Susan Duarte, Sprint's director and senior corporate counsel of consumer and marketing practices, financial services, and compliance and litigation. Courtesy photo.

In-house counsel are front and center when a company hits crisis mode.

Susan Duarte's been there. She's worked in-house at Sprint Corp. for 14 years and currently serves as the company's director and senior corporate counsel of consumer and marketing practices, financial services, and compliance and litigation.

Corporate Counsel spoke with Duarte about her experience with crisis management and tips for in-house counsel. She'll also be speaking on the topic at an upcoming Legalweek panel called "Crisis Management Pitch Off: Managing Client Perception During a Firm Crisis."

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Corporate Counsel: You'll be on the crisis management panel at Legalweek. What perspective will you bring to the discussion?

Susan Duarte: We will be talking about crisis management and we're going to be looking at it from several different viewpoints. I think it's going to be a very helpful panel for lots of different industry participants. So marketing would be one, another flavor of it will be law firms and how they manage their crisis. They have plenty of crises in law firms, too, surprisingly—not just clients' crises, but their own. And then also how you would manage a crisis as a business.

So what I'm bringing to the table is I've been in practice 18 years now. I have worked at a law firm, but I've worked here at Sprint for 14 years. And over that time we've certainly had various issues, "crisis" situations where legal counsel has been instrumental in helping the business frame the issues and help them respond.

My other viewpoint will be how to best protect the company in the event that the crisis rises to the level of litigation and some of the mechanisms you need to put in place at the start, including the narrative that you need to think about and the other participants you need to work with throughout the process. Also, ways to make sure you're preserving evidence and maintaining attorney-client privilege throughout the process.

CC: Can you give an example of a crisis you might face in-house, or have faced while in-house?

SD: Generically speaking, we've definitely had issues that have been reputational issues like all companies. So I think that's one of the primary examples that we'll be drawing from, is how do you manage through that. Then, also, of course, in my day-to-day practice I manage litigation and investigation, so how do you manage through the beginning of those investigations through the end, and the press releases and statements related to settlements. And, again, that goes to reputational harm.

CC: What are the biggest lessons you've taken from the crises you've handled?

SD: My biggest lesson is that you need to remain calm. I think that is a very critical factor, especially in your role as an attorney. Because you've got a lot of different things going on at once. You've got a lot of balls in the air. You have to look at this strategically. You have to work with the partners and you have to set the tone with the business, that this has happened and now we're going to work though it to the best of our ability. But it's really being that calm force though the storm. That is, I think, one of the best roles an attorney can play.

CC: A crisis hits. That urgent call comes in. What are the first things an in-house lawyer should do?

SD: So one of the first things we try to do is to have an initial finding call with the business and just sort of level setting on how we will communicate during the crisis, establishing roles and responsibility. We'll also work to establish the attorney-client privilege.

CC: How can in-house counsel prepare for a crisis?

SD: In-house counsel can prepare for a crisis by actually sitting through the simulation with the business, and understanding the issues they will confront. And going back and making sure you have a handle on any relevant law and staying up to speed on different developments in the area, so you can bring your best counsel back when an issue actually happens. It's impossible to predict, but it is good to simulate and establish roles and responsibilities.

CC: What does a successful post-crisis period look like?  

SD: I think it's really taking a look at the timeline and having different participants volunteer what they thought you did well and what they thought the group as a whole could improve upon. And then taking those categories and trying to understand maybe how you can build on that for the future. Obviously, the things you didn't do well are easier to tackle because you can then come up with better solutions and plans for the future. But it's really important to also remember what you did well so that you continue to bring that to the bible and you continue to refine your processes.

CC: Why did you want to speak on this topic at Legalweek?

SD: It's important, especially right now, in the current environment. A lot of companies are facing the potential for crisis as technology develops. Specifically more cybersecurity issues.

It's a timely topic for attorneys to be aware of and to be learning about, to be making sure that they're prepared. So I think that's part of the discussion, to make it as practical as possible, so that when those events happen those attorneys are ready. And also other participants that walk in, that they have an understanding of what their role might be.

CC: You mentioned cybersecurity. Are you focused on firms' cybersecurity, as they have data from in-house counsel? Will we hear this discussed next week?

SD: I think we are always concerned with how the data is being shared with anyone, any vendor. It's not unique to outside counsel. So I do think it's something in-house counsel should be thinking of and being aware of and paying attention to on a regular basis, regardless of the vendor.

CC: On the panel, you're the only in-house lawyer. Do lawyers in-house have to handle crises differently than those at firms?

SD: I don't know that it would be too much different between a corporate and a law firm because both are businesses. I just think the sensitivities may be a little bit different because you have all one category of players. You only have lawyers at law firms and in a business environment, you have a lot of different organizations, like sales and marketing.

CC: What are some of the ways you need to approach the situation differently, as an in-house lawyer dealing with different organizations? 

SD: We need to educate the different business clients about the legal aspects, but we also need to sit at the table and sometimes we have to close our mouths because it's their brand and their issue and understanding that your job is to help the business move forward and to continue to do business and to keep them out of trouble and to protect them.

Sometimes that means you have to check your opinion at the door or keep it to yourself, while the business is sorting through their own issues. I think at a law firm, you would probably have quicker alignment on a lot of the issues. So your role would be different in that, in a law firm you are the brand. In a corporation, you're there to partner and support the brand.

CC: Anything else you would like to discuss?

SD: I'm just really looking forward to speaking. The participants on the panel itself are phenomenal. It's going to be a very good presentation and I'm looking forward to spending some time in New York.