Reflecting on a conversation I had only a few months ago during a Lawyers Weekly webinar, I'm unsurprisingly struck by how rapidly our world has evolved at the start of 2025. While some fundamental principles we discussed remain relevant, their importance has intensified in unexpected ways.
Building Resilience Through Flexibility
What emerged from our discussion and has become even more apparent today, with the Trump Administration issuing an average of 21.6 executive actions a week since taking office, is that resilience in legal departments comes from their ability to adapt. For years, I’ve seen legal teams that can flex with changing conditions, like bamboo under the force of a strong wind, are better positioned to withstand disruption. This adaptability isn't just about surviving challenges—it's about maintaining strategic effectiveness regardless of circumstances. In-house counsel, now more than ever, must be that source of resilience for the larger company.
Strategic Resource Alignment
The traditional notion of stability through fixed resources is evolving. Instead, we're confirming that true organizational resilience comes from having the right mix of capabilities available when needed. This means maintaining strategic partnerships and building a proper foundation for their team. Think of it as climbing a different version of Everest each day—you need both the ability to adapt to new conditions on the trek up and a reliable base camp to return to. This is where a thoughtful combination of resources becomes crucial.
The savvy general counsel will utilize their core team to handle the new challenges of the day while supporting them with a law firm handling any specialized matters and flexible legal talent focusing on any business-critical work. The strong core team can tackle the unexpected and acute— leveraging immense institutional knowledge and key relationships—while flexible talent solutions handle the “consistent,” departments create the stability needed to tackle varying challenges no matter what is thrown their way.
What's interesting is that this approach, which might have seemed unconventional just months ago, is increasingly recognized as the most secure path forward.
Leadership in Times of Change
With this increasingly recognized approach, the role of legal leadership has evolved beyond managing static teams to orchestrating dynamic resources. So to has the requirements for leadership success. Now a general counsel must strengthen her ability to:
- Lead the way and clearly communicate priorities
- Strengthen relationships across the organization and ensure followership
- Quickly realign resources as needs change
- Focus on team wellness and sustainable performance
The strategic coordination of these elements becomes especially critical as in-house teams face wave after wave of regulatory changes, market shifts, and emerging business needs. Reactions time shorten, and Legal is emerging as a path finder.
Building Team Capacity for Strategic Focus
Without the right support structures and resource flexibility, even the most capable legal teams can become overwhelmed trying to manage both daily operations and urgent strategic matters. This is where thoughtful leadership plus flexible resourcing proves invaluable, and ultimately, we at Axiom call this "shock absorption"—the ability to absorb new challenges without disrupting core operations. It's about having the right support structures in place so that when new demands arise, the team can respond effectively without becoming overwhelmed or burned out.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I see an interesting shift in how we think about stability in legal departments. What was once seen as a theoretical advantage of flexible staffing models has become a practical necessity. Our Chief Legal Talent Officer, Sara Morgan, identified this trend in our Talent, and it carries way beyond. The teams that will thrive are those that can maintain their strategic focus while adapting to change—combining the reliability of a strong foundation with the adaptability to meet each new challenge.
For legal leaders looking ahead, the question isn't just about managing current challenges or building resilient teams—it's about deploying wisely all the strengths of their strategic resources. As we've seen in just the past few months, those with the ability to adapt while maintaining core capabilities and projecting themselves into the ill-defined will be critical for long-term success.
💡 Support your legal team's resilience this year.
