When Minh Merchant stepped into her first general counsel role, she did not just take a seat at the table. She grabbed the pen.
“One of the first things I did as general counsel was to take the pen on the earnings script,” she recalled in a recent conversation. “It’s not usually something that’s owned by legal, but it’s a forcing function. It requires you to understand the commercial side, the financial side, the development pipeline, everything that’s driving the business.”
That choice is a masterclass in how in-house counsel can embed themselves into the business in ways that pay dividends far beyond the legal department. By drafting the script, Minh forced herself to learn what really mattered to investors, how the company positioned itself against competitors, and where the operational pain points were.
From Legal Lens To Business Lens
Minh is clear about the mindset shift required. “Before this role, you might have been looking at everything purely through a legal lens,” she said. “As general counsel, you are first and foremost a business partner and a strategist. You put yourself forward as a business person first and a legal person second.”
For many lawyers, that is a challenging transition. It means looking for opportunities, sometimes unconventional ones, to see the business from the inside out. Minh points to sales ride-alongs as another example.
“I have always asked to be on a ride-along with the sales team,” she explained. “It is incredibly insightful to hear how they are selling, what resonates with customers, and what lands flat. You cannot get that perspective from behind a desk.”
Why This Matters For Legal’s Impact
When lawyers see firsthand how products are sold, promises are made, and customers react, they are better equipped to shape policies, compliance programs, and processes that align with reality, not assumptions. It is one thing to advise on a marketing claim from a conference room. It is another to sit in the field and hear a customer push back or ask for something the product does not yet deliver.
Minh acknowledges that there can be a chilling effect when a GC shows up on a sales call, but says it wears off quickly. “I try to be approachable and accessible,” she said. “I want people to come to me early and often, even to ‘spam me’ with issues, so I can help before something becomes a problem.”
The Takeaway For In-House Lawyers
The most effective in-house counsel do not just respond to issues. They position themselves to anticipate them. That means intentionally stepping into projects and spaces where legal is not traditionally present. It means volunteering for work that forces you to learn the business at a granular level. And it means building relationships across functions so that legal advice is grounded in the operational and commercial realities of the company.
As Minh put it, “The more you know about the company, the better you can do your job.”
For in-house lawyers who want to increase their impact, the lesson is simple. Do not just read the earnings script. Write it.
Olga V. Mack is the CEO of TermScout, an AI-powered contract certification platform that accelerates revenue and eliminates friction by certifying contracts as fair, balanced, and market-ready. A serial CEO and legal tech executive, she previously led a company through a successful acquisition by LexisNexis. Olga is also a Fellow at CodeX, The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, and the Generative AI Editor at law.MIT. She is a visionary executive reshaping how we law—how legal systems are built, experienced, and trusted. Olga teaches at Berkeley Law, lectures widely, and advises companies of all sizes, as well as boards and institutions. An award-winning general counsel turned builder, she also leads early-stage ventures including Virtual Gabby (Better Parenting Plan), Product Law Hub, ESI Flow, and Notes to My (Legal) Self, each rethinking the practice and business of law through technology, data, and human-centered design. She has authored The Rise of Product Lawyers, Legal Operations in the Age of AI and Data, Blockchain Value, and Get on Board, with Visual IQ for Lawyers (ABA) forthcoming. Olga is a 6x TEDx speaker and has been recognized as a Silicon Valley Woman of Influence and an ABA Woman in Legal Tech. Her work reimagines people’s relationship with law—making it more accessible, inclusive, data-driven, and aligned with how the world actually works. She is also the host of the Notes to My (Legal) Self podcast (streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube), and her insights regularly appear in Forbes, Bloomberg Law, Newsweek, VentureBeat, ACC Docket, and Above the Law. She earned her B.A. and J.D. from UC Berkeley. Follow her on LinkedIn and X @olgavmack.
The post Why Minh Merchant Drafted The Earnings Script Herself And What Every In-House Lawyer Can Learn From It appeared first on Above the Law.
When Minh Merchant stepped into her first general counsel role, she did not just take a seat at the table. She grabbed the pen.
“One of the first things I did as general counsel was to take the pen on the earnings script,” she recalled in a recent conversation. “It’s not usually something that’s owned by legal, but it’s a forcing function. It requires you to understand the commercial side, the financial side, the development pipeline, everything that’s driving the business.”
That choice is a masterclass in how in-house counsel can embed themselves into the business in ways that pay dividends far beyond the legal department. By drafting the script, Minh forced herself to learn what really mattered to investors, how the company positioned itself against competitors, and where the operational pain points were.
From Legal Lens To Business Lens
Minh is clear about the mindset shift required. “Before this role, you might have been looking at everything purely through a legal lens,” she said. “As general counsel, you are first and foremost a business partner and a strategist. You put yourself forward as a business person first and a legal person second.”
For many lawyers, that is a challenging transition. It means looking for opportunities, sometimes unconventional ones, to see the business from the inside out. Minh points to sales ride-alongs as another example.
“I have always asked to be on a ride-along with the sales team,” she explained. “It is incredibly insightful to hear how they are selling, what resonates with customers, and what lands flat. You cannot get that perspective from behind a desk.”
Why This Matters For Legal’s Impact
When lawyers see firsthand how products are sold, promises are made, and customers react, they are better equipped to shape policies, compliance programs, and processes that align with reality, not assumptions. It is one thing to advise on a marketing claim from a conference room. It is another to sit in the field and hear a customer push back or ask for something the product does not yet deliver.
Minh acknowledges that there can be a chilling effect when a GC shows up on a sales call, but says it wears off quickly. “I try to be approachable and accessible,” she said. “I want people to come to me early and often, even to ‘spam me’ with issues, so I can help before something becomes a problem.”
The Takeaway For In-House Lawyers
The most effective in-house counsel do not just respond to issues. They position themselves to anticipate them. That means intentionally stepping into projects and spaces where legal is not traditionally present. It means volunteering for work that forces you to learn the business at a granular level. And it means building relationships across functions so that legal advice is grounded in the operational and commercial realities of the company.
As Minh put it, “The more you know about the company, the better you can do your job.”
For in-house lawyers who want to increase their impact, the lesson is simple. Do not just read the earnings script. Write it.
Olga V. Mack is the CEO of TermScout, an AI-powered contract certification platform that accelerates revenue and eliminates friction by certifying contracts as fair, balanced, and market-ready. A serial CEO and legal tech executive, she previously led a company through a successful acquisition by LexisNexis. Olga is also a Fellow at CodeX, The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, and the Generative AI Editor at law.MIT. She is a visionary executive reshaping how we law—how legal systems are built, experienced, and trusted. Olga teaches at Berkeley Law, lectures widely, and advises companies of all sizes, as well as boards and institutions. An award-winning general counsel turned builder, she also leads early-stage ventures including Virtual Gabby (Better Parenting Plan), Product Law Hub, ESI Flow, and Notes to My (Legal) Self, each rethinking the practice and business of law through technology, data, and human-centered design. She has authored The Rise of Product Lawyers, Legal Operations in the Age of AI and Data, Blockchain Value, and Get on Board, with Visual IQ for Lawyers (ABA) forthcoming. Olga is a 6x TEDx speaker and has been recognized as a Silicon Valley Woman of Influence and an ABA Woman in Legal Tech. Her work reimagines people’s relationship with law—making it more accessible, inclusive, data-driven, and aligned with how the world actually works. She is also the host of the Notes to My (Legal) Self podcast (streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube), and her insights regularly appear in Forbes, Bloomberg Law, Newsweek, VentureBeat, ACC Docket, and Above the Law. She earned her B.A. and J.D. from UC Berkeley. Follow her on LinkedIn and X @olgavmack.
The post Why Minh Merchant Drafted The Earnings Script Herself And What Every In-House Lawyer Can Learn From It appeared first on Above the Law.
