As outside counsel, we exist for one primary purpose: to help solve problems for clients. One activity at the heart of this is communication. This is why, in previous lessons, we discussed the importance of speaking "fluent client" in all your communications. We said how this involves understanding your client's business, their goals and how they communicate.

Now take your new language skills and apply them in a way that provides real value to the client. Learn from your observations, absorb the client's language, preferred terminology and technology, and use them as if they were your own.

Because you're talking to another lawyer, you might think that the GC will want to know all the gory details, ins and outs and interesting legal tidbits, when you advise on a given issue. But that's not what the GC wants. What he or she wants is actually business advice, not legal advice. And here again is another reason why knowing the client's business is vital — if you don't have a full grasp on the client's business and its goals, your advice will be off the mark, and you won't get re-hired.