Here's a frustrating scenario that many in-house lawyers can relate to: a tricky, significant deal that the company has been working on finally closes after several months of work. In order to get there, you personally spent many late nights reviewing redlines from the counterparty, hours on the phone with outside counsel, time working through regulatory hurdles and disagreements over the post-closing rights of each party, and looking into diligence issues. It was extremely hard work and you're proud of what you were able to accomplish for the company. The day the deal closes, a congratulations email goes around to a number of people, including executives, calling out the great work it took to get there. But your name is not mentioned.

As a colleague recently said to me, "legal doesn't run on kudos, but an occasional acknowledgment is nice." We don't become in-house lawyers to be the stars of the show, and in most companies, if what you're looking for is the spotlight, in-house legal is not the place to be. But that doesn't mean we don't want to be, or shouldn't be, acknowledged for our contributions.

Rather than a vanity metric or about ego, being acknowledged matters to both how likely you are to be able to get the things you want from the company, as well as (indirectly) how likely you are to be able to continue contributing in the most high impact ways.

So that's what this issue is about: how to make sure you get credit for your contributions as an in-house lawyer, without bragging or wasting people's time.

In-house lawyers are most effective when they are top of mind and valued partners in business building. When your colleagues think of you, they bring you in early enough that you can meaningfully shape outcomes, ask you questions up front that could save hours of work later, and involve you in high-impact problem solving where you can make a difference, even when the work may not be strictly legal. When you are able to make more of an impact, and do so in a way that people notice, some great consequences follow: you are seen as more valuable, have better ability to negotiate for more of what you want from the company (whether that's a promotion, more money, resources, or something else), and get called back in next time there is an opportunity — because your colleagues want you there, building with them.

And if you're not top of mind, or if you're viewed as simply a gating function or approval box to be checked, the opposite happens. You're brought in too late to shape things, and left to clean up messes. Or brought in at the last minute, and then blamed for delays when the changes that should have been made 3 weeks ago are only surfaced through your last minute legal involvement. You are stuck in the service provider role (or worse, seen as a blocker), and it's harder to get promoted, get resources you may want, or to get into the room next time.

The good news is, there are simple, practical steps to make sure you get acknowledged at your company, both within the legal department and outside it.

The visibility problem often starts before the deal does. Most lawyers come into a transaction and start working. They're reviewing documents, talking to outside counsel, and identifying issues early, but without ever telling anyone what they're doing or why it matters. By the time the deal closes, the work is done and invisible, which is almost the same thing. Most lawyers' instinct is to avoid adding friction, and that instinct is right. But taking ten minutes to make your role visible isn't friction. It's the opposite.