For our latest installment of the General Counsel Corner, we talked to Mark Ginalski, the General Counsel at SunLink Corporation. SunLink manufactures integrated PV balance of system solutions for the photovoltaic industry that reduce the cost of installation, ease permitting, and enhance system design flexibility. SunLink’s industry-leading solar roof and ground mount racking systems, HomeRun™ combiner boxes, and wire management tools have been proven on more than 500 MW of commercial and utility-scale PV projects at 2,000+ sites across North America.

My question for Mr. Ginalski was: 

What is the most important factor you consider when hiring a law firm?"

In his response, he said that he can "imagine [that] any GC could opine for pages on this topic. For me the key factor is relatively straight-forward – Will outside counsel work in an collaborative and efficient manner to achieve the best result for the company, based upon an agreed upon strategy."

That is a hugely telling response – what it says to me is that what Mr. Ginalski (and other GCs) really care about is a firm’s ability to understand that each client, and each matter, is different. As we’ve heard before, that means there’s no "one size fits all" answer, only "one size fits one." 

And what’s more, in-house counsel want to work collaboratively – it’s the partnership mentality that we hear about so often. Clients want you to be a partner in their business, and in their success. 

Your food for thought today is then: 

• Are you focused enough on your clients to discern what their individual goals and needs are in each matter, with the understanding that despite your industry expertise, each client is unique?
• Are you working collaboratively with each client to achieve their goals? 

Thanks so much to Mr. Ginalski for his participation in our General Counsel Corner!