You're a corporate general counsel and you must hire an in-house litigator. You'll likely hire former prosecutors, as many companies do.

What about hiring former prosecutors for nonlitigation roles, where sharp legal minds are needed for complex transactions? Can prosecutors adapt their litigation skills to help a company drive revenue? Absolutely.

Prosecutors are self-driven, quick studies. They're decisive, trained to exercise good judgement, and to communicate well with nonlawyers. They are experienced negotiators, and will promote an ethical culture. These qualities bring value to a company. Not all former prosecutors are equally talented, but the best will bring these skills to the job. Even if a former prosecutor needs extra time to learn the ins and outs of the business, the payoff is worth the investment.

Self driven, quick studies. Prosecutors earn their stripes through self-driven, on-the-job training. From day one, prosecutors have voluminous caseloads, and must quickly understand the facts, law and strategy. The mind of a prosecutor churns through inputs and information fast.

While a prosecutor processes voluminous information, they also must juggle the myriad interests in a courthouse, not unlike corporate headquarters. They must build and maintain relationships with victims, witnesses, experts, law enforcement, the community and the judge. They must manage deadlines on indictments, pretrial motions and hearings, discovery and trial. Most prosecutor offices have formal training programs but because of limited budgets, prosecutors largely learn by doing, which takes drive, confidence, independence and intelligence.

Corporate recruiters and GCs: take heed of these skills when staffing your teams. According to Russell Reynolds Associates in their 2015 piece, “Inside the Mind of the General Counsel,” working swiftly and independently is a core competency of in-house jobs for lawyers who face immediate, multi-disciplinary, and global responsibilities, including advising the business on legal issues and risk, overseeing corporate governance programs, and managing other attorneys (in-house and outside counsel).

As one former assistant U.S. attorney and now in-house counsel said, corporations need attorneys with a “founder's mentality,” meaning a company's lawyers must adopt a commercial footing, have an entrepreneurial spirit, bring to life “the art of the possible,” and be driven to find legally permissible avenues to get the deal done.

Decisiveness and good judgment. Prosecutors are trained to make decisions in fast-paced, high-stakes environments and own the outcomes that can affect the victims, the community, law enforcement, the defendant and others impacted.

Similarly, in-house lawyers must remain calm and decisive. The stakes vary between a courtroom and a company: in one, the rest of a person's life, potentially, free or behind bars; in the other, high-stake financials. Executives look to their lawyer for the best—and fastest—legal advice.

Yet decisiveness is not enough. Corporate lawyers' decisions must be grounded in sound judgment. By the time prosecutors get to headquarters, they've been tested: in the courtroom, in front of a judge, jury and often-hostile opponent. In these tension-filled settings, their short and long-term decisions are measured in real time.

Mark Twain said, “Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment.” A prosecutors' experience in the courtroom refines their ability to make considered decisions and reach sensible conclusions. The specific actions may be different—how to cross-examine a witness versus how to negotiate a contract—but the importance of exercising sound judgment in both situations is the same. For in-house counsel, according to Spencer Stuart's 2012 research, “So You Want to Be a General Counsel? How to Maximize Your Chances,” “good and trusted judgment” is often praised as the “most important attribute.”

Communication and negotiation skills. Prosecutors are trained to explain complex legal concepts to nonlawyers. They must be “explainer-in-chief” to make abstract legal concepts understandable to a broad audience by explaining complicated facts in a cogent fashion.

How do they do it? By converting abstractions into simple terms, speaking in plain English and using stories, hypotheticals, and examples that cite everyday experiences. For in-house counsel, this is a particularly relevant skill, because executives, who prioritize deal making, must grasp legal guidance quickly. Companies must comply with a range of cross-border laws, understand how old laws apply to new technologies, and balance business opportunity with legal risk. Clearly articulating these concepts in a board room, as a prosecutor would, adds a lot of value to a company.

Prosecutors also routinely negotiate plea deals, balancing the interests of defendants, victims and the government. They will put those skills to good use as negotiators in a business setting. Of course, negotiating a contract in an office is different than reaching a plea agreement in a holding cell. But prosecutors innately get negotiation dynamics.

Culture carriers. Prosecutors vary, but their on-the-job training allows them to command authority. They work in high-stakes environments where much rides on their results. Such visibility and accountability demands outsized professionalism and ethical conduct in their public and personal lives—values they will uphold in their post-prosecutorial careers.

There's an old saying about prosecutors: They're “sometimes wrong, but never in doubt.” For a company, they'll get an action-oriented, take-charge lawyer. Executives welcome that initiative-seizing because their lawyer helps grow the bottom line. Prosecutors also uphold their training to act with the highest ethical standards. While that may compel the former prosecutor to counsel caution on a deal, executives should be comforted knowing their new colleague is protecting their interests.

While they may not have years of experience in corporate-related matters, former prosecutors bring to nonlitigation roles relevant and transferable skills that will bring value to a business from an often-overlooked talent pool worthy of a company's investment—and they should be highly considered for these positions.

Adam L. Rosman is First Data's executive vice president & general counsel, and was an assistant U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C.

Emily R. Zerkel is counsel at First Data Corp., working primarily on the company's real estate and procurement matters. She was a prosecutor in Black Hawk County, Iowa.