
Influence, Not Volume
The most effective lawyers don't need to remind anyone who they are. They translate complexity into clarity, guide decisions, and help outcomes land safely and strategically. Their success is genuinely tied to the success of the people they support.
They see the bigger picture: the economic and risk landscape, the financial drivers behind a deal, the organisational dynamics at play. They speak the language of their stakeholders because they deeply understand the business they support. Visibility, for these lawyers, comes not from self-promotion, but from becoming genuinely indispensable.
The Authentic Lawyer
Many of the lawyers I speak with, particularly at mid to senior career stages, are still developing their professional identity and style, whether they'd say so out loud or not.
Early in a career, it's natural to emulate the people ahead of you, a senior associate, a general counsel, a partner. For some, that means absorbing what genuinely resonates. For others, it means adopting a style that never quite fits.
I've met a number of capable lawyers recently who have described struggling to "make themselves heard" in a way that felt authentic. A confrontational approach, or trying to replicate a "my way or the highway" style that isn't genuinely yours, tends to erode credibility rather than build it.
Authenticity matters here. Influence isn't about commanding attention. It's about earning respect through judgement, timing and trust.
Balancing Legal Risk and Commercial Reality
In-house lawyers face a particular challenge. They advise, but they aren't always the final decision-maker. That means constantly balancing an organisation's appetite for commercial risk against a genuine duty to protect it.
Picture this: you've raised a concern about a contract clause that exposes the business to real risk, and the stakeholder dismisses it. Do you:
- Push back in a meeting full of people, and try to be heard in the moment, or
- Put your advice clearly in writing, without drawing attention or putting the stakeholder on the spot
I'd say the second option gives you a better balance, protecting both the business and your own credibility, while preserving an important working relationship. That's influence in action: shaping the outcome even when you aren't the final voice.
Trust and Communication
When I ask clients what actually makes an in-house lawyer indispensable, they rarely start with technical excellence. They talk about judgement, clarity, emotional intelligence, communication, and follow-through.
In practice, that looks like doing what you say you'll do. Communicating with precision, knowing your audience, and shaping a board paper or report for the people actually reading it, whether that means more high-level, more data-driven, more research-based, or simply more pragmatic. Good communication cuts through complexity and brings a sense of calm to uncertainty.
These are the lawyers whose names come up unprompted in meetings, the ones leaders say they specifically need in the room.
Curiosity Builds Connection
Curiosity is a trait I see consistently in the most influential lawyers. It's what lets them understand not just what matters to them, but what genuinely matters to their stakeholders.
For an in-house lawyer, what finance needs from you looks different from what risk and governance want, and people and culture will see your role differently again. Taking the time to understand each perspective, and to genuinely understand the business you're supporting, is what makes your advice resonate across the boardroom.
That's how influence is actually built. Not demanded loudly, but earned one step at a time.
Collaboration Beyond Legal
The best legal teams know there's no room for working in isolation. I've seen legal counsel embed themselves within business units, sitting alongside commercial, finance or operational teams. They don't just respond to queries as they come in, they anticipate them, because they're close enough to the business to hear what's happening in real time.
Many bring a background in construction, projects, banking or accounting, which lets them add a genuinely multi-dimensional perspective. Collaboration, at this level, becomes less like teamwork and more like an integrated partnership.
Leadership, Diversity and the Quiet Shift
There's a quiet evolution happening in leadership style too. More women and diverse thinkers are stepping into senior legal roles, and it's genuinely shifting the tone of influence I see in the market.
One law firm partner I work with recently described a meeting between key financial services clients, regulators and stakeholders where every decision-maker in the room happened to be a woman. The discussion, by their account, was collaborative, outcomes-focused and inclusive. That quiet shift is genuinely underway.
Authority is being redefined. Less about dominating a conversation, more about shaping it. Creating space for others to contribute. Guiding progress rather than demanding it. This gentler style of leadership, one that still delivers results, is inspiring a real generational shift, for both women and men in law.
Staying Above the Fray
Influence also requires political awareness, without political behaviour. I often tell candidates to take the time to understand who's who in a room, without getting drawn into office politics. Organisations evolve, people move on, and today's colleague can easily become tomorrow's key stakeholder. Staying professional and neutral protects your credibility over the long run.
The Evolution of Influence
Influence in law, whether in-house or in private practice, is no longer about taking up the most space. It's about creating genuine value, and helping decisions move forward safely and effectively.
The command and control style of legal leadership is fading, and plenty of people are welcoming that change. Increasingly, we look up to those who share credit, build trust, and enable collaboration across disciplines, the ones who help their team or client succeed together.
In the modern legal world, true authority isn't about being heard the most. It's about being missed when you're not in the room.
Frequently Asked Questions About Influence in Legal Careers
How do lawyers build influence without being the loudest person in the room?
Through trust, consistent follow-through, and communication genuinely tailored to the audience, rather than through volume or self-promotion. Influence tends to be earned gradually, through judgement and reliability, not asserted in a single moment.
How should in-house lawyers handle disagreement with a senior stakeholder?
Where possible, put concerns clearly in writing rather than confronting a stakeholder publicly. This protects the business, preserves your own credibility, and maintains the working relationship, while still ensuring your advice is on the record.
What makes an in-house lawyer indispensable to a business?
Judgement, clarity, emotional intelligence, precise communication and follow-through tend to matter more than technical excellence alone. These are the qualities that make leaders specifically want a lawyer in the room.
Is a quieter leadership style effective in law? Increasingly, yes. A collaborative, less dominance-driven style of leadership is becoming more common in senior legal roles, and by many accounts is
producing genuinely strong, inclusive outcomes.
Looking for Your Next Step?
If you're considering your next move in the legal market, get in touch to find out how my team at Alex Correa Executive can help you build the career you're genuinely aiming for.
