This "Helpful" Habit May Be Sabotaging Your Impact and In-House Career Progression

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Deep Dive

Being a problem solver is a great thing as an in-house lawyer . . . mostly

Most in-house lawyers are problem solvers by nature.

We went to law school because we wanted to help people, solve challenging issues, or make the world a better place. (Sure, some of us were also looking for job security, prestige, or a good paycheck, but those weren’t the only motivations.)

Because when you default to solving every problem that lands on your desk—and maybe some that didn’t even make their way to you, but you spotted from a mile away—you can end up undermining your role, burning out your team, and limiting your long-term impact.

The key is learning to harness that instinct in a more strategic way.

Here’s how.

Solve the right problems

Many problems that come across your desk are really important and legal in nature. The company got sued. There is a contractual dispute to resolve or a regulatory hurdle to overcome. Those are very clearly part of your job and deserve your time.

It is especially worthwhile to solve the problems that tie directly to the company’s key goals. For example, the standard contract that takes too long to negotiate because every single customer negotiates paragraph 7 (that’s your hint that paragraph 7 is a problem to be fixed). The broken process around NDAs, that’s costing the company revenue and your team credibility. These are essential. Solving them is a great way to drive impact.

A second category of problems is legal-adjacent: issues that have no direct legal angle but benefit from your strategic thinking. It might make sense to jump in, especially if it helps build influence or unblock a team. These could relate to a gap in process where your team is tangentially involved, such as delays in collecting payment promptly after a due-on-signature contract is executed.

But other problems aren’t really yours to solve. If you regularly find yourself untangling sales commission math, project managing overdue tasks, or serving as the de facto decision-maker for other departments, it might be time to pause.

Ask yourself:

• Is this a legal issue?

• If not, does solving it help me drive impact, build credibility, or strengthen key relationships?

• Am I the best person to solve it—or just the most willing?

Stepping in simply because no one else will is not great for you or the company, because time you spend solving those problems is time you don’t spend on essential legal work.

Build a reputation for driving impact, not being a fixer

Being known as “the person who always gets it done” can feel like a compliment. And in certain junior roles, having that reputation—to an extent—can be a good thing. But over time, it can backfire. Especially if what you’re getting done is neither legal in nature nor important to the company’s overall goals.

You don’t want to be everyone’s go-to for random fires.

You want to be known as someone who makes the business stronger.

That means being clear about the types of problems you’re great at solving, and politely but firmly redirecting the ones that aren’t yours.

It also means tying your work back to business goals. When you close a complex deal, don’t just pat yourself on the back. Share how that deal unlocks a new customer segment or supports a strategic priority.

By solving the right problems (and talking about it), you can make a difference and build your reputation as someone who moves the business forward.

Be a partner, not a pushover

Helping is good. Being helpful is valuable. But if you're not careful, being helpful can morph into being overextended.

Especially if you’re conflict-averse or a recovering people pleaser, it’s easy to say yes too often.

“I’ll take care of it.”
“Sure, I can jump in.”
“Let me just quickly fix this.”

But every yes has a cost. When you say yes to one thing, you’re saying no to something else, often without realizing it.

The antidote is simple. Just pause. Ask:

• What’s the real need here?

• Am I the right person to meet it?

• What am I deprioritizing if I take this on?

Sometimes the best way to be a great partner is to say, “This isn’t legal, but here’s what I recommend,” or, “Let’s pull in the right team to help solve this.”

Impact over involvement

The most effective in-house lawyers choose where to apply their energy with intention, including which problems they will solve and which they will leave for others. They know that saying no (or not this one) creates the space to say yes to the work that really matters.

So the next time a problem lands in your inbox, pause before diving in.

Ask yourself: Is this mine to solve?

Because when you focus on the right problems, you stop being the fixer—and start being the force that moves the business forward.