Hiring In-house Counsel Based on Hard Skills or Soft Skills?

When it comes to the hiring process, a candidate's skills are a focal point. But what kind of skills matter most - hard skills or soft skills?

Hard skills are tangible, measurable abilities such as industry knowledge or proficiency in a particular task. They reflect the candidate's past responsibilities and their capacity to execute duties. Soft skills are more intangible interpersonal attributes like proactiveness, empathy, resourcefulness, adaptability, and emotional intelligence.

Commonly, when hiring to fill a temporary role within a legal organization, hard skills are key. Finding a lawyer with preexisting industry experience who negotiated similar transactions with the same or similar partners increases the likelihood that the lawyer will make an immediate impact on workflow. An interim role calls for an experienced lawyer who can understand risk tolerance, negotiate efficiently, and move matters forward.

While hiring based on hard skills can help quickly fill an interim role in your organization, the concept of transferable intangible skills can be as or more important, especially for long-term hires. This is something that FLEX takes into consideration when recruiting in-house counsel. Transferable intangible skills go beyond a person's experience and measure their potential growth and adaptability. This perspective, shared at the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) in 2025, emphasizes that the willingness to learn and grow are particularly important qualities in a time of evolving technology, especially as we see technology take the place of or reduce the need for certain hard skills.

Some CLOs shared that soft skills should be the top priority when building a legal team. Prioritizing soft skills when hiring can result in more time spent upfront – training, onsite mentoring, developing risk tolerance, and building substantive skills; however, the long-term benefit of investing in strong soft skills can build an internal leadership pipeline, enhance company culture, and increase adaptability.

Ultimately, when it comes to hiring, managers should weigh the type of demand and workload, and not overlook the importance of soft skills, especially when making long-term decisions.