In years past, a company's general counsel was often looked upon as the gatekeeper whose favorite word is "no" and as someone who stifles innovative business measures because of a fear of risk.

However, the thought that lawyers block innovation has changed and many companies are now putting in-house counsel in a position to be even more involved with the business than they have been before.

"I think the stereotype is breaking," says Mike Evers, the founder of Evers Legal in Chicago. "Too risk-averse, too cautious and too conservative. The negative stereotypes appear to be diminishing. In-house counsel are doing a better job of presenting as businesspeople who happen to have law degrees."

The number of general counsel and chief legal officers being put on a track to become a CEO or another member of the C-suite is growing. Michael Sachs, a partner at the recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa, says about 30% of requests for general counsel or chief legal officer candidates mention the candidate could be considered for the C-suite someday.

Allen Parker, interim president and chief executive officer of Wells Fargo & Co., speaks with employees during a company volunteering event at a food pantry in Plano, Texas, U.S., on Wednesday, June, 19, 2019. Wells Fargo stated that the company has donated $286.5 million to 14,500 nonprofits in 2017 to support critical social, economic, and environmental challenges. Photographer: Cooper Neill/Bloomberg

Since March, there have been a number of general counsel and chief legal officers who have been given greater executive responsibility in their companies. General counsel C. Allen Parker was named interim CEO of Wells Fargo in March. Fluor Corp. in May named chief legal officer Carlos Hernandez as interim CEO and later made him the full-time CEO. In both cases, the companies faced scrutiny from ­investors, and in the case of Wells Fargo, from federal regulators.

Being made the CEO during a time of turmoil is something John Rakow, who recently resigned as the interim CEO of uBiome is familiar with. He was made interim CEO while he was general counsel of the company when the company was facing government inquiries over its billing practices.

"We were raided on a Friday and there was an emergency board meeting on a Sunday. That's when I was appointed," says Rakow, who left the company in July.

Rakow says he cannot be sure why the board asked him to act as the interim CEO. However, he believes it had to do with his qualifications with regard to sensitive internal investigations and experience cooperating with federal authorities.

Facing an investigation, Rakow ­maintained his role as uBiome's general counsel which he said was one of the more difficult parts of staying in the top role.

"There was always the temptation to really focus on the legal issues," Rakow says. "I'd have to consciously pull myself away and say the deputy general counsel can take care of those issues." Sachs says he finds lawyers have an issue with this very part of a more business-facing role.

"I think a big part of it would be looking beyond the law," Sachs says.

Even in other roles, such as the chief administrative officer, legal leaders must learn to look beyond their legal responsibilities. Rich Baer, the chief legal officer and chief administrative officer of Liberty Media, says the ­challenge in having both roles is how different they are from each other.

"I don't think the legal profession is known for its ability to develop talent," Baer says.

Promoting The General Counsel Aside from having a legal mind in the executive suite in the midst of an ­investigation, one of the benefits to promoting a general counsel to CEO is because of the "smarts" they bring with them, Evers says.

"Business is getting more complicated," Evers says. "It is becoming international and multilingual. Lawyers bring with them the ability to multitask and address a lot of problems at the same time."

He added with all of the different regulatory schemes that have been put into place in the last 30 to 50 years, companies need someone with an ­ethical compass at the top.

The presence of the general counsel in front of the board may be another reason board members are elevating legal leaders to more business-facing roles. The notion of a steady presence who advocates for the company looks good to the board when they're selecting a new CEO.

"They tend to be loyal," Evers says. "Lawyers are trained from law school to advocate for a client whether that is someone they'd want to have dinner with or not."

With that said, the frankness of an attorney also makes for an attractive quality in a potential executive.

"Lawyers can speak truth to power to board members," Evers says. "They're not brown nosers and boards appreciate that."

Characteristics Needed

Shauna Bryce, the founder and principal of Bryce Legal Career Counsel in Washington, D.C., says attorneys who are good at working with imperfect information are suited for the CEO role. "I find that lawyers who flourish on the business side tend to be people who are comfortable working quickly with imperfect information," Bryce says. "I've met lawyers who flourish in that environment. They find it energizing and love the challenge of having to make a decision."

Corporate generalists, in her experience, she says, are those who are suited for an executive track because they're more ­comfortable in that environment. She also says corporate generalists have a greater understanding of the industry they are in.

"Some of the more technical lawyers have little understanding of the businesses they work in," Bryce says.

Meanwhile, the more generalist lawyers can speak in plain English to those outside of the law firm and learn to pick up other specialty languages important to the businesses. She says many general counsels and chief legal officers already speak those languages.

"I think the reality is a lot of them can do it," Bryce says. "Whether they've consciously decided to do it or not. These are people who are interested in the business. That is the sort of person who goes up the ladder. The person who wants to be a technical lawyer and is responding to a question is not on the executive track and doesn't want to be."

Accepting Risk

Those who work in recruiting and career coaching across the board said attorneys hoping to find their way into an ­executive position need to learn to take business risks.

Debra Bruce, the president of Lawyer-Coach in Houston, says one way for in-house attorneys to break out of saying no to everything is to ask executives what they hope to achieve rather than saying no to a specific strategy.

"If we say instead 'tell me exactly what you're trying to accomplish,' we can give them a different strategy," Bruce says.

There is also an issue of waiting for precedent to make decisions. Evers says lawyers, generally speaking, prefer precedent over their own instincts. In-house counsel who hope to work in the C-suite someday would do well to trust their gut, Evers says.

"Precedent can be the enemy in business," Evers says. "That is a concern that boards have with GCs and with CFOs: Are these individuals with a vision or are they just technicians who are good with what they know?"

Evers says CEOs tend to be impatient, which is something that serves them well because they need to react quickly.

"[Lawyers] can be too patient with people," Evers says.

He also explained that, in his experience, lawyers tend to hesitate when it comes to firing subordinates. A CEO sometimes needs to fire someone for political reasons.

"They're not the best politicians," Evers says of in-house attorneys.

Developing Leadership Qualities

While general counsel and chief legal officers are leaders in their own right, Sachs says he would recommend that those moving on to more executive roles continue taking classes and honing their leadership skills.

John Rakow, former General Counsel and Interim Chief Executive Officer of uBiome.

"They should get some kind of training into how to develop a ­company," Sachs says. "For most general counsel, management tends to be on the job training."

He explained when he is asked to help find candidates for an open general counsel position, leadership skills are a requirement, but that skill is not at the top of the list.

"It might be the third or fourth ­bullet. We first make sure they have substantive abilities," Sachs says.

For Baer, he said the chief administrative officer role has taught him to practice what he preaches in terms of leadership in his own legal department.

"I can't be out there focusing on talent development without doing that within my own organization. I want to make sure that whatever I'm learning and whatever we're developing more broadly, the legal function has the benefit of that as well," Baer says.

Sticking to Legal

Despite the uptick in general counsel becoming interim and permanent CEOs, the move overall is still rare. In fact, it is not clear if those in-house have the ultimate goal of becoming a CEO.

Rakow, for one, stepped down in his role as interim CEO because he wanted to get back to a more legal-centric role. At the time of publishing, he was exploring different opportunities. "One thing I took away is that [CEO] is a 24/7 job," Rakow says of his time as uBiome's interim CEO.

Evers says the ceiling for an in-house attorney is cracking, but the promotion from GC to CEO is still in the minority.

"I would be careful about articulating it as a common ambition," Evers says. "Becoming a general counsel is going to be the ceiling."

However rare it is, those with the right mindset and skills can lead corporations, showing just how much the role of the general counsel has changed over the years.

"I think it's something in the back of a lot of their minds," Sachs says.