{"id":825,"date":"2026-04-29T13:43:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T17:43:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/constructionlaw\/?p=825"},"modified":"2026-04-29T13:43:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T17:43:26","slug":"the-briefing-outside-counsel-owes-you-before-the-cfo-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/constructionlaw\/2026\/04\/29\/the-briefing-outside-counsel-owes-you-before-the-cfo-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"The Briefing Outside Counsel Owes You Before the CFO Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Owen Newman<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building on <\/em>Adrian Moffatt’s “The GC Communication Guide: CFO Edition”<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

General Counsel are lawyers, but they are also executives \u2014 and like any executive, they have clients of their own. The CEO, the CFO, the Board: stakeholders who measure risk in dollars and quarters, not legal standards and motion deadlines. What makes perfect sense in the legal department\u2019s conference room doesn\u2019t always translate to the boardroom. Bridging that gap is one of the GC\u2019s most demanding roles \u2014 and in some ways, harder than what outside counsel face. The GC doesn\u2019t get to pick her clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Adrian Moffatt\u2019s guide does a great job of highlighting these challenges and providing concrete advice to General Counsel. But the guide raises another question: what should you, as General Counsel, expect from your outside lawyers to help you make those conversations successful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2011, I left the practice of law to work as a leader within the P&L for a global EPC contractor. And during the six years I worked there, I learned what it was like to be a client of in-house legal, and what it was like to report up to C-Suite stakeholders like the CFO. I know what it feels like to walk into that room without the right briefing. And I know what it feels like when you have exactly what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best outside counsel understand the GC\u2019s role in bridging the gap between legal and business and that with a little forethought, and an honest conversation about what the GC actually needs to succeed with her own clients, they can provide support that goes well beyond the specific legal question. Here\u2019s what GCs should be expecting of their outside counsel \u2014 and what good outside counsel should be working to provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bottom Line<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Adrian\u2019s guide is right: GCs need to speak CFO fluently. But that fluency relies on what they\u2019ve been given before the conversation starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most effective outside counsel understand that their job doesn\u2019t end with legal advice \u2014 it ends with making sure you have what you need to walk into any stakeholder conversation prepared. If that\u2019s not what you\u2019re getting, it\u2019s worth asking for it directly. Most good outside counsel will deliver it once they understand it matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Owen Newman Building on Adrian Moffatt’s “The GC Communication Guide: CFO Edition” General Counsel are lawyers, but they are also executives \u2014 and like any executive, they have clients of their own. The CEO, the CFO, the Board: stakeholders who measure risk in dollars and quarters, not legal standards and motion deadlines. What makes … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Briefing Outside Counsel Owes You Before the CFO Meeting”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[696],"class_list":["post-825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"authors":[{"term_id":696,"user_id":6,"is_guest":0,"slug":"duanemorris3","display_name":"Duane Morris","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/843ff6e7a8fe5fc92109b47a45f34b6cf0ea499e6e788db23456c838b0ae6747?s=96&d=blank&r=g","author_category":"1","last_name":"Sullivan","first_name":"Margaret","job_title":"","user_url":"http:\/\/www.duanemorris.com","description":"Visit the Duane Morris website.<\/a>"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/constructionlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/constructionlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/constructionlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/constructionlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/constructionlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/constructionlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/constructionlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/constructionlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/constructionlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/constructionlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}