Modern Counsel #31

Tony

forge a new direction for Uber rooted in a renewed focus on ethics, transparency, and diversity, equity, and inclusion P52

West, Katie Waitzman, and Tammy Albarrán

DEI IS A DEEPLY HELD VALUE FOR THESE LEGAL EXECUTIVES. THEY ARE ACTIVELY DRIVING CHANGE IN THEIR WORKPLACES TO PAVE THE PATH FOR THOSE WHO FOLLOW.

Tony West, Katie Waitzman, and Tammy Albarrán

Uber

Natasha Scotland Courcy

Athene

Rita Srivastava

McDonald's

Marsh McLennan

Julia Ulrich AIG

Public Storage

Vineeta Bonthala

BMO Harris Bank

Michael Fleischer

Fortive

Savalle Sims

Discovery

Joan Aristei

Oportun

Vivian Wesson

Morgan Gower

Implement

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Antony Klapper hires principled, ethical people to maintain a positive culture of inclusion, communication, and respect at Volkswagen Group of America

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Robin Lampkin has repeatedly stepped out of her comfort zone to take on new opportunities across her thirty years at Ashland

Feature

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Tony West, Katie Waitzman, and Tammy Albarrán help shape the culture and vision of Uber in accordance with a simple ideal: do the right thing

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Vineeta Bonthala enters her second decade at BMO Harris Bank filled with anticipation for the initiatives that lie ahead

Lead

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Kelly Mandish strives to create a safe and supportive space for her team at Netflix, informed by an awareness that others’ experiences may differ from her own

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Since Lan Marinelli joined the HubSpot legal team, she has seen the company experience explosive growth while staying true to its core values

P42

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Christina Vitellas (Lampkin), Kinda Arzon (Bonthala), Denise Pressman (Marinelli)

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Pivot

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Eliot Cotton views decarbonizing the economy as one of the greatet challenges of his lifetime and is eager to aid Riverstone Holdings’ sustainable energy efforts

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Matthew Winings brings a nuanced and global perspective to the matters he oversees at Cummins, where he connects with colleagues all over the world

Focus

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As the global head of lululemon’s IDEA (inclusion, diversity, equity, and action) platform, Stacia Jones takes a strategic, multifaceted approach to driving change

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Michael Licker joined Wayfair in the company’s first litigation role, capitalizing on the chance to shape the role and develop the function

Evaluate

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Aaron Sonnhalter knows the importance of litigating aggressively to win cases at trial and uphold the safety of Monster Energy’s drinks

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DISH Network’s Amy Conley grew up on a cattle ranch in South Dakota. There, she came up with a motto that’s guided her in the years since: “Just get it done.”

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Millions of women vanished

from the United States workforce in 2020 following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the wake of this global crisis, women’s workplace participation levels in the US have declined to 57 percent, the lowest levels since 1988 according to the National Women’s Law Center. Some believe that women’s employment will not return to their prepandemic baselines until 2024.

There are many reasons behind this drastic shift, but one major factor is that the amount of unpaid caregiving and other household labor that needed to be done increased significantly during the pandemic. Women had already been disproportionately shouldering these responsibilities for years. But with the shuttering of schools and childcare facilities and the collapse of many of the usual support systems employees relied on to excel at work, something had to give.

As Indiana University sociologist Jessica Calarco remarked in an interview for Anne Helen Petersen’s Culture Study newsletter, “Other countries have social safety nets. The US has women.”

Women have long contended with issues such as the stubbornly persistent gender pay gap, the motherhood penalty, and the broken rung to managerial positions at work. Traditionally marginalized and underrepresented groups have long dealt with protracted discrimination, harassment, and violence. Although these problems are not new, the ongoing pandemic has laid them bare as never before. And the accompanying tumult and upheaval have sparked soul-searching conversations about what companies and people leaders should do to support and uplift their employees. These conversations must continue to ensure lasting change.

The legal luminaries in the feature section of Modern Counsel’s fourth annual Empowered issue are committed to continuing those critical conversations and creating more diverse, equitable, and inclusive company cultures. They understand that values do not merely exist on a piece of paper tucked away in a folder somewhere, detached from the realities, struggles, and hard-wired habits of our daily lives. Rather, values live in us, intimately entwined with our every decision and action. These corporate counsel have a clear-eyed view of the challenges that lie ahead, and they are marching with confidence and resolve toward workplaces that work for all of us.

Hana Yoo Managing Editor

Celebrating legal leaders’ latest efforts and achievements, including transactions, expansions, negotiations, and inclusion initiatives

The Value of Time

By Taylor Karg

“THE BETTER I UNDERSTAND SOMEONE’S daily work activities and what makes them easier or harder, the better I know how I might help accelerate them,” says Zack Stewart, vice president and associate general counsel at Serco. This frame of mind has allowed him to not only navigate a successful law career in government contracting but also transform processes to be more efficient along the way.

To Stewart, government contracting has always been compelling in its complexity. It’s even motivated him to pursue positions that would diversify his knowledge base beyond just what’s included in the job descriptions. He got his start in public service, working for the US Marine Corps. A few years later, he had the opportunity to go in-house.

“Once I went in-house, I knew it was for me,” he explains. “You get to combine all the stimulating challenges related to understanding laws and regulations and then add the over-

lay of risk mitigation and profitability. Those additional layers of depth and complication make my work interesting and solving each day’s puzzles that much more rewarding.”

Before joining Serco, Stewart also spent time as an associate at the national law firm of Arent Fox as well in-house again at Broadcom, where he flexed and grew his expertise on a wide variety of topics.

Now, with twenty years of experience under his belt, Stewart assists one of the largest providers of public services to governments with counseling and transaction support, department management and litigation, strategic decision-making, and process improvement. He compares his position to a “walking hat rack”—that is, full of different, competing responsibilities that all need to be balanced.

One initiative Stewart is currently working on is bringing Serco’s compliance to the next level. He selects “hot spots” or areas of laws and

Whether he’s improving processes, teaching junior attorneys compliance, or making strategic decisions through a “zoom lens,” Zack Stewart brings unparalleled value to Serco

Zack Stewart VP and Associate General Counsel Serco

regulations that he thinks are rapidly changing or present the greatest risk to the business if not handled effectively. Then he searches for where those hot spots pop up in the company’s top contracts, connecting with various subject-matter experts along the way, to maximize the company’s chances of identifying potential problems before they gather momentum.

He blends his technical insight with an eye toward process improvement, which is exactly what Stewart says he’s built for. “I’ve always had an innate radar for identifying where processes get bogged down and where I can add value to make them quicker and simpler,” he says. For example, by creating a new intake form, he cut email exchanges with contracts and procurement by 50 percent per matter. Additionally, he reduced review time on employment candidates by 75 percent by adjusting and implementing a new workflow and training program.

Besides his purely legal responsibilities, Stewart is a teacher at heart. At every company he’s worked for, he’s taught both introductory and refresher courses regarding ethics and compliance and how they relate to the company’s way of doing business. “Teaching these courses is a great way to show colleague throughout the company that the legal department is approachable, human, and on their side,” he says.

Another asset that Stewart brings to the table as an attorney is something he calls the “zoom lens,” or the ability to smoothly transition from detailed tactical work to high-level strategic work. The zoom lens allows him to see issues in tremendous detail, pivot quickly to see the bigger picture, and then make a strategic decision based on both views. The need to see challenges at both ends of the detail spectrum is an integral part of the way he builds up junior attorneys as well.

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Stewart says he enjoys teaching these courses because it enables him to create learning opportunities for junior attorneys. “The faster I can help a junior attorney build their own inherent, gut-level understanding of how our company balances risks against rewards, the faster they’re able to take on increasing amounts of responsibility and make decisions for themselves,” he explains.

Outside the legal function, Stewart’s leveraged additional learning opportunities. For instance, he obtained a strategic management program certificate from the University of Oxford. He also participated in a design-thinking course where the goal was to come up with a new, innovative, and functional office space for the entire Serco company.

Over the course of his career, Stewart says he’s learned a lot. But perhaps most importantly, he’s learned the value of time. “My career path has taught me how crucial efficiency is,” he says. “The skills I’ve picked up along the way help me apply a laser focus to the heart of a problem or a process, so that I, my team members, and ultimately my company can move forward in the most efficient possible manner.”

McCarter & English, LLP:

“In addition to being an excellent attorney, Zack is an outstanding and pragmatic business strategist. We have had the pleasure of working with Zack and his team on a number of complex matters and are privileged to be among his trusted counsel.”

–Franklin Turner, Cochair, Government Contracts

We applaud the significant accomplishments of Zachary Stewart and are proud to support his contributions to Serco North America

Earning His Stripes

John Tsai embraces Stripe’s culture and aids its growth by championing patent inventors

By Keith Loria

GROWING UP IN THE BAY AREA DURING THE DOTcom boom era, it was almost predestined that John Tsai would wind up working in the tech industry—and he’s worked at some of the biggest companies in the field, including Facebook, PayPal, and IBM.

“I always felt a connection to technology. My dad was an engineer at Cisco, so it lent itself kind of naturally to my tinkering with technology,” he explains. “I graduated high school in 2000, and I was one of those kids who used to build their own computers and worked with a bunch of friends at school who were really into technology.”

That interest followed Tsai to college, where he majored in computer science. His studies, in turn, led to a job as a software engineer for IBM. It was after dealing with some open-source problems and realizing the attorneys involved weren’t taking the time to deal with the technical aspects that he decided to go to law school to pursue IP law.

“I felt there was a good opportunity for someone with a technical background to bring that to bear

Courtesy of John Tsai

John Tsai IP Counsel Stripe

with a legal education to better advise engineers on all sorts of things, open source included,” Tsai recounts. “I wanted to be part of the bridge between engineering and legal.”

He graduated from University of California Berkeley School of Law in 2009, and his first job out of college was as a patent litigator for Kirkland & Ellis.

“Initially, I wanted to work on an area that was pretty technical, and it came to be that patent litigation was really a good way to do that and to leverage my technical expertise to really help,” Tsai shares. “I had spent time at Kirkland Ellis during one of my summers, and that’s where I went back to as an associate in the fall of 2009.”

That was when smartphone patent battles were going on, and Tsai enjoyed seeing the dynamics driving the litigation strategies, even becoming second chair during key witness testimony in one of the main trials involved.

“In the back of my mind, I knew I wanted to go in-house,” he recalls. After all, wanting to be close to the business was his impetus for going to law school.

That’s when he made the jump to a smaller boutique, Bridges and Mavrakakis, comprising mostly patent litigators with technical degrees. Over four years, he built up expertise in IP licensing and litigation for major tech companies.

Those experiences led to the aforementioned tech giants, Facebook and PayPal. Then Stripe, a tech company that builds payment infrastructure for the internet,

came calling in 2018 by way of a former colleague Tsai had worked with at PayPal.

“What really appealed to me about Stripe was the opportunity to join the vision of building a world-class IP program at a company with the ambitious goal of increasing the GDP of the internet,” Tsai notes. “At PayPal and Facebook, both those companies were more established, and obviously I was able to contribute meaningfully while I was there. But being able to join Stripe at the earliest stages to build on this vision was really appealing to me.”

As in-house IP counsel for Stripe, Tsai handles all patent-related issues, embracing the company’s core philosophy of “efficiency is leverage” and using technology to help scale Stripe’s growth. He works collaboratively with a team of three, handling all IP issues for the company.

“I am in charge of our patent portfolio, and I set the strategy and manage prosecution of our patent portfolio,” he explains. “I also manage our patent and vendor program—how we cultivate innovation, how we successfully protect the company against patent risks by filing patents, and by looking ahead to future technologies and trying to make sure we kind of look around the corner to see what’s coming.”

Additionally, he is charge of handling all IP litigation and serves as both a legal and business partner to Stripe’s open-source team.

The thing he’s most proud of from his time with the company is designing and implementing Stripe’s organic patent filing

“We want to increase underrepresented minorities, both at the associate and partnership levels.”

program, including its patent incentive program. As Tsai shares: “Coming up with what a process looks like and when something needs to be patented—how do we get that in the door? How do we triage and review the ideas and prioritize them to pursue? And then how do we execute on contacting the inventors and working with our outside counsel to get the patent idea down, written, reviewed, and filed?”

Tsai has also onboarded a new IP management system, consistent with Stripe’s philosophy of using technology to increase efficiency. The system has allowed Stripe to get full visibility into its patent portfolio, which has been a game changer, creating a one-stop shop of accountability.

Throughout his career, Tsai has been a strong advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in his roles.

“We have a diversity group within legal itself, and the goal is to drive more diversity in our outside counsel,” he says. “We want to increase underrepresented minorities, both at the associate and partnership levels.”

Tsai is also working on increasing diversity in the inventor ranks. He has taken part in such initiatives since his days at Facebook.

“If you look at patent inventors, they’re overwhelmingly male, and we want to increase not just female but other underrepresented minorities in patent inventor representation,” he explains. “I’m thinking about initiatives to increase diversity within the inventor community at Stripe and the broader in-house community at other companies as well. It’s something we can make a meaningful impact on.”

Congratulations,

Contact: Michael Mallie Partner, Palo Alto, CA

Email: michael.mallie@wbd-us.com

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©2021 Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP

A Life in Litigation

Timothy Whitley set his sights on a law career early, inspired by the TV lawyers he watched as a kid. Today, he builds DirecTV’s new litigation practice.

By Keith Loria

AS A PRODUCT OF THE ’70S, TIMOTHY “TIM” Whitley grew up watching TV law shows. He recalls being especially intrigued by Judge Wapner of The People’s Court and by the attorneys arguing cases on popular dramas.

“I was fascinated by the notion that a lawyer sort of stepped into the shoes of someone accused of a crime or some wrongdoing and told their story for them,” he recalls. “I found that to be a very compelling career choice.”

In school, Whitley was drawn to speech and debate clubs—a precursor to a life as a trial lawyer—and it made sense to him then that he would pursue a career in this field.

After graduating from the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University in 1996, he knew he wanted to be a trial lawyer. Everyone told him he should be looking at the DA’s office so he could get the experience he craved.

But instead, he met lawyer Christian Jenkins, saw the dynamic plaintiff practice Jenkins ran, and jumped into a job with that firm. Within two weeks, Whitley was taking the lead chair role for all sorts of different litigations.

“It was trial by fire, and I learned so much in those first years—just how to move in a courtroom and how to speak to witnesses and how to organize ideas. It was transformative—like going to boot camp,” Whitley explains.

A few years down the line, Whitley was reading the classified section of the Texas Lawyer magazine when he saw an obscure ad for a telecommunications company seeking a trial law-

Timothy Whitley VP and Associate General Counsel DirecTV

yer. He thought it was odd but sent in a résumé. That ad turned out to be for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company.

“They were looking for someone to take the lead in their personal injury docket,” he shares. “They painted an awesome picture of what you could do there, and I jumped in and didn’t look back.”

Now, twenty-one years later, Whitley serves as vice president and associate general counsel at DirecTV, which was acquired by AT&T in 2015 but reemerged as a stand-alone company in August 2021.

Whitley has spent most of his career in the litigation group. During his first five years with the company, he was involved in almost every kind

of litigation—employment, commercial, complex, and simple, as well as some interesting personal injury cases. In the years that followed, a series of promotions broadened his experience.

“We have been fortunate to work on many litigation matters guided by Tim,” says Haynes and Boone Litigation Partner Anne Johnson. “He sized up the key issues at play and steered the team toward practical solutions that achieved his business clients’ objectives.”

One memorable initiative was helping AT&T integrate DirecTV into the organization when it was acquired in 2015. At that point, he was offered the chance to lead the new DirecTV’s litigation team and build the group from the ground up.

“We looked at the litigation group starting from zero. I literally started with a blank sheet of paper. We’ve looked at how we could provide the same sort of quality legal representation to our clients but do so with a smaller team,” Whitley explains. “What we found is there are some tools and technologies we can leverage, and we are rethinking many of our assumptions of how we support our clients. We are really looking at the organization from the ground up.”

Whitley’s team now consists of three lawyers with varied backgrounds and two paralegals. Together, he believes they can solve any task. Aside from familiarizing himself with new technologies, Whitley has learned to better

understand his clients’ new mindset and work style.

“There has been a transformation of our collective DNA, and we all find ourselves doing things in a much different way,” he says. “An example is the clients work very closely with their lawyers and we understand their goals, which allows us greater flexibility to help them meet those goals.

“What I’ve found is when we understand our clients’ objectives early and clearly, and the team is empowered to make decisions, they do a heck of a good job,” he continues. “My plan is to build a litigation group that has the legacy of AT&T but is nimbler in the way it operates.”

“It is a true privilege to work with Tim,” says Norton Rose Fulbright Partner Brett Govett. “Tim is a fierce advocate who always does the right thing and exercises tremendous empathy in the process.”

One of the most valuable lessons that Whitley has learned during his career is that no matter how much you know or how certain you are about a decision or an area of law, having a sounding board is incredibly valuable.

“I have tried a lot of cases, and what I have figured out is, I see the world through that lens,” he shares. When deal-

“There has been a transformation of our collective DNA, and we all find ourselves doing things in a much different way.”

Norton Rose Fulbright joins Modern Counsel in recognizing Tim Whitley for his exceptional contribution to AT&T/DirectTV.

ing with “somewhat novel” issues, the different perspective that comes from talking to another attorney pays off.

Another lesson is that the best thing to do is talk through an issue with a client and understand where they’re trying to go. Be there at the beginning of the process, he advises, so you’re not doing cleanup at the end.

“The number one thing I would suggest to young lawyers is to develop that relationship with your client where you see their business holistically, and not through the lens of a lawyer, and they see you as a partner and not just a lawyer,” Whitley notes.

During his time with AT&T, Whitley has come across some exciting cases, but not everything he’s loved has been about case law. For instance, through AT&T’s robust pro bono program, Whitley says, “I had an opportunity to take on an immigration asylum case, and it was truly one of the most rewarding things I’ve done.”

At the end of the day, though, what Whitley is proudest of is the relationships he’s built in the department.

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We congratulate our friend and client, Tim Whitley, Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Direct TV, for recognition of his accomplishments in Modern Counsel.

Fully Operational

Kimberly Woodward volunteered to create Okta’s first legal operations department, now a go-to team that takes the legal function to new heights

By Zach Baliva

WHILE THE TERM “LEGAL OPS” HAS BUZZED around boardrooms for years, few leaders and lawyers know what it means. Even fewer know how to make such a team a reality. In 2020, the Association of Corporate Counsel found that 25 percent of legal departments have just one dedicated legal operations person. Nearly half of corporate legal teams lack a legal operations function altogether. Okta once fell into that category, but in 2018, Kimberly Woodward decided to do something about it. She approached her leaders, made the case for legal ops, and built her own high-performing team from the ground up.

It’s not a shock to anyone who knows Woodward well. The Bay Area native has a reputation for ambition she traces all the way back to her childhood. After John Grisham’s novels turned her on to the law, Woodward found her way to the University of California at Davis, where she double majored in English and political science with a minor in Latin. She then enrolled at

Woodward Senior Director of Legal Operations and Corporate Counsel

Kimberly

Okta

Santa Clara University School of Law planning to become an entertainment lawyer, but she changed course when she discovered a passion for licensing and intellectual property. Upon graduation, she landed in-house contractor gigs that helped her develop expertise in open-source software.

For Woodward, this era was instrumental. As she reviewed the opensource licenses that company engineers needed to comply with, she realized how legal could help tech companies thrive. “I started to understand how lawyers can really help the business,” she explains. “Engineers can’t always follow the complex legal rules on their own. They need legal to empower them to do what they need to do.”

Upon realizing the intersection of law and technology was an exciting place, Woodward moved to a boutique law firm to grow her skills in 2014. That’s when she encountered Okta, a company that develops single sign-on (SSO) and customer identity and access management (CIAM) tools. When they offered Woodward a job in 2015, she accepted.

It didn’t take long before Woodward realized just how busy she’d be in her new role. Okta was preparing for an IPO, and when the GC realized an open-source audit was on the checklist, he tapped his new open-source expert for the job. Woodward collaborated with underwriters, engineers, and the chief technology officer to successfully complete the important task. With one win under her belt, she volunteered to implement a new contract management system (CMS). The process required Woodward to issue a request for proposals, fight for budget, select a vendor,

negotiate the price, and hire her first direct report to run the system.

These two projects set the stage for the legal ops function. The CMS brought the contracts process into the modern era. For the first time, employees had access to a nimble database that allowed them to mine valuable information and track data in real time to make informed decisions. Woodward realized the need for someone to implement similar tools in other areas. There was a need for a legal ops team—and she was the right person to run it.

Woodward convinced key decisionmakers to attend a short presentation on the value of legal ops. She talked about making attorneys more efficient. She promised to provide tools lawyers need to do their jobs well. She mentioned removing low-value work so high-dollar employees could focus on critical tasks. She pitched supporting a lean, effective, and meaningful powerhouse. That meeting eventually led to permission to create and run a legal operations team

In creating the function, Woodward was careful not to simply mimic what others have done. “Legal ops has to be unique to each organization because its structure depends on company needs, attorney skills, and how leaders want to customize their exact team,” she says. As an attorney, she has more flexibility than a nonattorney might. Thus, by embracing alternative delivery models of legal services, her team has expanded to include a contracts negotiator and a contracts strategy manager. These nonattorneys triage lower-level tasks that full-time attorneys often find unfulfilling.

Over the past four years, Woodward’s team has grown to include ten individuals who have operationalized everything from training and development to project management to information governance to legal vendor management. “It helps a company move forward faster when one dedicated team handles all of these time-consuming business activities,” Woodward says. “We can see the big picture, automate as much as possible, and get everything working together to create big improvements in real time.”

Part of legal ops’ mission is to make lawyers as effective as possible. But Woodward isn’t content with just keeping pace with her peers—she pushes her team to stay one step ahead. “If a lawyer comes to us with a problem we hadn’t already thought about, then we’ve failed. We’re supposed to discover and introduce new innovations to keep legal moving forward in a tech-driven business world,” she explains.

A robust legal operations team helps make waves in a competitive space. The company is now getting into larger acquisitions, and Woodward’s team is ready to help guide an important integration and discover more ways to add value.

Akorda Corporation:

“We have greatly enjoyed working with Kim on using AI and advanced analytics to help modernize contracting at Okta. Kim is a real forward thinker and thought leader. We fully support her as she helps drive legal toward a more modern, data-driven approach.”

–Derek Schueren, CEO

The Protean Publishing Industry

Over her decades-long career, Suzanne Telsey has looked at the publishing world from many angles. Now, at McGraw Hill, she faces down the growing threat of digital piracy.

By Natalie Kochanov

AS A RECENT GRADUATE IN CLASSICS AND comparative literature from Brown University, Suzanne Telsey wanted to go into publishing. And she did, although perhaps not in the way that she had anticipated.

“I ended up joining a legal publisher, Matthew Bender, as an associate editor,” Telsey explains. “I worked on the updates for a number of different titles, including Nimmer on Copyright.”

That particular legal text soon became directly relevant to Telsey’s career. After completing law school at New York University School of Law, she ultimately settled on copyright law—and intellectual property (IP) law more broadly—as a specialization. The area allowed Telsey to return to the publishing industry, where she has remained ever since. Today, Telsey is associate general counsel at McGraw Hill. The company is best

known for its publication of textbooks and other educational materials, which are increasingly digital. Telsey combines her legal expertise with an in-depth understanding of the publishing world to protect the company’s print and digital IP. As much as her decades of experience guide her in this work, she also continues to push into new areas to keep pace with the evolving industry and the myriad challenges that it presents.

Prior to joining McGraw Hill in 2000, Telsey honed her skills as a law clerk for the Honorable Pierre N. Leval and then as a litigation associate at the law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel. But it was her subsequent work as an in-house attorney at trade publisher Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group and direct market publisher DeAgostini Publishing USA that truly paved the way to her current role.

She delved into the publishing industry’s copyright, trademark, and privacy issues in addition to vetting manuscripts and shepherding numerous contracts through the drafting, review, and revision phases.

“The work was different, the titles and the products were different, the distribution was different, and the markets were different, but I dealt with very similar issues at each of the three houses,” says Telsey of her time at Bantam Doubleday Dell, DeAgostini, and now McGraw Hill. “Even though each company was a different type of publisher, I was able to develop an expertise in those issues.”

At the time of Telsey’s arrival at McGraw Hill, the company consisted of an educational publishing arm, a magazine and local TV station arm that included Business Week, and a division that ultimately became financial analytics and information provider S&P Global. When the educational publishing arm spun off in 2013, Telsey moved with it.

Together with the GC, she hired new attorneys and executed all necessary processes to establish a standalone legal department. She helped create the business’s original terms of use and terms of service, then began standardizing forms and procedures around in- and out-licensing, permissioning, and other routine agreements and terms.

On top of addressing day-to-day IP questions and concerns, Telsey leads McGraw Hill’s ever-expanding antipiracy program. Piracy has become increasingly rampant since her early days in the publishing industry, due in part to the influx of digital materials to the market and the expanding scope of digital marketplaces.

“We did find counterfeit print books, but we were able to address the problem by various enforcement activities and by getting distributors to follow best practices in terms of watching what they were buying and not buying books from unknown sources,” Telsey explains. “We’re now focusing more on digital, in large part because the nature of the industry is becoming more digital.”

As the industry started to shift, Telsey felt the need to take a more proactive approach to defending

Suzanne Telsey Associate General Counsel McGraw Hill

“We are constantly monitoring the ever-changing landscape of digital piracy, looking where our enforcement efforts are needed and will have the greatest impact in protecting our IP.”

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP is a New York City based law firm with more than 200 lawyers. Patterson Belknap delivers a full range of services across approximately 20 practice groups in both litigation and commercial law.

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McGraw Hill’s IP against ongoing and future infringement. She convinced the company to hire a seasoned antipiracy director, who, among other things, set up vendor monitoring for pirate activity.

As part of an overall IP enforcement program, working with outside antipiracy counsel, Telsey has identified and filed numerous litigations against pirate sellers and distributors around the globe. “We are constantly monitoring the ever-changing landscape of digital piracy, looking where our enforcement efforts are needed and will have the greatest impact in protecting our IP. It’s a matter of staying abreast of where the pressure points are and where we see the problem,” she says.

In some instances, Telsey coordinates with fellow educational publishers and groups such as Publishers Association in the UK and the Association of American Publishers on enforcement.

“Typically, if a pirate is selling our textbook and educational products, they’re also selling other publishers’ educational products. We’ve brought a lot of joint actions, which is helpful in that we’re able to share the cost as well as the benefits,” she confirms. “You’re not going to solve the problem entirely, but you can make a difference.”

Just as she takes pride in protecting the educational materials that McGraw Hill produces, Telsey is grateful to have found a career at the intersection of IP and publishing. “I was a comp lit and classics major. That was always my passion, and I never thought when I went to law school that I would be able to combine that interest with law,” she says. “I’m really lucky that I’ve gotten to do that.”

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP:

“I have known Suzanne since college and have always been struck by her piercing intelligence and dry sense of humor. Her knowledge of copyright law and publishing is unparalleled, and it has been a pleasure to work with her and McGraw Hill for many years, including in our recent victory dismissing an antitrust challenge to McGraw Hill’s Inclusive Access program.”

–Saul Shapiro, Partner and Litigation Department Chair

We congratulate and celebrate Suzanne Telsey, Associate General Counsel at McGraw Hill, for her recognition in Modern Counsel and are proud of our long partnership with Suzanne and the entire McGraw Hill Legal team.

A Passion Passed Down

Mark Malovos goes the extra mile to help his banking clients at Bank of America through all the ups and downs of their lives—and the economy

By Pamela Bloom

SOMETIMES PROFESSIONS RUN IN THE FAMILY.

Take Mark Malovos, managing director and associate general counsel to the wealth management mortgage business at Bank of America. He’s a ninth-generation Californian and third-generation lawyer—but it’s the way his ancestors leveraged law that most impacted his life.

“My grandfather was a tremendous person and lawyer,” Malovos says. “During World War II, he became concerned that land owned by his Japanese American friend would be confiscated after he was sent to an internment camp. To protect the property, my grandfather took the title, then granted the land back to his friend after the war. I can think of no better example of leveraging the law for good than that one act.”

Malovos has had plenty of his own opportunities to impact home ownership and use the law for good. Today, fourteen years into his tenure at Bank of America, he advises a business within the bank with $30 billion in annual mortgage originations.

Getting that in-house gig involved a circuitous route, considering his early training as a trial lawyer. After winning a years-long litigation battle, he realized that what he liked most about law was the long-term relationship with the client.

Mark Malovos Managing Director and Associate General Counsel Bank of America

A Physical and Mental Endurance Sport

During off-banking hours, you might find Mark Malovos getting involved in his community in a different way. A competitive distance runner in high school, he trained for years to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Today, he and his wife have run the Boston, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles marathons.

“It’s important to have something outside of work that is a release and escape,” he says. “Sometimes, when I’ve got a complex legal question, I go for a run, and it gets into my subconscious. Then, whether I’m actively mulling it over or not, things just have a way of working themselves out.”

“Being in-house allows me to stay with a client through all the ups and downs of economic cycles, changing strategies, and evolving competitive landscape,” Malovos notes. “I want to be a strong advocate when litigation matters arise, but I also want to contribute value by avoiding crises in advance.”

In 2007 Malovos got his chance to advocate and contribute value when Merrill Lynch hired him as general counsel and corporate secretary at First Franklin, a subsidiary. In the wake of the global financial crisis, he was invited to become president and CEO, tasked with the difficult task of managing more than two hundred employees who were in risk-management mode as they sought to consolidate.

Even though times were stressful, Malovos remembers “an incredible Merrill Lynch team,” comprising teammates from all disciplines, who worked tirelessly together. “Everyone pulled in the same direction, and we achieved a great deal together for the good of customers, the company, shareholders, and employees alike.”

His stress-management style in the face of shifting times? “Stay as open and transparent as possible.”

Malovos’s ability to stay even-keeled during crises might come from his father, once a prominent civil and criminal trial lawyer in Sacramento and now a trusted mediator and arbitrator. “I saw how he was able to absorb the stress of the situation and client without bringing it home,” he says. “He taught me to keep your eye on the goal, chart the way forward, and be the voice of reason.”

He’s since brought those lessons to his current role at Bank of America. In 2010, Malovos was asked to help lead the bank’s collaboration with the Hardest Hit Fund, created by the Obama administration to find innovative ways to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. He was thrilled to hire back some of his previous teammates from Merrill Lynch and other companies. He and his team also worked closely with state housing authorities, the Department of Treasury, and elected officials.

“It was wonderful to see not only the entire $10 billion fund utilized for homeowner assistance but also the number of lives and homes impacted,” Malovos says.

Over the past eight years of growth and expansion, Malovos has been part of the bank’s efforts to deliver the full enterprise of banking products to its wealth management clients. This has included contract negotiation and addressing vendor relationships as part of a commitment to insource all bank mortgage origination fulfillment activities from third-party service providers. The results have been outstanding client satisfaction and mortgage volume.

As a leader, Malovos encourages his team to stretch and grow professionally. “Lawyers, by nature, tend to be risk averse and sometimes hesitant to extend themselves, even if they are perfectly capable,” he notes. “As manager, I always ask myself, ‘How can I enable this person to perform at a higher level?’ And then I endeavor to provide

constructive and concrete feedback to that person that can be acted upon.”

Outside Bank of America, Malovos flexes a different kind of legal muscle. In 2008, shortly after moving back to Silicon Valley, Malovos joined the board of directors of the Campaign for Legal Services, a nonprofit that supports pro bono legal services to those in need on such issues as housing, children, immigration, and domestic violence. He returns this year for a second stint as cochair.

“It’s incredibly moving to see the positive impact these basic legal services have in getting people back on their feet,” Malovos says. “Even though there’s a lot of wealth in Silicon Valley, there’s also a lot of income disparity. It’s all about equal access to justice.”

It’s clear that diversity, equity, and inclusion remain more than code words for Malovos. “I truly enjoy working with people from different perspectives, geographic areas, family backgrounds. It leads to more vibrant discussions and a stronger work product,” he says.

After seeing how far that mindset has allowed his family—and the people they help—to go, it’s hard not to consider that kind of altruism an inherited trait too.

Anticipating opportunities, creating solutions

As a leading global law firm with cross-disciplinary, multi-jurisdictional practices around the world, Dechert delivers practical commercial insight and comprehensive legal solutions wherever you do business.

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We’re honored to support Mark Malovos and Bank of America.

“As manager, I always ask myself, ‘How can I enable this person to perform at a higher level?’

And then I endeavor to provide constructive and concrete feedback to that person that can be acted upon.”

Driven to Improve

At Volkswagen Group of America, Antony Klapper leads a robust interdisciplinary team tasked with managing risk and defending the iconic automaker in court

By Zach Baliva

AS

A PARTNER AT TWO MAJOR LAW FIRMS

IN the Washington metro area, Antony (Tony) Klapper grew accustomed to complex cases and big wins. He also got used to the often short-term nature of relationships between companies and outside counsel, particularly in the litigation space. Five years ago, Klapper made the jump in-house. Today, as deputy general counsel of product liability and regulatory at Volkswagen Group of America (VWGoA), he’s developing deeper relationships, protecting the German automaker from excessive risk, and having the time of his life.

Klapper says that after more than twenty years in firms, the opportunity to serve just one client is a welcome change. “Working in-house at Volkswagen is the most rewarding job I’ve ever had because I get to know people at a deeper level, analyze an industry and ongoing issues in a profound way, and then leverage my skills and lead a team to make an impact that we can all see and feel,” he explains.

Klapper’s colleagues attest to his abilities. “Tony is an outstanding lawyer,” says Bob Giuffra, vice chair of Sullivan & Cromwell. “He is a master strategist who never loses sight of the forest for the trees. He’s achieved great results for Volkswagen.”

“Tony combines the highest levels of legal skill and experience, work ethic, integrity, and creativity in a way that brings out the best in everyone with whom he works,” says Michael Gallub, member/director of Herzfeld & Rubin, who has represented the Volkswagen Group Companies for many years. “His superior analytical and creative thinking, together with unique team-building skills and appreciation of others, serve the company’s interests in the most effective way.”

For Klapper, the chance to work at VWGoA in the age of technology is a special opportunity. Lawyers on his team have the chance to assist the company in introducing new features, accessories, and technologies into their products and compete with other companies to roll out the very best in electric and autonomous vehicles.

Klapper knows that industry success in this era takes more than just lawyers; it requires an engaged interdisciplinary team with a clear vision about the future. He manages what he describes as a “wonderful team” of more than thirty professionals known as the company’s product analysis group (PAG). Together, they help evaluate Volkswagen’s offerings and defend products in litigation and regulatory matters.

In building his team, Klapper has helped bring together under one “virtual” roof a diverse array of lawyers, paralegals, engineers, technology experts, billing specialists, and jack-of-all-trades utility players to help the group defend legal matters and advise the business.

“We need more than legal minds on the team because we can’t help build an effective defense or business strategy unless we really understand how our company’s vehicles and products actually function—and what is important to the company and our customers,” Klapper explains. “The thorny questions we answer are by nature interdisciplinary and require input and insights from several sources.”

Klapper’s work with his diverse team has not gone unnoticed. “Tony is an exceptional lawyer,” says Paul Collins, partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough. “He assembles diverse teams of lawyers and nonlawyers to evaluate difficult legal

Antony Klapper Deputy General Counsel of Product Liability & Regulatory Volkswagen Group of America

Liz Vance

problems. This allows him to see the issue from different disciplines and perspectives, resulting in better long-term solutions.”

After his decade at Kirkland & Ellis and another decade at Reed Smith, Klapper was a managing director at a consulting firm, where he helped trial attorneys develop strong case narratives and craft compelling arguments for judges and juries. There, he saw how everyone from PhD jury consultants to graphic designers to administrative assistants made equally valuable contributions.

“Good leaders need to welcome the input and creativity of everyone into the team,” he says. “If you fail to do so, you miss out, and the product or services you provide suffer.” Whether the PAG is defending a class action suit, counseling on National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requirements, or advising marketing teams on print and TV ads, all members of the team are invited, encouraged, and expected to contribute.

In fact, Klapper believes so strongly in the value nonlawyers can bring that he’s looking for new ways to leverage this insight at VWGoA, particularly for those matters that they are contemplating bringing to trial. For example, he is planning to involve volunteers from the company’s other departments to “pressure-test” narratives before they are finalized for trial.

“These are real people who might be our jurors, and their reactions can help us know and understand what’s working, what’s not, and what we need to communicate more effectively,” Klapper says.

While Klapper is enjoying his time in-house, his big firm days have prepared him for where he is now. At Kirkland & Ellis, Klapper was part of a national counsel team for a large, well-known American car company and for a tire manufacturer defending recalls and class actions. At Reed Smith, he helped coordinate broad litigation matters for clients in manufacturing, financial services, hospitality, and other related industries.

Serving in a broad, national coordinating counsel capacity helped Klapper develop skills that make

Expertise Spotlight

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him feel at home in a large German company. He’s organized, precise, and energized by the opportunity to work in an international environment, closely with the German parent. Additionally, he’s always on the lookout for efficient ways to tackle problems.

In fact, Klapper’s products advisory group has worked hard to find ways to cut back on legal spend. For example, the PAG team, working with a consultant, has launched a pilot project to help reduce outside counsel spend through application of industry benchmarks to budgeting and billing. Klapper shares that his team’s outside counsel have responded well to this project, as it leads to greater predictability and transparency for all involved.

This focus on predictability and transparency extends to Klapper’s team too. Maintaining a positive culture of inclusion, communication, and respect is one of his most important goals. “Teamwork and respect, in particular, are two things I consider absolute musts,” he says. “Nobody on this team is more important than anybody else, and we simply can’t be successful without a committed team.”

Creating that culture starts with hiring the right people. Volkswagen has a robust selection process with multiple rounds of interviews. Conversations and questions during the process focus not only on the skill sets necessary to do the job but on what Klapper calls the “quality of the individual.” He’s looking for principled and ethical people whose values match both the department and the company.

Like most automakers, the Volkswagen Group is “all in” on electric vehicles (EV) and on becoming a more sustainable company. The company has invested billions of dollars worldwide to expand EV

“Teamwork and respect, in particular, are two things I consider absolute musts. Nobody on this team is more important than anybody else, and we simply can’t be successful without a committed team.”

production capabilities, including in the United States.

Volkswagen started rolling out its electric-only model, the ID.3, in Germany in 2019, and up to one thousand new employees will be needed to work at a freshly expanded site in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which will produce the first US-made ID.4, a sport utility vehicle, in 2022.

By the end of 2030, 50 percent of all Volkswagen sales will come from battery-electric cars. The only way to get there is through new products filled with technology and innovation.

Klapper views his team as a critical player in protecting Volkswagen as it researches, engineers, and releases those products. In the process, he is reaching his personal goal of deepening relationships and making a positive impact.

Herzfeld + Rubin proudly congratulates Antony Klapper on this much-deserved recognition. We look forward to continuing to partner with Tony and his magnificent team of attorneys and professionals at Volkswagen.

McGuireWoods LLP:

“Tony came to Volkswagen with vast experience in litigation at the highest levels. Using his knowledge, leadership ability, and tremendous work ethic, Tony built an effective team that collaborates with outside counsel to deliver results.”

–Terrence M. Bagley, Partner

We are a leading, nationally recognized complex litigation and class action firm with a proud track record of innovative and successful results. Our class action group has defended successfully nationwide and statewide class actions and multi-district litigation throughout the U.S., forging longstanding relationships with our clients that best serve their interests, brands and products.

herzfeld-rubin.com

A New Formula

By Keith Loria

SUGI HADIKUSUMO, A SELF-PROCLAIMED

“nerd,” was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia, and eventually settled down in the US with dreams of becoming a scientist.

“I never in a million years thought that I would be a lawyer, ever,” Hadikusumo declares. “I had a fairly conservative family and upbringing, and it was pounded in my head that I should be the typical doctor, engineer, or scientist—something very ‘practical.’”

In college at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he triple-majored in biochemistry, chemistry, and molecular biology, graduating in 1999.

“Science was always a big focus for me, and I was on that career track through and through,” Hadikusumo notes.

While in college, he had done some independent studies in food science, and one of his mentors suggested he go to grad school to further his education in that field.

He moved on to get a master’s in food chemistry from Rutgers University and started working at a flavor company. At the time, he still had no interest in the legal field, nor was he familiar with the field.

A close friend of his, a paralegal who was working at a patent law firm and was applying to law schools, convinced Hadikusumo to go to law school. He argued that Hadikusumo’s background would be great for patent law.

After obtaining his law degree from Fordham University, Hadikusumo’s first job out of law school was for the firm Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto, doing mostly patent prosecution.

Hadikusumo’s original ambition was to become a partner at the firm, but then he realized he wanted to expand his work experience and be closer to the clients he supported. That realization led him to wanting something new.

Sugi Hadikusumo of PepsiCo went from harboring dreams of being a scientist to finding a career he loves in IP law

Hadikusumo soon took an in-house role as intellectual property counsel at AkzoNobel, a Dutch chemical company. He was still doing patent prosecution but also started branching out into some transactional work and contract work. Soon, much to his excitement, he embarked on a six-month stint in the Netherlands.

“European patent attorneys are highly technical people; they have to go through a training program and pass a tough exam to qualify,” he explains. “However, a law degree is not a requirement to become a European patent attorney, so many of them do not have formal legal training. The idea was to have me there as someone who they could consult with on important legal issues.”

While Hadikusumo was still in the Netherlands, the company announced

it was closing its New York–based office and transferring all personnel to Chicago. Wanting to stay in the New York area, he started searching for a new job.

In 2014, after three years at AkzoNobel, he joined PepsiCo as legal director for global IP and was eventually promoted to his current position of senior legal director for global IP law in 2017. He started his career at PepsiCo supporting the beverage equipment R&D team; his responsibilities have since expanded to supporting the global beverage R&D team, including the beverage packaging and ingredients R&D teams. He no longer does much day-today patent work, though he manages the outside counsel who perform that function for the company.

What Hadikusumo enjoys about his job is seeing a product go from an idea to fruition—and knowing he played a

Sugi Hadikusumo Senior Legal Director, Global IP Law PepsiCo

role in having it come together. He’s always excited to point things out to his friends when they see something he’s worked on for what could be upward of years.

“Something like using a camera for interaction in a vending machine and looking [to see] if there’s anything we can protect and how we can execute the design effectively. I get to see things go from the beginning to end,” Hadikusumo explains.

An example is the company’s recent release of its new redesigned two-liter bottle—its first redesign in more than three decades. It took PepsiCo almost three years of research, development, and consumer testing to get to the new designs.

“I knew the pains that they went through at the beginning and the changes that were made in the design

IP Management Systems

Patent Annuity Service

Patent Data

Audits

along the way,” he says. “When the finished product comes out and I see it, it feels good. But it’s not something I do alone.”

As another example, PepsiCo just partnered with the Boston Beer Company to produce a hard cider, and Hadikusumo was instrumental in those negotiations from both the R&D and the IP side.

Working for PepsiCo has allowed him to dip into the food chemistry business he was once interested in—Hadikusumo reveals he wanted to apply for a position at PepsiCo way back in graduate school—and he’s happy to be part of such an amazing organization.

In addition, he is excited about the journey the company is going through, specifically the company’s plastic sustainability journey. “I’m excited to see how our sustainability journey goes and where we will wind up. We are working industry-wide with peer companies to address this, and I’m happy to be part of the solution.”

“When the finished product comes out and I see it, it feels good. But it’s not something I do alone.”

In the Game

ECP’s M&A work involves complex transactions, and Jennifer Gray and the rest of the legal team are first-string players on every one of them

By Frederick Jerant

“ECP REPRESENTS THE INTERESTS OF A VARIETY OF global investors, including several state and local pension plans,” says Jennifer Gray, the company’s managing director, deputy general counsel, and chief compliance officer.

“Through us, they invest in a multitude of energy transition projects, including decarbonization, sustainability, and renewable infrastructure. Our focus is on bringing value to the businesses and to the communities they serve.”

And ECP has a formidable portfolio. With more than $22 billion in capital commitments raised, it’s the largest private owner of power and renewable energy in the US.

After earning a BS in international business and a JD from Pepperdine University, Gray began her career with a short stint at Latham and Watkins, a global firm whose practice spans transactional, litigation, corporate, and regulatory law.

“I was there for about two years,” she recalls, “primarily in project financing and the funds formation teams. Then I was snapped up by ECP in 2008.”

Gray found she preferred in-house work. “In private practice, you negotiate and close the deal—and then move on to the next one. But in-house, you’re more deeply involved with working with investors to determine their

goals and aspirations—and accomplishing those goals through active portfolio company management and value creation,” she says. “I’ve also learned about many different areas of law—something that probably wouldn’t have happened if I’d stayed with Latham and specialized.”

Consequently, Gray has become a legal jack-of-alltrades. “It’s complex work,” she says, “because each investor has a particular agenda, tax exposures, and regulatory requirements, and I need to understand them all so our investments are in compliance.”

That’s why, at any given time, she can be deep into M&A and fundraising through due diligence sessions, legal and compliance issues, negotiating legal documents, regulations, tax issues, and much more.

Fortunately, ECP fosters open communication within its individual deal teams. “It promotes the sharing and exploring of ideas and experiences,” Gray says. “If you’re not actually working with someone on a particular deal, you still have an opportunity to learn.”

Gray also cochairs ECP’s environmental, social, and governance committee. A relative of corporate social responsibility, ESG is at the forefront, she says, particularly via European investors. The qualitative and sometimes quantitative aspects of ESG help them identify material risks and growth opportunities before investing.

Depending on the investment, ECP’s concerns might be as simple as asking, “Do you take ESG factors into consideration when investing?” or as complex as insisting on a formal ESG program, transparency regarding climate change, and provisions for energy reliability. ECP is at the vanguard of tackling it all.

“There are many new regulations, especially for Europe and from the SEC, on the way,” Gray says, “and investors are paying attention to that. It’s no longer just a question of making money, but how we make the money.”

And with its long history in the renewable energy sector, the company can leverage its track record to satisfy investors’ concerns. “It’s always been ingrained in the way we handle our investments, but we’re really focusing on properly collecting the data we know is there,” she says.

At ECP, an attorney is an active part of every deal team, and the arrangement ensures everyone sees how each component of a developing deal fits with the others. Those attorneys often also have seats on acquired companies’ boards, bringing a unique perspective that other private equity firms may not provide.

ECP’s integrated team dynamics and fluidity of cooperation were apparent when it acquired the natural gas/geothermal electricity generator Calpine, which ECP identified as an undervalued publicly held company. “It was a highly complex transaction,” Gray says, “and we had to raise equity and complete negotiations in just a few months. Within those months, we secured roughly $5 billion in equity while simultaneously negotiating all the M&A documents to take it private, completing security filings, and complying with numerous regulatory matters. It was an

Jennifer Gray Managing Director, Deputy General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer ECP

all-hands-on-deck effort that led to a successful acquisition.”

And when ECP acquired TerraGen in 2015, the renewable energy developer faced the expiration of many long-term contracts with public utilities and government tax incentives.

“We were able to create value through executing new contracts, building new or repowering existing wind farms using the latest technology, and recently raised another $1.65 billion continuation fund to allow the company to keep growing,” she says. “Terra-Gen continues to increase its utility-scale wind/solar generation and battery storage capabilities, building the largest solarplus-storage project in the US.”

There are many moving parts in such transactions, so ECP frequently relies on outside counsel to help develop and coordinate complex documents that come with every M&A deal. “We work only with law firms that mesh well with our management teams and outside investors,” she says.

Gray obviously wears many hats, but it’s why deal teams and other business leaders see her as an active participant, not just a resource for resolving crises.

“There’s a very collaborative spirit at ECP, and it helps that I am involved in deals from day one. I make just as many business decisions as legal decisions, though I can wear the black hat of legal if I need to,’” she says.

Kirkland & Ellis:

“I

Kirkland

–Justin

& Ellis is proud to join in recognizing our friend and client

have worked with Jen for over a decade. She is incredibly smart, thorough, and knowledgeable about the private equity market and the regulatory landscape. We greatly value our relationship with Jen and ECP.”

Solomon, Partner

More Than Luck

Robin Lampkin reflects on many years of transformation at Ashland, where her career has evolved alongside the business

By Billy Yost

Robin Lampkin

VP, Associate General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer Ashland

Christina Vitellas

ROBIN LAMPKIN USED TO THINK THAT SHE HAD a few more lucky streaks than the average person. Too many things had shaken out too well for the current vice president, associate general counsel, and chief compliance officer at Ashland. Even her hiring thirty years ago at Ashland was a small miracle. As the young lawyer was reading up on decisions in the Supreme Court Reporter, she noticed an ad for an in-house litigation attorney role at Ashland.

Lampkin didn’t even have a professional post–law school résumé. She walked across the street to a printer, created a résumé on the spot, and sent in her application. Four interviews later, she was hired by a company where she would spend the next three decades building out new areas of practice, staying consistently out of her comfort zone, and helping Ashland go through a major transformation that would involve divestments, acquisitions, and a great deal of evolution from the legal team.

It all seemed like luck for the longest time, but eventually, Lampkin learned to cut herself just a little bit of slack. “At some point I had to move from ‘It’s luck’ to ‘Maybe it’s luck and a lot of hard work,’” she says, laughing. There’s a lot of evidence to back that up.

“I have had the privilege of working alongside Robin for nearly two decades,” says Camille Otero, environmental group chair at Gibbons. “What she has accomplished in that time has been amazing, which I attribute more to her dedication and drive than to luck.”

Rightsized Transformation

Over the course of Lampkin’s tenure at Ashland, she’s been an active participant in one of the most interesting periods in the company’s history. The company that was originally founded as a refinery business divested mostly all its businesses directly involved in the refining or marketing of fuels in 2005.

“When I started with Ashland, we were eleven separate operating divisions,” Lampkin remembers. “Shortly after I started, the transformation and transition away from oil and gas really began.” There was a landmark joint venture with Marathon that helped set Ashland down the path of divestment, as the company worked to evolve its specialty chemicals business and place it front and center as the company’s main driver.

One of Lampkin’s transformational legal opportunities at Ashland was having a leader-

ship role and being part of the environmental due diligence team for Ashland’s acquisition of Hercules in 2008, helping the company begin cementing its journey to becoming a leading specialty chemicals company. The 2011 acquisition and integration of International Specialty Products was pivotal in Lampkin’s career—another shining example of using legal expertise and effort to aid the evolving enterprise.

While her current role oversees compliance, Lampkin says she’s lucky to have had the opportunity to navigate smaller M&A deals earlier in her career. “It was just another example of the amazing opportunities I have had with this company,” Lampkin explains.

“Our head of M&A asked me if I’d be interested in shadowing him to gain some acquisition experience. He told me he would treat me like a paralegal, but I wound up doing the deal instead of carrying the briefcase.”

Lampkin’s career has evolved just as Ashland’s business has. From aiding transformations to business integration to regulatory legal practice, the VP continues taking on new roles. “Ashland’s chief executive officer and extended executive council (EEC) are very committed to sustainability and ESG,” the lawyer explains. “I’ve really enjoyed having a role in Ashland’s efforts as a member of the EEC, helping figure out what our goals and targets are going to be and what makes the most sense for our businesses.”

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Available to All

Robin Lampkin has mentored many people, helping them find their own paths to success. “I’m a social person, and I just like to be interactive,” Lampkin says. “I always wanted to make sure that I was accessible to anyone at any grade level.”

The lawyer has mentored both formally and informally throughout her career. She has also taken the time to speak with students from her schoolteacher mother’s classroom and at OSU’s Moritz College of Law. Grade school, middle school, college, and law students have all benefited from mentoring opportunities with Lampkin. And with a daughter who just started at Michigan Law School, there is sure to be more mentoring to come.

The Difference Between Luck and Opportunity

Lampkin’s penchant for operating outside of her comfort zone isn’t anything new. It’s been her entire career. The self-described “daddy’s girl” attended the Ohio State University with the intention of majoring in accounting, just like her IRS-employed dad, but she quickly found law far more appealing—even if there wasn’t a prelaw program at the time.

There are moments that still stick out to Lampkin as unbelievably lucky. She was the first African American female attorney hired by her first firm, following stints there as a summer associate and a law clerk

Christina Vitellas

while she was in law school. Memorably, she was offered the summer associate position during the interview.

“Later on, I remember the lawyers at the firm not believing that it had happened that way,” the lawyer remembers. “People would come up to me and say, ‘Who offers a job in an interview?’”

As a young lawyer, Lampkin had an opportunity to do first-chair trial work, but it takes a certain kind of perspective to see it as “lucky.”

She was a new lawyer, sent out on an appellate argument with the Sixth District Court with absolutely no backup. No help. Barely a “good luck.” A woman who had killed her abusive husband had been acquitted criminally but sued civilly.

“I got my little colored pencils out like I had in moot court and prepared my argument outline folder and met with my client on the courthouse steps,” Lampkin recalls. “I drove down early and prayed and hoped I wasn’t first on the docket so I could watch and see how the other attorneys were conducting themselves in the courtroom.”

Lampkin’s client won on appeal, and the civil case for monetary damages was dismissed. “It was just the sort of initiation that they do for young lawyers,” Lampkin says. “I like to think of it as an amazing opportunity.”

Maybe that’s the luck Lampkin is talking about. It’s the ability to see a challenge as an opportunity, a potential slight as a chance to grow, or what seems like an unfair fight as the moment to truly stand out. It doesn’t seem to faze her. It’s just part of who she is.

“I have all these new areas that I’ve been moving into, and even my current position as the chief compliance officer is new,” Lampkin says. “The international trade practice, it was new. The government relations, was new. But it’s just the story of my career.”

Congratulations to Robin Lampkin, Vice President, Associate General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer at Ashland, for her achievements and personal success.

We are proud to be part of your team.

We are a full-service global law firm that provides insight at the point where law, business and government meet, giving you a voice, supporting your ambitions and achieving successful outcomes.

Nothing Trivial about Success

A love of pop culture has helped Zev Parnass become an expert at his job at Publicis Groupe and turn his team into a well-oiled machine

By Keith Loria

ZEV PARNASS WASN’T THE KIND OF KID WHO ALWAYS knew he wanted to be a lawyer, and even in college, he wasn’t focusing on law as a prospective career. But he found his way to a legal internship during a summer break, which started to pique his interest.

“Around that same time, my older brother had decided to go to law school, so between that and my internship, I realized it was an interesting field with a lot of practical aspects to it. I was just drawn to it,” he recalls. “I wasn’t really sure if I would like it, since I only had this basic exposure, but I decided to give it a shot.”

The summer after his first year at Columbia Law School, Parnass interned at a boutique firm specializing in patent work. Having been a neuroscience major in undergrad, he felt it was a good fit for his background.

“I thought it was interesting, but it didn’t quite capture my attention the way I thought it might,” he recounts. “For my second summer, I decided to work at a more general firm, doing a mix of intellectual property work and tax work. I just wanted to try different things because I really had no sort of preconceived notions in terms of what I really wanted to do.”

After looking at what he enjoyed throughout his two summers, Parnass decided to pursue trademark and copyright law, which he found more exciting than patents and tax work.

“It was fun,” he declares. “It touches on entertainment and pop culture and sports and music— all the kinds of things that were my interest. That I could use some of my interests in my professional life was really a nice combination.”

In 2003, Parnass began an eight-year stint at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York. There, he focused on intellectual property work, gaining experience in trademark and copyrights.

“I wasn’t sure I wanted to stay at a firm longterm; I knew people who were in-house and the legal and business combination appealed more to me,” he explains. “I ended up applying to Publicis Groupe. They were looking for somebody who would be the first in-house lawyer who would oversee the Publicis-branded agencies in the United States. They were using only outside counsel at the time, and that was not very cost-efficient or as effective as somebody who’s with the business fulltime and really living and breathing the business.”

He nabbed the position in 2011 and today serves as vice president and assistant deputy general counsel with Publicis Groupe’s US legal department.

When he came on board, he was tasked with building his team from scratch and developing a library of document templates.

“I did have colleagues from the other agencies from whom I could get some help in terms of starting to build that library—whether it was agreements with clients, nondisclosure agreements, or releases for various things—things we needed in our commercial ad agency,” he shares. “There was a lot of infrastructure I needed to get in place to get this off the ground. I turned almost nothing into a fully functioning legal group.”

Working in commercials and advertising, his job often involved looking through song lyrics, examining football team jerseys, or watching movie scenes to ensure the commercials weren’t violating any rights.

“I’ve always been a big fan of trivia, and it just kind of helps to know these random things and be aware of pop culture,” he says. “I don’t know if there’s any other area of law that has all these fun topics.”

Eventually, his team became a well-oiled machine. Parnass found the challenge exciting.

Then, in 2018, a restructuring took place within the legal department. Today, he oversees the agencies under the Saatchi & Saatchi umbrella, a bigger operation with offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Dallas, along with several other agencies.

“I now have a team of five people reporting to me,” he notes. “Part of that already existed when I switched roles, and I helped take over that piece and push it forward. Since I had done that on the Publicis-branded agency side, [leadership] felt I was the right person for this.”

Once again, Parnass needed to develop relationships with new clients and a new staff as well as bring new people to the team.

“It’s been a really nice career arc in terms of career development and professional development,” he shares. “Our goal is to help do the work in a creative way. We’re making commercials or advertisements, and we’re helping reduce risk for the company. At the end of the day, if I’m watching television and see a commercial I worked on, it’s nice to see the final outcome after all the work that went into creating a spot.”

“At the end of the day, if I’m watching television and see a commercial I worked on, it’s nice to see the final outcome after all the work that went into creating a spot.”

COVID-19 added new wrinkles to the production process, which in turn brought fresh challenges to the job.

“We were really heavily involved with trying to work with the teams to make sure everyone was safe and also obviously reduce risk overall,” he says. “The future is figuring out how this creative world works now, in a postpandemic society, and continuing to do the good work that we’re doing.”

Parnass remains very passionate about his job, expressing that he loves advising his colleagues on things and talking through issues with people.

“I work with everyone from the CEO down to the person who may have just left college last year,” he explains.

“Obviously, they have different sophistication levels, but I love problem-solving and being creative in a legal fashion, coming up with solutions to get where we need to get to and at the same time mitigating risk.”

–Steven E. Lewis, Partner

On our rm's 100th anniversary, we celebrate Zev's well-earned recognition in Modern Counsel.

Publicis Groupe

is proud to partner with and applauds the achievements of Zev Parnass

Assistant Deputy General Counsel

Dunnington Bartholow & Miller LLP: “Zev is the cream of the crop: a skilled lawyer and manager. He has all the tools, including extensive knowledge of the law, experience, and, perhaps most importantly, great judgment!”

Tony West brings a wealth of experience to Uber. With the help of Katie Waitzman, Tammy Albarrán, and the rest of the diverse leadership team, he’s charting a new course for the company.

By Will Grant

Portraits by Mark Elzey

When Tony West joined Uber in 2017 as chief legal officer, he knew he wasn’t coming to the most famous name in rideshare technology to simply maintain course. As the first official hire of new Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, he was there to provide the ship a new rudder. The well-publicized findings of former Attorney General Eric Holder and his firm, who were brought in to assess Uber’s workplace culture, highlighted forty-seven changes that needed to be implemented (all of which were supported by the company’s board of directors) to help the company earn back the trust of both its employees and customers.

West immediately made a decisive move to forge a new direction for Uber’s legal team. He hired Tammy Albarrán, one of the main architects of the Holder Report, as chief deputy counsel.

“Tammy is not only a brilliant lawyer, she’s someone who knew the company well and understood exactly what we needed to do,” West explains. “I knew instantly I wanted to have her as a part of my leadership team. The knowledge and unique perspective that she brought

was incredible, as was her judgment and leadership.”

It’s one of many sweeping changes that West, his legal team, and Uber as a whole have undertaken to better maintain what he calls the social pact that companies make with their communities. “Companies exist because society allows them to exist,” West says. “The quality of people’s lives can be enhanced by our company, and I want to continue to uphold our end of that bargain.”

The Uber legal team is on the frontlines of these efforts, and through initiatives and public commitments the company has made, the ship appears to be heading for calmer waters.

Safer for All

West also promoted Katie Waitzman, who has been at Uber since 2015, to associate general counsel. (Overall, ten of the sixteen people on West’s leadership team are women.) She has overseen numerous initiatives to evolve the company’s protocols when it comes to women’s safety. “These are important issues that we need to talk about, and we are embracing transparency when it comes to these difficult conversations,” Waitzman

COMPANIES EXIST BECAUSE SOCIETY ALLOWS THEM TO EXIST. THE QUALITY OF PEOPLE’S LIVES CAN BE ENHANCED BY OUR COMPANY, AND I WANT TO CONTINUE TO UPHOLD OUR END OF THAT BARGAIN.”

—TONY WEST

Tony West Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary Uber

Tammy Albarrán Chief Deputy General Counsel Uber

explains. “It’s important to talk about where we started.”

Uber met with more than two hundred women’s advocacy groups and sexual violence prevention groups while reworking its policies and processes to make them more survivor centered. The most poignant takeaway for all three attorneys was a better understanding of the journey of sexual assault survivors.

Those collaborations led Uber to make numerous changes to its technological platform, and the legal team was also able to spearhead safety initiatives. In one major change, the company eliminated mandatory arbitration for survivors of sexual misconduct. “This was a decision that was obviously a bold one, but we knew it was the right move,” Waitzman says.

“When we were having these conversations, I was initially very wary because lawyers are naturally very risk-averse,” Albarrán adds. “But it was Tony who really convinced me. He said that if we can make the platform safer for women, we will make it safer for all. That just stuck in my mind.”

Equity and Opportunity

As chair of Uber’s Racial Equity Leadership Council, Albarrán, who is of Mexican descent, has helped lead Uber’s commitment to diversity and inclusion as well as its public dedication to be an antiracist company.

UBER’S ANNOUNCEMENT WAS AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE VERY UNIQUE ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITY IT HAS TO FIGHT RACISM.”

TAMMY ALBARRÁN

“Uber’s announcement was an acknowledgment of the very unique role and responsibility it has to fight racism,” Albarrán explains. “It’s a public pronouncement of our vision to achieve equity in our products, in our workforce, and in the communities that we serve.”

Uber has publicly committed to doubling its Black representation in leadership; it has also doubled its charitable giving efforts for the communities that can most benefit from aid. In addition, the product and engineering teams are working on designing and building more inclusive products. Uber has also partnered with NGOs and other experts to develop antiracism education for its employees, earners, and users.

The legal department at Uber has launched a robust preferred counsel program, making diversity a top priority. “I do think it's important for us to leverage our purchasing power by demanding diverse teams and driving business to firms that value diversity so a firm’s bottom line will be negatively impacted if they don't walk the talk,” Albarrán notes.

The program uses a proprietary formula to not only assess a firm’s commitment to D&I but also measure their progress in advancing those goals. Rather than addressing a number or quota, Uber evaluates which attorneys are being placed on projects that will help increase their experience and seniority.

Important Changes From the Inside Out

Since the radical shake-up at Uber in 2017, the rideshare company has sought to build a different kind of company culture. Under the leadership of CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and CLO Tony West, Uber has renewed its commitment to both its employees and millions of drivers and riders. Since 2017, Uber has taken the following steps:

• Ended forced arbitration for victims of sexual assault to give survivors more control over how and when they tell their stories

• Engaged more than two hundred women’s organizations and antisexual violence advocates to guide changes to the company’s legal policies and processes

• Committed to wider transparency, including publishing the 2017 report compiled by former Attorney General Eric Holder that details the internal changes that needed to be made at the company and a first-of-its-kind safety report in 2019 disclosing serious safety incidents related to the Uber platform

• Used the company’s purchasing power to put firm diversity as one of the highest metrics for its preferred counsel program

• Committed to hiring more diverse talent for positions of leadership

Some initiatives, such as being transparent about diversity numbers and tying executive compensation to D&I goals, were already underway, but others were a direct reaction to the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and numerous other people of color by local law enforcement. “The question was never ‘Should we respond to the events of the 2020?’” West says. “It was a question of how we were going to respond.”

A New Direction

It becomes clear during the interview how deeply both Albarrán and Waitzman believe in the company’s top leaders—particularly West. After West makes joking references to why Albarrán would leave a high-profile firm job for Uber or why Waitzman would remain at the company after the tumultuous period it had, both team members explain their decisions.

“I’ve known Tony for almost two decades, and I respect him not only as an exceptional lawyer and inspirational leader but also because he is genuine, humble, and a person with incredibly high integrity. Under his leadership, I knew I could have an impact here,” Albarrán says.

“I have to agree with that,” Waitzman says. “Uber has presented novel legal challenges that put us at the intersection of technology and society. Leaders like Tony and Tammy have given us a rudder of transparency, integrity, and accountability to rely on, which is especially important in the context of crafting industry standards and policies that are often the first of their kind.”

Katie Waitzman Associate General Counsel, Safety & Insurance Uber

West is highly experienced, having held the top legal role at PepsiCo and served as associate attorney general for the US Department of Justice over the course of his nearly thirty-year career. But his role at Uber is a little different: he’s helping shape the culture and vision of the company in a very public way, a task that isn’t expected of most CLOs. He seems happy to do it, though, because his company has committed to a very simple ideal: doing the right thing.

“This job was a chance to put together all of the different skills and experiences of my life to help identify a set of values that we could articulate and rally around,” West says. “‘Do the right thing’ isn’t just about the legal organization; it’s the rudder for the entire company. It’s our North Star.”

www.gibsondunn.com

Beijing  Brussels  Century City

Dallas  Denver  Dubai  Frankfurt

Hong Kong  Houston  London

Los Angeles  Munich  New York

Orange County  Palo Alto  Paris

San Francisco  São Paulo

Singapore  Washington, D.C.

–Theane Evangelis,

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP: “Tony West is a visionary who utilizes his platform to help organizations move the needle. He was instrumental in our efforts to increase Black lawyers by 66 percent. We are immensely grateful to Tony and Uber.”

Partner

‘DO THE RIGHT THING’ ISN’T JUST ABOUT THE LEGAL ORGANIZATION; IT’S THE RUDDER FOR THE ENTIRE COMPANY. IT’S OUR NORTH STAR.” —TONY WEST

Natasha Scotland Courcy of Athene mentors the next generation of leaders, encouraging young professionals to make their own paths

By Billy Yost

Natasha Scotland Courcy wasn’t born adventurous. She wasn’t born a mentor. She wasn’t born a lawyer. And when she speaks of not just living outside the box, but “living without a box,” it’s immediately clear that all the experiences, the work, and the passion that have brought the senior vice president, general counsel, and chief operating officer of Athene Life Re., a subsidiary of Athene Holding Ltd., to this very moment have culminated in this insight: she wants younger pro -

fessionals to know each person can cultivate and replicate success in their own way.

“I never want to give the impression that I’m some superwoman who never has anxiety or self-doubt,” Courcy says, laughing. “But it was always about consistently challenging myself and keeping myself from getting too comfortable.”

It’s tough not to see Courcy as some sort of superhero. The native Trinidadian’s ambition and drive took her beyond the comfort of home, but through her

role as chief operating officer at the Bermuda-based reinsurance company and countless mentoring activities, Courcy helps the next generation of leaders know that their ambitions have no limit.

Courcy’s own belief in herself was the product of hugely supportive parents. “My upbringing and my studies showed me early on that you didn’t have to follow the same path that everyone else seemed to be on,” the lawyer explains. “My parents gave me the best advice, which was that there was no norm. You just create your own.”

Attending a competitive all girls’ school growing up only enhanced Courcy’s confidence to set her own standards. She grew up seeing diverse people in leadership and positions of authority. “Both in our government and in private corporates, there were people in seniorlevel positions who looked like me,” Courcy explains. “It showed me that there didn’t have to be a limit in terms of what avenues were available to me.”

In Courcy’s nearly twenty-year career, she has often benefited from strong mentors, but she says she’s noticed a welcome change over time. “It just so happens that a lot of my mentors from a young age and early in my career were men,” she explains. “As my career has progressed, I’ve seen female leadership take up a larger role in my own mentors, because law and the insurance industry, more broadly, have evolved so much.”

Courcy’s considerable male influence early in her career (she speaks glowingly of a supportive father who exposed her to literature of all kinds and pushed her to be the best person she could be) is one of the reasons she takes mentoring so seriously in her own career.

“I'm highly focused on mentoring through challenging and leading by example,” Courcy explains. “In terms

of how I lead my team and how I challenge those who are reporting into me, I always try to exhibit strong, empowering confidence, and I try to avoid exhibiting those inhibiting traits that sometimes, as women, it’s so easy for us to fall into.”

Courcy wants her young mentees to be enemies of creeping self-doubt. It’s a feeling she’s known well, having left her home and found herself in isolating and challenging situations. It’s just one of the areas she focuses on with Athene’s mentoring program.

Athene takes a holistic approach to developing local talent that includes in-office experiences and partnerships with local organizations like Bermuda College. Athene provides ten annual scholarships to Bermuda College that cover virtually every financial requirement of the collegiate experience. In addition, Courcy leads the in-office mentoring initiatives, including a workstudy component that offers Bermudians the opportunity to work at Athene and accrue day-to-day experience along with benefiting from sitdowns with Courcy and others in leadership roles.

There’s also an additional internship program that can continue to grow and cultivate future talent, all under Athene’s banner. “I’m able to mentor others in a few different ways here, and it’s a critical and important part of what I do,” the lawyer says.

Athene’s partnership with Bermuda College continues to grow with the building of a new career development center. “The structure will have more lecture theaters and more facilities to support what the college is doing and allow more students to come in and pursue their studies,” Courcy explains. “We believe that giving back to Bermuda is an important part of our business, and we’re providing Bermudians with invaluable

Natasha Scotland Courcy SVP, General Counsel, and Chief Operating Officer Athene Life Re.

YOU DON’T CLOSE THE DOOR BEHIND YOU. LEADERS DON’T DO THAT.”

opportunities that will benefit their future careers, their CVs, and whatever path they take.”

Along with her mentorship at Athene, Courcy serves on the board of directors for the Bermuda International Long-Term Insurers and Reinsurers (BILTIR), an organization that represents the long-term insurers and reinsurers in Bermuda. Here, too, Courcy has found a way to impact the next generation by collaborating with BILTIR’s internship program and speaking to students at public schools about the opportunities available to the next generation of young professionals.

The guidance from Courcy’s parents has not only influenced her career path but also showed her how to balance the demands of a career with the demands of parenting. Spending time with her five-year-old son keeps her grounded and helps her refuel so she can continue to engage and influence the next generation of leaders.

Courcy says there is no “off the clock” when it comes to mentorship. “When you get to a certain point, it’s your responsibility,” the lawyer says. “You don’t close the door behind you. Leaders don’t do that. You constantly look back and try to incorporate, include, and connect with whoever you see. That’s my moral compass.”

Your Offshore Legal Experts since 1928

The team at Conyers congratulates Natasha Scotland-Courcy on her recognition by Modern Counsel and celebrates her accomplishments and continued success.

Her interest in helping others was what drew Rita Srivastava to a law career in the first place, and at McDonald’s, she’s continuing her advocacy work

By Frederick Jerant

Rita Srivastava’s decision to attend law school shocke"d her parents. “My sister is a doctor, and they thought I would follow the same path. For a while, I felt like the black sheep of the family,” she says with a laugh.

Her parents emigrated to the US before she was born. “My father believed that if you worked hard, there would be no barriers to success. And my mother thought a solid education would give children—especially girls—a way to succeed in this country,” Srivastava says. As a first-generation Indian American, she grew up with a foot in both cultures— adapting to American customs but nourishing her roots at home and in the local Indian community.

“We grew up with the idea that we were very lucky—a safe and stable home, plenty of food, and a good education— and that led to the idea of performing service to others,” she recalls. “And that can become part of your life.”

While earning her BA in English at the University of Michigan, Srivastava fell in love with the legal field. “At Michigan,

I talked extensively with students already in law school and others whose parents were lawyers,” she says. The Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law was a key player in persuading then-governor George Ryan to issue a moratorium on executions in Illinois in 1999. “That appealed to my sense of advocacy,” Srivastava said, “and the more I learned about Northwestern, the more I wanted to go there.”

She did go, and her on-campus experiences included studying employment law and taking both an externship with the Chicago office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and a summer internship in New York City with the global law firm Paul Hastings. She’d go on to work as a labor and employment attorney for Paul Hastings after she finished law school; three years later, she was hired for a similar position at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Chicago.

Her pro bono work there focused on two key areas: “We represented asylum seekers and ‘dreamers’ who were covered by DACA and explored the racial justice

angle in wrongful-conviction cases,” she says.

In 2016, Srivastava was at a crossroads: she had to decide whether to pursue a partnership track at Morgan Lewis or pursue a senior counsel opportunity at McDonald’s. The quick-service giant was already a client at Morgan Lewis, so she was already somewhat familiar with its operations. She took the role as senior counsel in their global labor and employment group for a variety of reasons: her ability to make an impact as a woman of color; her own emphasis on diversity, which she felt McDonald’s shared; and the experiences of a former colleague who went in-house to McDonald’s, who

touted the depth and breadth of the work.

Her responsibilities there are far-ranging, including the management of a large docket of employment-related claims across the US, overseeing litigations and cooperating with outside counsel to mitigate brand damage, consulting on the rollout of products that will impact employees, and training and other activities that enhance the employee experience.

Her team interfaces broadly across the company—HR, operations, communications, government relations, digital initiatives, and other business functions.

“McDonald’s is huge, and when you factor in the range of local,

Eileen Molony

Rita Srivastava Senior Counsel, Global Labor and Employment Law McDonald's

MCDONALD’S IS HUGE,

AND WHEN YOU FACTOR IN THE RANGE OF LOCAL, STATE, AND NATIONAL LAWS—AS WELL AS THE GLOBAL IMPACT—THAT AFFECT US, WE ARE ALWAYS LEARNING.”

state, and national laws—as well as the global impact—that affect us, we are always learning,” she says.

As companies across the world step up their efforts to increase diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI), McDonald’s has done the same, Srivastava says. Through its legal DEI committee, the company has committed to the goals of the Mansfield Rule: Legal Department Edition (MRLD). This two-year program requires legal departments to consider lawyers from various underrepresented groups for 50 percent of its significant positions. “That includes women, racial or ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+, those with disabilities, and others,” she says.

The legal department also participates—along with two law firms—in Diversity Lab’s “Move the Needle Fund,” in which two firstyear law students from underrepresented groups spend their summers working at the firm and with the McDonald’s legal department.

Srivastava’s commitment to advocacy extends to her history of taking pro bono cases. “I’ve been fortunate to work for companies that supported this activity,” she says. “At my private practice firms, it counted as billable hours. And McDonald’s has a pro bono committee that continually shares opportunities for legal professionals to get engaged in a wide variety of areas.”

Her proudest achievement with pro bono work, she says, was helping secure the 2019 release of Demond Weston, a man who had served twenty-nine years of a seventy-five-year sentence for murder. “I started working on this case when I was at Morgan Lewis and stayed with it even after joining McDonald’s. We wanted to preserve continuity in the case, and I did so with McDonald’s blessing and constant support,” she says.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Srivastava worked from home while caring for her infant son. “This gave me a different view on work and motherhood,” she says. “Now I understand how people feel when going on leave as well as the process of coming back.”

An empathetic and understanding boss sharing her experience —and support from a number of colleagues—made it easier to navigate these issues. “That’s why policies and leadership should involve people with differing perspectives and life experiences. You come up with solutions that make the most sense.”

Sanchez & Amador: “Rita Srivastava has deep knowledge of employment law and McDonald’s and is laser focused on obtaining the best results for the company and its employees. My employment litigation team loves working with her for those reasons and because Rita goes out of her way to ensure we achieve great results together.”

–Richard S. Amador, Managing Partner

Marsh McLennan’s Vivian Wesson overcame all the odds, and she now provides hope to others that they can do the same

By Billy Yost

Every year, Marsh & McLennan Chief Intellectual Property Counsel Vivian Wesson makes a pilgrimage home. For many, going home has the feeling of a warm blanket, providing a welcome getaway from the fast-paced, professional life to a place that seems much simpler.

For Wesson, coming home to Gary, Indiana, to visit her mother—who still lives in the home first owned by Wesson’s great-grandmother—is much closer to a veteran returning to a still-active battlefield, despite the passing of decades.

“Unlike the scenes from The Music Man or the joyous singing of the Jackson 5 [for which Gary is largely known], this wasn’t a community known for producing Rhodes Scholars or folks who were going on to change the world,” Wesson says with sadness in her voice. “It was a community that felt like it was floundering, and even as a young child, I had a sense that there had to be something outside the four walls of Gary.”

Gary was a community that lived and died by the steel industry. In 1970, the US Steel Gary Works employed more than thirty thousand people. That number would decline to nine thousand by 1990. It’s only gotten smaller as overseas steel competition has continued to ramp up. In its stead, multiple casinos have popped up along the Gary lakeshore, bringing some jobs but also all the eventual hardship that gambling ensures.

Wesson grew up steps away from a housing project that was built on the edge of a landfill. Leachate was found to have seeped into the groundwater, effectively poisoning the entire complex. The whole structure was razed and fenced off, now sealing away a scattered architectural graveyard where nothing can ever be built again.

Finding Another Option

There was one person who saw the potential in Wesson. Her middle school principal. Wesson lovingly describes her as an “absolute golden egg that somehow wound up in an inner-city middle school, a white woman plopped down in the midst of all these Black and brown people.” She took Wesson and a few other girls under her wing, encouraging them to take the scholastic aptitude test that would make them eligible to attend more elite secondary schools. She trusted that it might be enough to provide the girls with the tools they needed to make it out of Gary.

“The high school from which I would have graduated was affectionately known as the Westside Maternity Ward,” Wesson remembers. “The rumor was that the birth rate was higher than its graduation rate. The two prevailing choices open to any of us were to stay and repeat the cycle of poverty around you or to join the armed services. There was no third option.”

But Wesson found the path. After graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy, she’d move on to Pomona College (and eventually

Vivian Wesson Chief Intellectual Property Counsel Marsh McLennan

Fordham Law), where she would be exposed to African American women in history who would shape her entire journey. Women like Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Mary Church Terrell.

“These were women who were without a voice and powerless,” Wesson says. “But their motto was always ‘Lifting as We Climb.’ If Black or brown people succeed, so many are quick to question how many heads they had to step on along the way. But we are not stepping on heads. We’re standing on the shoulders of those powerful women and lifting others as we continue to climb.”

Rising to the Occasion

Wesson has called Marsh McLennan home for more than fifteen years. In that time, she has endeavored to be that lifting hand for as many as she possibly can. In a company of seventy-six thousand people worldwide, Wesson says she’s able to connect with people from every walk of life. In a role where innovation and creative thinking is mandatory, the pandemic offered a challenge like none other.

Wesson received the company’s 2020 General Counsel Collaboration Award for her efforts in not just making it through the year, but also going above and beyond, whether it was facilitating

expansion into Saudi Arabia or driving to a colleague’s home to grab a signature.

“In a year where you may not have checked off each and every goal, I think it was recognition of just how hard I worked to get us where we are,” Wesson says. “It meant a lot to be recognized for going that extra mile.”

More to Lift

Mentoring has played a huge role in Wesson’s life from as far back as high school, when she remembers speaking to middle schoolers and encouraging them to believe that they had endless opportunities, not just the binary choice between poverty or military service.

Her most profound mentoring moment occurred only a year ago, when she was asked if she would have interest in mentoring a young high school student in Schenectady, New York. Wesson was slammed at the time and didn’t think she would have the time to devote herself to the opportunity, but as soon as she learned more about the student, something clicked.

“She’d been doing well academically but really needed someone to serve as a role model,” Wesson remembers. “The more I learned, the more I recognized the same yearnings that were in me, but she

WE’RE STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF THOSE POWERFUL WOMEN AND LIFTING OTHERS AS WE CONTINUE TO CLIMB.”

was at that age where it seemed like an impossible dream. I knew I had to do it.”

Wesson says it’s the most fulfilling mentoring she’s ever done in her life. She meets with her mentee monthly to track her progress, encourage her, and, she says, live vicariously through every victory and milestone her mentee achieves. “It’s one of the most powerful ways I can think to be able to pay what I’ve gotten forward,” Wesson says. “I’ve probably gotten more out of it than she has.”

There’s another life that will most assuredly be the beneficiary of Wesson’s mentorship. The last time Wesson returned to Gary, she brought her sixteen-year-old son with her. Standing with his mother and looking at the scattered remains of her demolished housing project, Wesson’s son put his hand on his mother’s shoulder and told her how amazed he was at the person she ultimately became. “You just have to keep lifting,” Wesson says. “The more power you attain, the more people you can bring with you.”

•

•

Seyfarth Shaw:

“Vivian is an exceptional lawyer, innovator, and thought leader. Relentless in her attempt to make the world a better place, she is an inspiration to those who have the pleasure of working with her!”

–Julia Sutherland, Partner

Seyfarth is proud to partner with Vivian with the management of Marsh & McLennan’s global intellectual property portfolio.

We salute Vivian upon her recognition by Modern Counsel and look forward to supporting Vivian and her colleagues in 2021 and beyond.

www.seyfarth.com

By Zach Baliva

Julia Ulrich remembers when everything changed. In the fall of 2017, she was well into a promising career at AIG. After leaving private practice at an international law firm, she began at AIG as in-house bad faith counsel and was promoted to assistant vice president in the coverage unit of the claims department, then again to a vice president role. Things were looking good. But Ulrich had been concealing a secret—she was pregnant and afraid of how the news might alter her trajectory. In October, Ulrich’s son entered the world just as the #MeToo movement caught on.

Suddenly, Ulrich was balancing the needs of a small baby with the challenges of a demanding job. As she

tried to make her colleagues forget she was a new mother, she watched brave women on the news and social media confront injustices.

In the fall of 2018, just before her son turned one, something inside her shifted. The once reserved professional had an epiphany. “I realized I had been sitting silently on the sidelines for far too long,” she says, even though she had experienced and observed injustices aimed at women in the workplace prior to joining AIG. That’s when Ulrich felt empowered—and obligated—to start using her voice to “be the change,” regardless of how big or small that change might be.

Although her experience at AIG had always been extremely positive, it was ingrained in Ulrich to fear the stigma

Julia Ulrich smashes stigmas surrounding working moms and uses her position at AIG to advocate for women at both work and home

Notes to My Younger Self

Julia Ulrich graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she was an executive board member of the Connecticut Moot Court Board and an associate editor of the Connecticut Insurance Law Journal. While she's spent the last several years strengthening her position in the workplace, there are a few bits of wisdom she wishes she’d known as a first-year law student:

• Your voice matters, your ideas matter, your opinions matter. Be willing to raise your hand and speak up in class and in meetings. Be confident in your contributions to the conversation.

• Your questions aren’t stupid. Everyone needs to learn, and asking questions is part of the process.

• It's OK to love being a lawyer and a mother. And it’s acceptable to request the space you need, both at work and at home, to excel at both.

• Advocate for yourself. Advocate for others.

• You belong at the table. And when you get there, pull up a chair for the next person who deserves one.

Julia Ulrich Associate General Counsel, Litigation AIG

Albert Barrueco

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associated with being a working mother. “Women often get written off the moment they become pregnant, especially in the legal profession,” she says. “It’s an open secret what it might do to our careers.” A close friend of Ulrich’s in the industry had her big cases reassigned the very day she announced her pregnancy.

That’s why Ulrich chose to delay having children with her husband, also an attorney, until her career was firmly established. By the end of her first year as a parent, however, she’d made it her personal mission to smash the stereotype of the checked-out working mom. “I have the same career ambition I’ve always had,” Ulrich says, but notes that working mothers often have to work extra hard to prove that.

For Ulrich, the key to doing both her full-time jobs well is setting boundaries that create the time and space to be present—as a parent and an attorney. She’s no longer afraid to tell people that a proposed meeting time falls outside her childcare hours or that a potential mediation date conflicts with the first days of school. When she needs to rejigger her personal schedule for work, however, she does so without hesitation.

Beyond the complicated logistics, Ulrich has accepted that she might not feel like a great mother every day, and she might not feel like a great lawyer every day. “You just have to make peace with that and keep moving forward,” she says. “Tomorrow will bring another chance to be great.”

At AIG, Ulrich manages a team of five assistant general counsel. Together, they oversee a docket of domestic and international insurance coverage litigation filed by and against various AIG member companies. They also give insurance coverage advice to different claim groups within

the company, whose fifty thousand employees provide insurance products and related services in more than eighty countries. Ulrich loves the work, which she describes as complex, nuanced, and challenging.

“Julia is tremendous at what she does and works tirelessly to reach the best solution, all while balancing the challenges of motherhood as a working parent,” affirms Robert Lewin, partner and cochair of the Insurance and Reinsurance Group at Stroock. “She’s a deep thinker and is superb at analyzing complex issues and strategies in cases. It’s a true privilege to work alongside her and see her excel.”

Jim Hallowell, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, also speaks highly of Ulrich. “Collaborating with Julia on significant matters for AIG is a pleasure. She brings out the best in everyone, is always at the top of her game, and never loses sight of the big picture.”

I REALIZED I HAD BEEN SITTING SILENTLY ON THE SIDELINES FOR FAR TOO LONG.”

WIN OR LOSE, I TRY, AND THAT GIVES ME SOME CONTROL OVER SHAPING THE NARRATIVE OF MY LIFE AND CAREER.”

And Elizabeth Ahlstrand, an equity partner of Gfeller Laurie, a boutique litigation law firm that serves as outside counsel for AIG throughout the Northeast, says, “What sets Julia apart from other female leaders within the insurance industry is her endless drive to challenge young talent to do and be better and to embrace both career and family with tenacity and humor.” A fellow working mom, Ahlstrand has been Ulrich’s friend and colleague for nearly twenty years.

In 2018, Ulrich started advocating for herself, her team, and women at large. Sometimes, she asked for small concessions at home. Other times, she advocated up her management chain on behalf of her team—and herself— about job grading and compensation. She started paying close attention to how the law firms they hired treated women and raising those issues internally when deciding who should represent the company. A few times, she advocated to add new full-time employees to her team to lighten the load of her existing reports.

Shortly after Ulrich's son was born, AIG Deputy General Counsel and Head of Litigation Michael Leahy selected Ulrich to be a key part of a corporate restructuring and moved her and others into the corporate litigation department. There, she began reporting to Deputy General Counsel for General Insurance Eric Manne while

continuing to work closely with her colleagues in the claims organization, utilizing the expertise and relationships she had developed in that group.

Leahy and Manne invited Ulrich to make a business case for each issue she wanted to address as they built out the new department. Then they helped champion the causes she raised to get them over the finish line. When their collective lobbying helped secure approval for Ulrich’s first new hire, she enthusiastically hired a mother of two whose youngest was five months old.

Ulrich tries to reduce her team’s stress by showing them compassion and flexibility. Even before the pandemic, when one employee with a young family tried to resign to move out of state, Ulrich and Manne allowed him to work remotely so he could stay with AIG. On a smaller scale, for one employee who had two small children at home for much of the pandemic, Ulrich tried not to move meetings at the last minute, ended meetings on time, and never called during the little one’s lunch.

According to Ulrich, this culture of flexibility starts at the top. “The leadership at AIG has been so supportive of their employees during this time,” Ulrich says. And with regard to her direct management chain, “they allow me to be a better manager because they give me the support and flexibility to make the right decisions for my team.”

Women in the organization remember a top-ten list Ulrich presented at a meeting for the corporate litigation department’s outside counsel in late 2019. She closed the meeting with ten tips for success when working with AIG. After talking about company culture, expectations, and values, she ended with a tip about avoiding last-minute “surprises.”

After showing her overbooked calendars to demonstrate the hardships these surprises can cause, she explained that those calendars didn’t even account for her obligations to the big boss. That’s when she put a picture of her two-year-old son on the screen. “That’s the big boss,” she said. “And when I’m doing our work on his watch, he’s not interested in our excuses.”

The line got a big laugh, but for Ulrich, there were important messages in the carefully crafted final slide. Ulrich has a reputation for being extremely dedicated to her job. She seized the opportunity to “smash the stigma” and remind the standingroom-only audience that the most dedicated among them include mothers of young children.

She also wanted to gently remind their outside counsel that many AIG lawyers have “jobs” and “bosses” outside the workplace. Finally, she wanted to inspire the women among them not to play by the old rules—the ones that said women weren’t supposed

to be mothers at work. Not all that long ago, Ulrich had played by those rules but no more. A woman Ulrich had never met approached her after the meeting, grateful that Ulrich purposefully used her platform to make a difference for all working moms.

Nearly four years after the birth of her son, Ulrich says it feels good to be using her voice at home, in the community, and in her workplace. “I’m speaking without fear,” she says. “Win or lose, I try, and that gives me some control over shaping the narrative of my life and career.”

But her goals for change extend far beyond herself. Just last month, a junior lawyer at AIG announced she was pregnant. Ulrich emailed her immediately with a message: “We can be outstanding attorneys and outstanding mothers at the same time.” That message, it turned out, was just what her colleague needed to hear. Ulrich might never know the full impact her words will make, but she hopes they reach women struggling to find their own voice or make it all work, at AIG and beyond.

Julia Ulrich Associate General Counsel for Litigation

We salute our friend and client JULIA ULRICH on this well-deser ved recognition by Modern Counsel, and we celebrate Julia’s VISIONARY LEADERSHIP as A ssociate General Counsel for Litigation at AIG.

Good People. Great Results. INN VATING since 1876.

Morgan Gower of Public Storage followed her strengths and her role models into the law, buttressed by the steady encouragement of her parents

By Donald Liebenson

From Public Storage Senior Corporate and Litigation Counsel

Morgan Gower’s early years, her career path was certain—at least to her parents.

“My parents joked that I would be a great lawyer because I was always arguing my point and advocating for myself,” Gower says with a laugh. “I was always persuasive, so while there was no one official a-ha moment that made me want to pursue being a lawyer, I do remember thinking, ‘You mean I get to argue for a living?’”

Founded in 1972, Public Storage has grown into the nation’s largest self-storage provider, with 2,600 facilities in the United States and upward of 1.5 million customers.

Gower oversees active litigation matters, provides business consulting to cross-functional teams—including IT and HR—and ensures compliance with data privacy laws and COVID-19 orders.

A native of Altadena, a small town north of Los Angeles, Gower is the daughter of accountants. Her passion for the law came more from the news and history than television. Of all the series about lawyers, very few had women at their center to inspire her. “Every summer, my great aunt would come and stay with us,” Gower recalls. “She loved Perry Mason and Matlock , so I did watch those shows with her.”

She had good role models growing up, she says. “My father instilled a great work ethic in me. He would never let me stay home sick from school,” she says. He supported her career ambitions (her sister, too, is a lawyer). “He was CFO for a real estate company and he had great respect for the attorneys he worked with,” she says.

Another key person in her life was Karen Corman, whose children Gower babysat while she attended UCLA. “Karen is a partner at Skadden, one of the best law firms in the world,” Gower says. “But she is also a mom of two. She showed me it is possible to have a successful legal career and a family— it doesn’t have to be one or the other. It can be challenging, but it is also very rewarding.”

Gower also admired Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg. “Justices O’Connor and Ginsberg, and countless other women, paved the way for me. Today I work in a legal department that comprises a majority of women. I recently overheard my five-year-old tell my six-year-old, ‘Only girls can be lawyers!’ We’ve come a long way!”

History was her favorite subject in school. Political figures with legal minds, such as Abraham Lincoln, were of particular fascination. “Lawyers sometimes get a bum rap,” Gower says, “but it is an important and honorable profession. We serve our clients and society at large; we uphold and protect the law and promote fairness and justice.”

Prior to going to Public Storage, Gower was a litigator. After spending almost her entire career doing defense work, she spent a year working for a firm that represented plaintiffs who had suffered catastrophic injuries.

“That was really rewarding,” she says. “I had a client who was badly injured in a car accident. Prior to arbitration, the insurance company offered my client $15,000, which we rejected. I arbitrated the case and was able to secure a $235,000 award for my client.

He told me it would change his life, and he sent me a handwritten note and some collectible coins for my children to thank me.

“Another client knitted a sweater for my daughter to thank me for obtaining a favorable settlement for her after she was injured when she tripped and fell in a cemetery,” Gower adds. “Those were proud and touching moments for me.”

Gower joined Public Storage in 2018. It was too good an offer to pass up, she says—so good that she sent in

her résumé the night before her third daughter was born.

Working in-house, she says, is “the best move I made. What I love best is learning how a business is run and getting the opportunity to see how decisions are made. You don’t get that exposure as a litigator.”

Public Storage has helped her develop new skills and areas of expertise, she says. “Data privacy was a new area of the law for me. General Counsel Nathan Vitan has encouraged and supported me in my pursuit to become our

Morgan Gower Senior Corporate & Litigation Counsel Public Storage

in-house data privacy and cybersecurity expert, for example, by allowing me to attend presentations and to form a strong working relationship with outside counsel. I’m grateful for the investment in my career and that he trusts me with this important and dynamic area of the law.”

As the country begins to open up, Gower has started coming into the office several days a week—a change after fifteen months of working remotely. “It’s important for me to get out of the house and return to a sense of normalcy,” she says.

Gower says she is also trying to be back into a fitness routine after a fifteen-month hiatus from her gym. She does some community work and coaches American Youth Soccer Organization soccer for her children, aged six, five, and three.

What Gower likes best about her job are the intellectual challenges and the collaborative work environment. Public Storage, she says, promotes a positive work/life balance

and throughout the pandemic was very supportive of its employees.

“They provided resources to working parents, like help with childcare,” she says. “They were empathetic and understanding of the new challenges the pandemic posed to their employees, especially working parents, [as shown by] the time I attended a mediation (via Zoom) and my five-year-old walked into the room and wanted to meet everyone in the mediation. It made everyone, even opposing counsel, laugh, and we were able to settle the case!”

Weycer, Kaplan, Pulaski & Zuber, P.C.: “I believe the key to a successful in-house/ outside counsel relationship is trust and openness in both directions. Ms. Gower exemplifies those traits and is a joy to work with.”

–Murphy Klasing, Shareholder/Partner

I RECENTLY OVERHEARD MY FIVE-YEAROLD TELL MY SIX-YEAR-OLD, ‘ONLY GIRLS CAN BE LAWYERS!’ WE’VE COME A LONG WAY!”

Vineeta Bonthala keeps calm under pressure at BMO Harris Bank, where she has spent a decade delving into corporate governance matters in a fast-paced environment

By Donald Liebenson

Vineeta Bonthala VP and Senior Counsel BMO

Vineeta Bonthala is entering her second decade as vice president and senior counsel at BMO Harris Bank. If it were up to her parents, she would have followed them into the medical profession. “Both were doctors,” says the Toledo, Ohio, native, “and I started in premed, as good Indian children do. But I really enjoyed my college history classes; I loved the reading, research, and writing. And much to my parents’ dismay (but ultimately their support), I got off the premed track.”

When Bonthala graduated, she announced her plan to move to New York, where she “stumbled upon a great position” as a paralegal in a small firm, Richards Spears Kibbe & Orbe (now part of Crowell & Moring). The position focused on fast-paced distressed debt transactions, and her career path was set.

“I did a lot more substantive legal work than I might have otherwise at a larger firm,” she says. “I was in the loop with distressed debt transactions and worked hand in hand with clients and senior partners. It motivated me to go to

Harris Bank

An Active Giver

“Several loved ones have dealt with cancer,” Vineeta Bonthala says of her decision to run a number of half marathons on behalf of the American Cancer Society. “Most significantly, my nine-year-old nephew, who was diagnosed with leukemia when he was two. The organization has been very meaningful to me, and I wanted to give back.”

Another way Bonthala gives back is volunteering with Apna Ghar, an organization that provides support for survivors of gender-based violence. “They have the ability to provide assistance in more than thirty languages,” she says. “It hits home with me; I worked on the rape and sexual assault hotline in college and was a women’s studies major.”

law school to become a transactional lawyer because I loved the adrenaline. I was doing small, fast-moving transactions with few documents. Some days, I was closing twenty-five transactions. It was awesome.”

Upon graduating from the University of Michigan Law School, Bonthala and her future husband returned to New York, where she gained experience as a general corporate attorney at Kelley Drye & Warren. But the Midwest beckoned, and the couple opted to settle in Chicago. She spent four years at Winston & Strawn, where she continued her work in general corporate work.

A new position at BMO Harris Bank offered her the opportunity to become an in-house counsel.

“I was interested in seeing client work from the inside,” she says. “I have been there for ten years; it seems like yesterday [that I started here].”

Bonthala’s primary role is helping manage and facilitate board meetings for the Bank of Montreal’s US holding company and its banking entity. That involves everything from drafting the agenda and the governance documents to making sure participants are scheduled and present at the meetings and that the tech-

nology is functioning. She also takes minutes on the meetings that serve as a resource for the company directors and executives.

“We do everything you can imagine,” she says, “the nitty-gritty. It’s legal as well as events planning. Most people have no idea how much work goes into running board meetings. There is a lot of substantive and organizational work that goes unseen.”

And it provides the adrenaline she still loves. One of the secrets to her success is her ability to remain calm while making sure the meetings run smoothly and productively. She attributes this to her experience as an athlete.

“Through college, I played basketball and field hockey,” Bonthala says. “Competing in neck-to-neck competition, being a leader on the court and field, I learned how to stay calm under pressure. I would say my paralegal and transactional attorney experiences reinforced that as well. You had to be there for the client, get your work done, and keep those around you calm.

“What I really enjoy,” she continues, “is the top-down view of the organization. We get the benefit of seeing how the executives and the board look at the entity. We touch on everything in

the meetings, which to me is invaluable. I love working with our executives and board members, and I learn from all of them.”

Bonthala is the right-hand woman to her manager, who leads a team of five. She serves as a resource to others on the team, who look to her for direction regarding work issues. She describes her leadership style as holistic. “It’s important to be a leader to the whole person, professional and personal,” she explains. “I always remember that everyone has their own challenges and struggles that may not be evident.”

She considers herself lucky to have had a lot of “great mentors,” starting with her parents. “They were immigrants from India and have always been selfless and worked hard. They always taught us the importance of working hard but also prioritizing family.” Since Bonthala’s mother passed away in the spring of 2021, “I’ve reflected on the unspoken leadership that she provided for us,” she says.

On the home front, Bonthala has been married for sixteen years. The couple has three active boys, aged twelve, ten, and six, as well as what she calls a “pandemic puppy.” “It’s about as chaotic as you can imagine,” she says with a laugh.

Bonthala enters her second decade at BMO Harris filled with anticipation.

“BMO Harris is such a great cornerstone of Chicago, and there are exciting times ahead, including our new tower going up in the West Loop. The company already has such great initiatives in place for sustainability and community development. I look forward to being a part of all those initiatives and developing my skills.”

And of course, keeping that adrenaline flowing.

COMPETING IN NECK-TO-NECK COMPETITION, BEING A LEADER ON THE COURT AND FIELD, I LEARNED HOW TO STAY CALM UNDER PRESSURE.”

As assistant general counsel for labor and employment, litigation, and sensing technologies at industrial technology company Fortive, Michael Fleischer makes a point of advocating for the organization’s operating companies and championing Fortive’s employee-first approach to COVID-19. However, his first brush with advocacy came long before he channeled his passion into a career in law.

“I was born severely to profoundly deaf,” Fleischer begins. “I was really fortunate in that I got my hearing when I was two years old. However, I had a lot of language delays growing up. By the time I got to elementary school, those delays had been diagnosed as learning disabilities.”

In those early years, Fleischer’s parents took it upon themselves to advocate for him—and to teach him how to advocate for himself. More than simply speaking up for their son, they helped him find his voice. Fleischer

identified the specific learning styles that worked best for him. He also started sitting in on parent-teacher conferences and individualized education program (IEP) meetings to have a say in those conversations.

That lesson has informed Fleischer’s life and career ever since.

In addition to his day-to-day in-house legal duties, he has played an active part in shaping Fortive’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, he continues to support students with disabilities, as he has done since his own days in the classroom.

In seventh grade, Fleischer started attending weekend conferences put on by the Learning Disabilities Association of Massachusetts (LDAM). “LDAM had programming for kids,” he explains. “All of a sudden, I was meeting people who had similar learning challenges. I realized that I wasn’t alone.”

Fleischer went on to write an article for LDAM’s quarterly news-

From inspiring his peers as an advocate for students with disabilities to coleading Fortive’s COVID-19 response team, Michael Fleischer always speaks up for—and gives back to—others

By Natalie Kochanov

letter to offer a student’s perspective on navigating learning disabilities (which was later republished as part of a book) and began serving as a student speaker for LDAM. He extended his impact in college at the University of Pennsylvania by serving as the undergraduate representative on a committee tasked to review and provide recommendations to improve services for students with disabilities.

After graduating, Fleischer took a job in the civil rights division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. The role opened his eyes to the possibilities of advocating for others as an attorney. He completed law school, then honed his understanding of labor and employment law at a firm before joining Fortive in 2018.

Today, Fleischer advises Fortive on global labor and employment matters, manages litigation, and serves as a cotrainer for Fortive’s internal investigations training program. Furthermore, in July 2021, he took on an expanded

legal role that includes serving as assistant general counsel for the company’s sensing technologies group—a role that demands even broader legal and compliance expertise. “It’s going to be a learning curve, but I’m excited for it,” Fleischer says. “I’m lucky to be at a company that is centered around innovation, continuous improvement, and inclusion.”

Likewise, Fleischer feels fortunate to have contributed to Fortive’s multidisciplinary COVID-19 response team, which hit the ground running in February 2020. “We immediately instituted a policy where, if an employee had COVID symptoms or tested positive, we would provide them with administrative paid leave during their quarantine period to ensure they had financial stability during an otherwise unstable time,” Fleischer confirms. “It was critical to us to make sure that we always put the health and safety of our employees first and that we had our employees’ trust.”

Fleischer’s advocacy background has translated well to the COVID response team, of which he has been coleader since September 2020. “It’s been the biggest privilege of my career to be a part of this amazing Fortive team that has worked tirelessly since the start of COVID to help keep our people safe. We still have challenges ahead, but I know we’ve got the resolve and commitment to overcome them,” he says.

As he continues to look out for employees at Fortive, Fleischer has no plans to slow down his external advocacy efforts. He currently sits on the board of directors for Massachusetts Advocates for Children, a nonprofit that has led the charge in special education advocacy across the state since its formation in the late 1960s. “This organization has been at the forefront of getting laws passed to protect students’ educational rights,” Fleischer says. “I’m a by-product of that legislation, so it’s a tremendous honor to be on their board.”

In addition, Fleischer plans to resume his duties as a volunteer special education surrogate parent through the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Of his multiyear past involvement, he says, “This program is very special to me. There are students out there who have no parents or legal guardians and need an advocate. Someone to attend their parent-teacher conferences, make sure that their IEPs are followed, and teach them self-advocacy.”

Just as his parents once instilled the importance of advocacy in him, Fleischer in turn, passes down his advice and knowledge to the next generation––to prepare them to speak up for themselves.

IT’S BEEN THE BIGGEST PRIVILEGE OF MY CAREER TO BE A PART OF THIS AMAZING FORTIVE TEAM THAT HAS WORKED TIRELESSLY SINCE THE START OF COVID TO HELP KEEP OUR PEOPLE SAFE. WE STILL HAVE CHALLENGES AHEAD, BUT I KNOW WE’VE GOT THE RESOLVE AND COMMITMENT TO OVERCOME THEM.”

Michael Fleischer Assistant General Counsel for Labor & Employment, Litigation, and Sensing Technologies Fortive

Savalle Sims taps into a lifelong love of television to keep Discovery at the forefront of streaming

By Donald Liebenson

When Savalle Sims was young, her mother had a nickname for her: Perry Mason.

It wasn’t just because Sims loved watching the classic TV series and the iconic courtroom litigator embodied by Raymond Burr. It was also, she says with a laugh, because, as a kid, “I did like to argue.”

Law was initially not on her radar. Sims grew up wanting to be a physician. “But I came to the realization that I didn’t think that I had the math and science skills necessary to make it over the finish line,” she says. “I decided the law was an area I could help people and problem-solve and make some measure of a difference.” She made the decision in her junior year at Syracuse University and attended Notre Dame Law School.

As general counsel for Discovery, Sims makes a major impact leading the entertainment giant’s global legal teams and helping the company navigate its most ambitious initiative—the January 2021 launch of the discovery+ streaming service. Discovery, the most-watched

THERE IS A LOT OF GREAT CONTENT OUT THERE. DISCOVERY WILL CONTINUE TO SERVE CONSUMERS AND MEET THEM WHERE THEY ARE, ANYWHERE AND ANYTIME THEY WANT TO VIEW OUR CONTENT.”

Savalle Sims General Counsel Discovery

group of pay-TV networks in 2021’s second quarter, carries the leading channels in nonfiction television, including Animal Planet, the Food Network, HGTV, Investigation Discovery, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), TLC, the Travel Channel, and others.

Her role, Sims says, is leading her team in global support of Discovery, which includes privacy and data protection, contractual arrangements, and the commercial arrangements forged with various third parties to support discovery+’s launch.

Sims feels right at home at Discovery. “I’ve loved television all my life,” she says. “I have eclectic viewing habits. I watched a lot of Fred Astaire and Elizabeth Taylor movies, and in the ’80s, I watched the nighttime soaps, like Dallas, Dynasty, and Falcon Crest. I was a big fan of Columbo, Charlie’s Angels, and the original Wonder Woman series with Lynda Carter, along with The Bionic Woman .”

What those series have in common are empowered women, and Sims relishes guiding her team to keep Discov-

INSPIRATION

ery at the forefront of streaming. “There will continue to be new entrants and additional competition in the streaming marketplace,” she says. “There is a lot of great content out there. Discovery will continue to serve consumers and meet them where they are, anywhere and anytime they want to view our content.”

“It’s a privilege to work with Savalle and her outstanding team at Discovery,” says Arent Fox Chair Anthony V. Lupo. “She is a top legal talent and fantastic leader with an incredible business acumen. Savalle is one of the reasons why Discovery will remain the global leader in real-life entertainment.”

Sims was born in Washington, DC, in 1970 and grew up primarily in the Maryland area before her parents moved to Illinois, where she lived in the Chicago suburb of Northbrook.

Making a difference was a core value instilled in her by her parents, both South Carolina natives. Her father was active in the civil rights movement in the 1960s and took part in lunch counter demonstrations. Her mother’s parents were also involved in the struggle.

THE COMPANY’S VALUES, BRINGING

THROUGH ENTERTAINMENT, CERTAINLY ALIGNED WITH MY OWN PERSONAL ETHOS. IT’S BEEN FAR MORE REWARDING THAN I EVER EXPECTED.”

With palpable pride, Sims mentions the March 2021 installation of a historic marker and stone monument commemorating a 1961 protest in which two hundred demonstrators gathered at the South Carolina State House in Columbia to protest segregation. Her father’s is one of the names carved in that monument, she says.

Continuing her family’s tradition of dedication to making a difference, Sims serves on the board of New York Lawyers Alliance, a nonprofit organization that provides legal services to communities in need. Another priority outside work is her family; she and her husband have been married for twenty-seven years and have three children.

Sims came to Discovery in 2011 after a decade-long stint at Arent Fox in Washington, DC, where she was a partner in the commercial litigation department. Discovery was, and remains, one of the law firm’s clients.

“I learned they were looking for a lawyer to head up global litigation and intellectual property,” Sims says. “It didn’t occur to me to pursue a career in-house. As I was a commercial litigator, I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to actively engage in the law in the same way I did in private practice. I was also worried that, as a partner, I wouldn’t have the same autonomy or responsibility.

“Meeting with [Chief Development, Distribution, and Legal Officer] Bruce Campbell allayed all those concerns. I knew it would be a good fit. The company’s values, bringing inspiration through entertainment, certainly aligned with my own personal ethos,” she continues. “It’s been far more rewarding than

Weil is proud to partner with Savalle Sims and the rest of the Discovery legal team and congratulates her on this well-deserved recognition in Modern Counsel

Practical Counsel. Unique Insight.

I ever expected. It’s challenged me in different ways, and I’ve enjoyed the experience immensely.”

Sims leads a team of 140 people who are spread across twenty offices worldwide, with the largest concentrations in New York, Poland, and the United Kingdom. She calls them “talented, hardworking, and scrappy.”

As a team leader, Sims describes her leadership style as “collaborative and decisive.” She takes to heart advice from her father, who told her that she needed only three things in life to be successful: you have to show up, be on time, and come prepared.

Prior to the pandemic, Sims was “a big fan” of traveling to interact with her colleagues. “Having that kind of connectivity,” she says, “you learn more organically about issues and how our team can contribute. In-person interaction builds relationships.”

Team meetings continued during the pandemic, she says, but she does miss the face-to face interactions. “I leaned on that goodwill and relationships (we had developed) to get through COVID,” she says. “Many of my team members were in tough situations in lockdown for extended periods of times, but they delivered great legal service for the company.”

Arent Fox is proud to work with the Discovery legal team and congratulates Savalle Sims for this welldeserved recognition of their work and principled leadership.

By Billy Yost

Joan Aristei came to Oportun in 2014, after having been a leader in the legal teams of some of the most well-known names in financial services. Aristei spent nearly eight years at JPMorgan Chase and four more at CitiBank, and she also worked at Toyota Financial Services. She describes her previous experiences as having set the ground for her to be a well-rounded corporate attorney who specializes in legal compliance, privacy, and other complex legal and business endeavors.

When she arrived at Oportun, Aristei found an organization that was transitioning from a start-up to becoming a well-established and reputable business. This would also apply to the legal team, which she explains “was a barebones legal department and I knew this would be a great opportunity for me to build a team from the bottom up.” Aristei spent a handful of years as VP of regulatory legal and compliance and then chief compliance officer roles prior to ascending to her current role as the

Joan Aristei on building a truly diverse legal team at Oportun and what she looks for in new recruits

Joan Aristei General Counsel and Chief Risk Officer Oportun

company’s general counsel and chief risk officer.

“I was brought in to scale the compliance function and quickly realized that we had no regulatory legal, we had no compliance, and we had no risk management function,” the GC says, laughing. “I just offered to do all three.”

A Different Kind of Diversity Initiative

Aristei’s initial legal team was a relative rarity in corporate law, let alone private practice. “It just so happened that all the leaders were women,” the GC says. “It wasn’t that way by design, but I do think diversity of thought and experience are very important.”

As Aristei slowly grew her team, she also realized that cultural diversity was an important factor she needed to address.

“One of the things that helps drive diversity at Oportun is the fact that we originally started out almost exclusively catering to the Latinx community,” the GC

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT CONSCIOUSLY RECRUITING PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS. YOU ALSO NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE CREATED AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE THEY CAN THRIVE AND DEVELOP.”

explains. “When I started, we had a lot of materials that were only for Spanish-speaking customers. I needed to hire bilingual lawyers immediately, and I’m proud to say that our legal team today is a reflection our broader customer base.”

In a national legal landscape whose reputation still may be described in two words—white and male—Aristei’s approach to diversity and inclusion was a breath of fresh air. She also accounted for an important aspect that legal leaders don’t always factor in when hiring new team members—the different mind frame that exists between a law firm and an in-house attorney. As the general counsel puts it, “I spent exactly one year in a law firm before decided that tolerating the hyperaggressive and literally smoke-blowing senior attorneys yelling orders at me was no way to spend or further my career.”

Aristei’s previous experience would serve her well in building the legal team at Oportun. She recruited former colleagues from both JPMorgan Chase as well as CitiBank. And her experience at Toyota Financial, would help her hone in on what type of experience she was looking for in future team members.

Developing Leaders

“It is not enough to build a diverse corporate legal team," Joan Aristei explains. "The real challenge lies in training and developing them to be leaders.

“The transition from a law firm to being in-house can be a difficult one. You have to lay a solid foundation so they can be more creative in their legal approach and understand that we all have one goal— to serve the business.

“There’s a clear leadership path that you have to lay for members of your team, and it starts with a creative legal approach to making young lawyers understand that you are an in-house counsel and accountable to a business. Many lawyers think of their career in terms of hierarchy, and you have to teach them that working in-house is a meritocracy.”

“Toyota taught me that you don’t just need to know the financial part of the work; you need to understand the business,” the GC says. “That’s one key I look for in finding good in-house counsel. You have to understand that you are here to be a good business partner and that you need to roll up your sleeves and figure out how you can do what the business needs to get done in a compliant and legal way. My team are willing partners who help the business achieve their objectives.”

Recruitment, Retention, and Creating the Right Environment to Thrive

Aristei believes that direct intent is the only way to truly make progress when it comes to creating a diverse team.

“It’s not just about consciously recruiting people from different backgrounds,” Aristei explains. “You also need to make sure that you have created an environment where they can thrive and develop.”

That means assisting with candidates’ transition into a new organization, making sure that they have a means to make their voices heard, and ensuring development

opportunities for them to rise in their careers.

Early in her tenure, Aristei made sure that team members were attending networking events, going to seminars, and receiving coaching from more senior attorneys, including herself. “It’s much easier to create this culture from our little legal department,” the GC says. Even so, the legal team undoubtedly provided the groundwork for wider business efforts on the diversity and career development fronts.

While Oportun continues its own evolution, Aristei says the pandemic has helped shine a light on the issues of so many working mothers and caregivers across the corporate world.

“For the primary caregivers of families, this was an especially difficult time being at home, when the work simply never stopped,” the GC says. “I had to become very strict with my team about drawing boundaries for themselves and sticking to them. The pandemic was a very difficult time, and we all could have worked 24/7, but you have to learn to take the time you need for you. Those boundaries may shift over different periods of your life, but you have to learn to draw them.”

I HAD TO BECOME VERY STRICT WITH MY TEAM ABOUT DRAWING BOUNDARIES FOR THEMSELVES AND STICKING TO THEM.”

Lead

Portraits of today’s top legal executives, the remarkable careers they have cultivated, and the management strategies and best practices they employ to succeed both individually and collaboratively

Finding Strength in Vulnerability

Kelly Mandish has a range of responsibilities at Netflix, but recently, she’s focused on increasing emotional transparency at the company and examining her own allyship

By Dan Caffrey

REGARDLESS OF WHAT TYPE OF COMPANY they work for, most in-house employment counsel have had to navigate a slew of new and unique legal considerations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether keeping track of ever-evolving health regulations or negotiating an executive hire or termination over Zoom, employment lawyers everywhere have been tasked with finding fresh ways of putting their legal expertise to work.

Kelly Mandish, director for global employment law at Netflix, is no different. One of her latest projects for the streaming giant involves monitoring the accessibility of vaccinations to employees and cast/crew and the de-escalation of safety protocols in more than twenty-five countries around the world. But perhaps her most important workplace skill to emerge during the pandemic came from a

place that had little to do with law—at least on the surface.

“This time has been challenging for us all professionally and personally,” Mandish says. “As a mom, I recognize the day-to-day personal struggles that we’re dealing with because I’ve had to manage these struggles in my own family. I'm always asking my team members, ‘How are you doing?’ And when I ask that, I really mean it. They know I mean it because I also tell them how I'm doing. Just like everyone else, I have some days where I'm not doing as well.”

Mandish believes that sharing this kind of vulnerability and emotional transparency with her team isn’t just

good for everyone’s collective mental health—it also results in sharper problem-solving. As she explains, the big-picture approach to any legal matter on her team at Netflix is twofold: first, to pinpoint the problem the team is trying to solve, and second, to determine what solution is going to be best for the company. When her team has clarity on what’s going on in their own lives—as well as a space where they support each other and can safely share their individual experiences—it becomes that much easier to creatively solve whatever issues need solving on the legal end.

“Once we get everything out there, it’s easier to focus on the issue at hand

and not get distracted by whatever’s pulling at our mind or our heart,” Mandish says.

Another priority for Mandish over the past year didn’t stem directly from the pandemic itself but the increased awareness around racial inequity and violence.

“This past year my eyes have really been opened to what Black, Indigenous, and people of color have been experiencing for generations,” she says. “This has caused me to self-reflect on my own journey as a woman with privilege and think about my role in all this. What can I do to be an ally to my Black, Indigenous, and POC friends, colleagues, and loved ones?”

As Mandish began examining her own allyship, she reached out to Netflix’s pro bono committee in LA for the first time since she was hired nearly seven years ago. She ended up joining the working group that developed a partnership between Netflix and the legal and civics education program Street Law. This resulted in sixty-five volunteers from Netflix embarking on a three-week virtual program teaching legal life skills to more than seventy-five students from two high schools in local communities of color in Oakland and LA. The experience has given Mandish insight into the lives of students whose stories are very different from her own.

She’s also become heavily involved with Limitless Horizons Ixil (LHI), a nonprofit with the mission of educating and supporting young students, particularly girls, in a remote Indigenous community in Guatemala. A village that has been torn apart by genocide, Chajul has been in need of local leadership and organizational capacity to empower its people, which is where LHI comes in. Since its founding in

Kelly Mandish Director for Global Employment Law Netflix

bakermckenzie.com

2004, the organization has made significant progress in broadening access to education for hundreds of students, primarily Chajul’s girls. Mandish sits on the board of directors, lending her passion and legal expertise to the development of a brand-new school catering to girls and young women in the community. Construction broke ground in February 2021, and Mandish reports that they hope to have the school opened in January 2022.

Mandish hopes to visit Chajul with her own daughter, but she points out that while the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be under control in the United States, that isn’t the case everywhere. At the time of publication, new cases remained high in Guatemala; the country’s vaccination rate is one of the slowest in Central America. Not everyone’s experience matches our own, Mandish points out.

It’s an outlook that she wants to make sure she carries into the future as Netflix’s work environment returns to normalcy in the US, especially considering that Mandish’s eight-person legal team is based all around the world. She also aims to continue to foster a high level of emotional transparency for her team.

“Before COVID, I used to travel quarterly to visit my team members, who I now haven't seen in eighteen months,” Mandish says. “I miss that, but I also feel like we've now seen sides of each other we may never have seen outside the pandemic. We've seen the insides of our homes. We've seen our kids, spouses, and pets. I do think that's a silver lining. We're closer than ever because we’ve been more vulnerable with each other and really trusted each other with who we are.”

We are delighted to have the opportunity to celebrate this recognition of our friend and colleague Kelly Mandish and value her partnership with us since joining Netflix.

Ranked Band One by Chambers Global for Employment

A Holistic Approach

By Billy Yost

THE SUMMER AFTER HER SOPHOMORE YEAR AT Princeton, Gail Zarick was doing engineering research work in a professor’s lab for the summer when he asked why she’d joined Army ROTC. He believed that extracurricular work was just a distraction from learning the technical skills of engineering; from his perspective, Zarick says, the goal was to be the best you can be at one particular thing, and the rest doesn’t matter.

Zarick believed, though, that developing leadership skills and a broader perspective on the world would be relevant to her career. “I was willing to go out of my comfort zone and join the Army to build those skills,” she says.

It was the right move for her, and for the last twenty-one years, Zarick has worked for IBM as IP counsel—a position that allows her to use not only her training in mechanical and aerospace engineering and her expertise in intellectual property law but also the wide variety of skills she gained before joining IBM.

After college, Zarick went on to complete a threeyear active duty tour as an officer in the US Army Ordnance Corps, a branch that provides weapons and logistical support for the rest of the Army. She remembers noticing the incredible diversity of the people she worked with there.

Gail Zarick has always sought a broader perspective. She now uses the knowledge she’s acquired to empower others, both at IBM and outside of work.

“It really helped broaden my perspective and see all of the strengths that [diversity] brings,” she says. The biggest lessons she learned during her time in the Army, though, were about leadership: not only doing the right thing but learning to speak up and empower others to do the right thing as well.

Zarick then worked as an engineer for a few years before deciding to become a lawyer. “One of the reasons I decided to become an engineer is that I was fascinated by the impact of technology on society, and I wanted to be a part of that,” she says. “When I made the decision to go to law school, the motivation was the same. Technological innovations have a huge impact on the world, and the law plays an important role in the middle of that.”

That’s made her a perfect fit at IBM, an organization known worldwide for seeking the best and the brightest to advance its technological innovations. Zarick spent several years of her career with the company at IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York.

“I was providing support to clients who were researchers from all around the world,” Zarick says. “Every day, I was encountering amazing ideas and brilliant people, and the diversity of experience and people really resonated with me in that environment.”

Innovation and how it influences society is a fundamental interest of Zarick’s and one that often guides her in what she decides to do next. Several years ago, she noticed that cybersecu-

rity issues were becoming a major issue in the world and asked senior management if she could support a new division of IBM: a security division that helps organizations to keep their data secure from cyberthreats.

“I foresaw that was an area that was going to have a big impact on the world, and I wanted to contribute my skills to that,” she says.

Zarick appreciates the ways in which her job has allowed her to apply her previous experience to new challenges, from working with researchers to corporate licensing to corporate litigation, and to develop new skills. “I like to see connections,” she says. “In the law, I see common threads and connections from what I learned in the Army or as an engineer. I’m able to take a holistic

Gail Zarick IP Counsel IBM

approach and see the broader perspective. Sometimes, if you don’t take a giant step back and take a look at the big picture, you can get stuck in the weeds.”

A key component of Zarick’s philosophy, both at work and outside the office, is helping improve the lives of those around her. Zarick led an IP internship program in IBM’s law department for law school students and recent graduates that not only gave participants experience but also allowed the company to eventually take on some of the interns as full-time employees.

“I still work with some of them and keep in touch with many more,” Zarick says. “That was one of my most gratifying experiences at IBM, because when I think back on wanting to become a lawyer, I remember reaching out to people and asking for advice, and all of them were gracious in passing along lessons that really helped me.”

Empowering others has become a major focus of Zarick’s life, and she accomplishes that goal partly through volunteering and pro bono work. At IBM, she serves as a pro bono leader by organizing and promoting pro bono opportunities for law department volunteers. And for the past eighteen years, she’s volunteered with the Appalachia Service Project, leading a mission with volunteers from her community—mostly high school students—to repair and rebuild the homes of the economically disadvantaged residents of Central Appalachia.

“To empower a fifteen-year-old to understand that they can make a difference in someone’s life by rebuilding a roof that doesn’t leak or a floor that isn’t in danger of falling in—that’s a really gratifying experience,” she says.

Cantor Colburn LLP:

“It’s been a pleasure working with Gail over many years. She’s a leader at one of the most innovative companies in history, where she has been a pioneer early in her career as a woman engineer and later as an attorney. She is well-respected in the profession and extremely hardworking. While managing teams in a variety of technologies, she has been mentoring, coaching, and paving the way for the next generation of leaders.”

–Philmore H. Colburn II, Co-Managing Partner

A Culture to Value

Maura Neville feels fully supported by the company culture that she promotes through her legal work at McDonald’s

By Natalie Kochanov

LIKE MANY RECENT GRADUATES, MAURA NEVILLE put in her time at a large firm out of law school. Even back then, though, the current senior counsel for global labor and employment law at McDonald’s had her eye on the hamburger fast food restaurant chain.

“After a year or two, one of my colleagues at the firm left and went to McDonald’s,” says Neville. “As time went on, I had other former classmates who moved over to work in-house at McDonald’s, so it was always in the back of my mind.”

A decade into her career as an attorney, Neville found herself browsing the McDonald’s jobs page during a sleepless night shortly after the birth of her first child. She applied for an open commercial litigator role—and she’s never looked back. Today, her love for McDonald’s is stronger than ever. The company’s values resonate deeply with her and shine through in her legal work, as does the support that she receives from her team as she balances motherhood and her career.

When she first joined McDonald’s, Neville handled a wide variety of litigation matters around the world. As she did so, she gained a strong understanding of the core values that define McDonald’s as an organization. “McDonald’s is a company that always strives to do the right thing,” she says. “That

“I’m always striving to do the right thing professionally, and I’m always striving to do the right thing as a mom, as a friend, and as a partner.”

really resonates with me because I’m always striving to do the right thing professionally, and I’m always striving to do the right thing as a mom, as a friend, and as a partner.”

A driving force in McDonald’s company culture, the idea of “doing the right thing” encourages employees to engage with and support one another and to give it their all when it comes to work. “We are all in it together, trying to make McDonald’s the best that it can be,” Neville confirms. “I’ve felt so appreciated in the legal department, not only for the work that I’m doing but also as a person and friend. It makes coming to work every day a total joy.”

Neville felt particularly supported during her journey to parenthood, which she admits was not easy. Now, as a mother to a five-year-old and two-year-old twin daughters, she remains grateful for her team’s recognition and understanding of her family life.

“I was really excited when my oldest learned to ride a bike, and I’m excited that she’s starting kindergarten. I was excited when my twins took their first steps,” she says. “When the people on my team ask me how my kids are doing and I share those types of things, they’re genuinely interested. And that genuine interest makes such a difference in my morale as a working parent of young kids.”

Indeed, those little moments motivate Neville to keep going despite life’s challenges. She gains further confidence by looking to other parents working at the company. “I see so many colleagues at McDonald’s who have been where I am, in the throes of raising small kids and trying to balance a full-time job,” she says.

Having learned firsthand the value of surrounding herself with relatable role models, she advises

Maura Neville Senior Counsel, Global Labor & Employment Law McDonald's

young attorneys to seek out mentors based on their own goals. “When you’re starting your career, look for people who are living a life that you aspire to have in ten or fifteen or twenty years,” she emphasizes.

Neville also believes in remaining curious, whether about other people, new roles, or unfamiliar areas of the law. “Take advantage of interesting opportunities that present themselves to you. Don’t hesitate to throw your hat in the ring for something that falls outside your comfort zone or area of expertise. You never know where it might lead,” she adds.

That very mindset pushed Neville toward the global labor and employment team, where she has sat since July 2021. Although her current role marks her first time operating in a traditional labor setting and offering counsel at preliminary stages of the corporate decision-making process, she is leveraging her extensive litigation experience in her quest to become a trusted partner to the McDonald’s human resources team.

Beyond satisfying her intellectual curiosity, Neville chose to step into her current role to get more involved in McDonald’s diversity, equity,

“Don’t hesitate to throw your hat in the ring for something that falls outside your comfort zone or area of expertise. You never know where it might lead.”

MAKING AN IMPACT

A VALUED PARTNER

Nixon Peabody LLP congratulates our friend and alumna, Maura Neville of McDonald’s Corporation, on this well-deserved recognition highlighting her outstanding career. We are proud to work with Maura, and look forward to many more years of collaboration.

G R A H A M K R A M O N ATTORNEYS AT LAW

&

Chambers USA ranked for Litigation among law firms in Maryland for 17 consecutive years.

As a nationally ranked litigation firm, Kramon & Graham, P.A. represents some of the largest and most respected organizations and business leaders in the country.

Our practices include commercial litigation, white-collar and criminal defense, class actions, government contracts, professional liability defense, state and federal appeals, and insurance coverage defense. kramonandgraham.com

and inclusion (DEI) efforts. “As a mom of three young girls, I’m even more appreciative of those efforts,” she says. “I’m really grateful that McDonald’s has given me the opportunity to take on this new role because I get to dig into some of our DEI initiatives from a legal perspective, educate myself through the work that I’m doing, and then take those learnings home to educate my daughters.”

By helping make McDonald’s as inclusive as it can be, Neville knows that she is continuing to embrace and foster the values that make the company such a special place to work. “I feel so lucky to have the job that I do,” she says.

“I love working at McDonald’s so much, and I’m looking forward to continuing to promote our values in my new role to ensure that everyone else here feels the same way.”

Freeborn & Peters LLP:

“Maura understands litigation, has a strong analytic mind, is incredibly dedicated, and knows how to get efficient, excellent results. Most of all, she’s such a delight that working with Maura doesn’t feel like ‘work.’”

–David J. Doyle, Partner

Kramon & Graham, P.A:

"Maura is a smart, dedicated, and hardworking attorney with great judgment. We at Kramon & Graham particularly appreciate her good nature and her commitment to creating a more diverse and inclusive work culture."

–James P. Ulwick, Principal

© Kramon & Graham, P.A.

The Space to Be Human

By Natalie Kochanov

FOR MANY PEOPLE, THE COVID-19 PANdemic slowed down everyday life. Not so for Sarah Decker, the chief compliance officer and global head of litigation, employment, compliance, privacy, and ethics at consumer cybersecurity company McAfee.

“It’s definitely been an exciting time at McAfee,” says Decker. “We have really come together as a cohesive team, and it’s fantastic the things that we’ve been able to achieve in this new environment that we all live in.”

Decker’s recent achievements as part of the McAfee team include helping steer the company through two major organizational changes during the COVID19 pandemic. Decker has also spent the pandemic reimagining her approach to leadership within McAfee. After observing the practices of her fellow leaders, she started to attune herself more closely

to the emotional needs of her team. Along the way, she realized the value of expressing her own emotions as a means of connection, no matter the physical distance between her and her colleagues.

Even under “normal” circumstances, Decker always has a lot on her plate. Her responsibilities span the proactive and the reactive, the litigation and the prelitigation. With such a broad scope, she faces down a litany of challenges day in and day out.

Those challenges only grew in 2020, when McAfee moved into a new phase of operations. “We became a public company listed on the NASDAQ, and then we divested our enterprise business,” Decker explains. Each event required significant input and support from Decker and the rest of the legal team, which had by then gone remote due to the pandemic.

McAfee’s Sarah Decker believes in the power of empathy and vulnerability when it comes to leading through transformation

Sarah Decker Chief Compliance Officer and Global Head of Litigation, Employment, Compliance, Privacy & Ethics McAfee

Jeffrey McWhorter

“I believe that we are at our best when we operate from a place of trust and respect. As a leader, I have an opportunity to allow people the space to be human.”

“Remarkably, I don’t think that it presented too much of an additional hurdle,” says Decker of the pandemic. “We were laser focused on these activities, and everyone is excited to have accomplished them. Now, we’re focused on being the best consumer cybersecurity company out there.”

Effective leadership by Decker and other senior staff facilitated the smooth transition to remote work as well as the successful execution of McAfee’s initial public offering and enterprise business divestiture. Decker considers it a great privilege to have the opportunity to lead a team, and her gratitude feeds into her idea of what leadership at McAfee entails.

“I care deeply for my team and my coworkers, and I try to make that apparent in every interaction that I have,” she says. “But that’s only part of the equation. I also have a significant responsibility to my team and to my internal clients that includes understanding the ‘why’ of what we’re doing as a business and translating that to them, so that we can operate in a solutions-oriented mindset that aligns with the business needs.”

The extent to which Decker cares for her team became fully evident in the early days of COVID-19. She witnessed an inspiring combination of fearlessness and humanity in other McAfee

leaders and vowed to strike that same balance herself. “The pandemic brought down many of the walls that we have historically kept between professional and personal life. We see more deeply into the everyday lives of our coworkers, and I wanted my team to know and to understand that it’s OK not to be OK,” she says.

To that end, Decker began to lower her own walls—a first for her in a professional setting. “I took the opportunity to share some of the day-to-day challenges that I was facing. At the same time, I tried to find new ways to connect with individual team members to get a deeper understanding of what they might need from me or from their job,” she says.

“In my early career, I spent a lot of time trying to overcome vulnerabilities, and I certainly was never inclined to share them,” she continues. “But being a leader during a time when our company was undergoing transformative change, all while coping with a pandemic, really changed my perspective.”

As she looks to the future, Decker plans to continue evolving in parallel to McAfee itself. Likewise, she will drive development within her team to ensure the proper scaling of legal resources moving forward.

“My goal is to provide exceptional support to the company as it focuses

on being the world’s leading consumer cybersecurity provider. For me, that means intuiting the needs of the business and innovating alongside it, so I’ll keep looking for ways to provide legal services that are better and faster and that meet the growing demands of our company,” she confirms.

In the process, Decker hopes to honor the new perspective that she gained during COVID-19 by remaining an empathetic and authentic leader who communicates openly and transparently with her team. “I believe that we are at our best when we operate from a place of trust and respect,” she says. “As a leader, I have an opportunity to allow people the space to be human.”

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer:

“Fantastic to work with Sarah and her team on this challenging mandate and during these challenging times. We were delighted to represent McAfee in the Competition and Markets Authority’s consumer enforcement case and to secure a successful commitments outcome.”

–Deirdre Trapp, Partner

Sidley Austin:

“Sarah has a deep appreciation for legal strategy and how it impacts the business goals of McAfee. In addition to her ability to resolve existing disputes in a favorable way, Sarah is always looking around the corner to get ahead of any risks that may face her company.”

–Yvette Ostolaza, Partner

Breakfast of Champions

Lan Marinelli builds relationships with stakeholders and develops her team through constructive feedback at HubSpot

By Donald Liebenson

WHOEVER WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR SENDING A MAN to an Arizona hospital with a knife in his chest in the 1990s will never know that he changed the course of Lan Marinelli’s life. Until that point, the future assistant general counsel at HubSpot had wanted to be a doctor, much like her pediatrician father, who worked for the government at a local hospital for Native Americans. In high school, she earned her EMT certificate at a nearby community college “to prepare for medical school if I did choose to go that route,” she says.

But during one of her rotations, she walked by the room where a man was lying there with that knife sticking out of his chest. “I remember just sobbing right there,” Marinelli recalls. Medicine, she decided, though a noble occupation (“especially the frontline workers during the pandemic,” she emphasizes), was not for her. She began to set her sights on a more business-oriented career.

She majored in accounting and finance in college, but devoted as she is to her family, she felt compelled to pursue law. “I come from a family of immigrants with mostly medical backgrounds,” she says. “There was no one in the family to help navigate legal issues. It was

important to me to be that person. My mom, always a driving force in our family, encouraged me to think about a career in law.”

Lan’s parents emigrated from Vietnam to the United States in 1975, just before the fall of Saigon. Their sponsor was an Oklahoman, and Lan grew up in the small town of Tahlequah, population ten thousand.

“It was so amazing to grow up in a small Oklahoma town in the 1980s,” Lan says. “The only other Asian family owned the Chinese restaurant. But I had a special childhood, biking around all day. I was always the funny

girl. I was friends with everybody and did well in school.”

As to experiencing racism, she said that incidents were minimal. “The community rallied around my family,” she says. “When we got our American citizenship, it made the front page of our newspaper. My family’s friends hosted a party for us. We lived in a wonderful community.”

The family moved to Phoenix when she was in the eighth grade. Following high school, she attended college at the University of Arizona in Tucson on a full scholarship. Then she moved to Boston to begin her career as an auditor at Deloitte, where she focused on auditing technology and financial services companies.

Boston College Law School came next. She wanted to be on the corporate side of things. “I didn’t want to be a Perry Mason litigator,” she says with a laugh. “That didn’t appeal to me.”

Marinelli first heard about HubSpot, the customer relationship management (CRM) platform for scaling companies, in the hallways of Boston law firm Brown Rudnick, where she worked as a corporate associate for five years before moving in-house in 2011. “HubSpot was one of our clients,” she says. “The firm supported the start-up in its initial financings. You always heard the name HubSpot in the hallways. They were the start-up darling, and I just knew it was going to go somewhere.”

Seven years later, in 2018, she herself joined HubSpot. She was the tenth member on the team. Today, the legal team numbers fifty, and she oversees “everything corporate,” she says, “anything and everything that has to do with being a public company.”

In her time at HubSpot, Marinelli has seen the company grow from two thousand

Denise Pressman

Lan Marinelli Assistant General Counsel HubSpot

to five thousand employees and its market cap increase from $3 billion to $30 billion. According to Marinelli, even as the company has undergone rapid expansion, it has stayed true to its core values of HEART—humble, empathetic, adaptable, remarkable, and transparent. Marinelli has many stories of how HubSpot “walks the walk” on diversity, inclusion, and belonging, including its $20 million commitment to social impact investing. “I feel so proud to be a HubSpotter,” she says.

Marinelli also prides herself on changing people’s perceptions about legal practitioners. “There are other ways to be the force in the room,” Marinelli says. “Being a nice person doesn’t have to conflict with being a lawyer.”

Building relationships with stakeholders is integral to being an effective assistant general counsel, Marinelli says. “I’m often a go-to source for issues that don’t fall under my specific purview. It’s not just about getting an answer, but getting the answer in a constructive way with as little drama as possible.”

In leading her four-person team, Marinelli finds that “transparency and real-time information” are crucial. “You must not be afraid to give constructive feedback. Feedback is the breakfast of champions,” she says. “I take a lot of time to train and teach my team and share what I’ve learned. I love to play the mentor role.”

Outside of work, Marinelli enjoys creative endeavors, including cooking and interior design, as well as spending time with her family. She has been married for fourteen years and has two daughters, aged ten and seven. They are big Marvel movie fans. “Ant-Man is their favorite,” she says. “Who doesn’t love Paul Rudd?”

Global Solutions, No Matter the Problem

IT’S BEEN A BANNER YEAR FOR DXC TECHNOLOGY. In September 2021, President and CEO Mike Salvino and members of the DXC leadership team highlighted an incredible twelve months of partnerships and growth by ringing the closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange.

The technology company has continued to expand its success in aiding global companies running mission-critical systems and operations, all while evolving its own ability to deploy crucial services across the enterprise technology stack.

The recognition of DXC’s growth is further underlined by the awards the organization has received from some of the world’s most steadfast and storied technology companies. In 2021, Dell Technologies recognized DXC as its Partner of the Year, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise cited DXC as its HPE Ezmeral Software Ecosystem Partner of the Year. Microsoft, too, awarded the company its FY21 Business Applications Inner Circle award.

Vice President and Global Head of Litigation Feras Sadik has no doubt played a vital part in both maintaining those partnerships and ensuring that DXC’s global reach always falls under the appropriate jurisdictions.

The litigation head got his start at firm WilmerHale and later accrued start-up experience prior to coming to DXC. While the company has provided an invaluable role in helping its partners harness the use of artificial intelligence and other leading technologies, Sadik has used AI within his own team as a means of identifying trends and implementing efficiencies on a global scale.

By Will Grant

DXC’s reach is worth noting. The Fortune 500 global IT services leader spans more than 130,000 people and is active in more than 70 countries, and its partner list continues to grow in new ways. The sheer diversity of partners DXC services is a testament to its commitment to finding new and innovative solutions to help its clients, whatever the goal.

In August 2021, DXC and Mosaic Insurance announced the deployment of a new insurance technology platform aimed at increasing the speed of specialty insurance sales, underwriting, and service.

DXC acts as a valuable partner for the world’s most well-known tech companies, innovating in areas including insurance, medicine, and robotics research

“Legacy-free technology is fundamental to Mosaic’s model, and our collaboration with DXC represents the first insurtech operating platform of its kind. We believe it gives us a tremendous advantage,” said Mitch Blaser, Mosaic’s cofounder and co-CEO, in a statement. “This open platform also delivers the benefit of leveraging the latest technology that’s very modular. You can look at what’s available in the market, put it on your platform because it suits your needs, and modify it easily. Overall, this allows for better decision-making and lower expense ratios.”

Even more recently, DXC, along with Lenovo, announced a partnership with Dr. Peter Scott-Morgan with the hope of harnessing assistive technology solutions to better aid those with disabilities. Scott-Morgan, affectionately known as the “world’s first human cyborg,” was diagnosed with motor neuron disease in 2017 and has been exploring ways to slow the disease’s progression since that time.

“The bedrock of our collaboration is a belief in the untapped potential of technology to unleash your dreams—whatever you are, whatever your background, whatever your circumstances, whatever your ambitions,” Scott-Morgan said in a statement. The doctor—whose mantra is “Add hope with AI and robotics!”—will enlist DXC, Lenovo, and several other volunteers in the technology space to provide hardware, software support, integration, and AI to continue Scott-Morgan’s research.

–Tom O’Brien, Partner

Baker Botts is pleased to recognize the achievements of Feras Sadik and DXC Technology Company.

Baker Botts LLP:

“Feras is an innovative, highly strategic thinker. He excels at spearheading litigation but also has a strong business acumen that allows him to identify key issues and drive toward the best result for his company.”

Never Stop Growing

Subway’s Anne Jasorkowski talks brand image, employee empowerment, and lessons learned

By Natalie Kochanov

ANNE JASORKOWSKI FULLY APPRECIATES THE value of surrounding herself with bright, inspiring leaders. However, it wasn’t always easy for her to find professional role models.

“I grew up with limited means,” Jasorkowski explains. “Within my family, I was the youngest of four, but the first to attend and graduate from college. I wasn’t exposed to a lot of opportunities where someone could take me under their wing.”

Her past experiences make Jasorkowski all the more grateful for the environment that she has found at sandwich-driven fast food brand Subway, where she serves as lead counsel for North America franchising. The strength of the company’s vision for its employees and its brand motivates her to effect change of her own. Through her role as chair of the women in leadership employee resource group (ERG), she seeks to empower colleagues of all backgrounds by sharing some of the many lessons that she has learned over the course of her legal career.

During her many years as a litigator in private practice, Jasorkowski focused on developing her skills in the courtroom, learning to

think on her feet, and honing her understanding of how judges apply the law in practice. Of all her takeaways from that time, one continues to inform her approach to risk assessment and strategic decision-making in an in-house setting.

“It’s not always about being right under the law. Often, there’s a commonsense, real-world argument beyond the clinical application of the law that you need to articulate in the courtroom to get your point across,” she says. “The same commonsense approach is very effective in an in-house setting as well.”

Before her promotion to lead counsel in September 2020, Jasorkowski held two different litigation roles—one domestic in scope and one international—at Subway. Today, she manages a vast array of litigation, transactional, and regulatory matters impacting the company in the midwestern United States.

“It’s great because while I’m focusing on putting out fires and reacting, I’m also able to be proactive in helping the company further its goals through transactional matters and other ways of working with—and giving guidance to—

our business leaders across complex issues within a heavily regulated industry,” she says.

Among its corporate goals, Subway recently launched the Eat Fresh Refresh campaign, kicking off the company’s multiyear transformation journey. “We recognize that building a better Subway is a continuous process, and we are committed to enhancing many aspects of our brand and business,” Jasorkowski explains. “This includes making improvements to almost every core menu item, introducing important digital upgrades to elevate the guest experience, and rolling out Subway Delivery.”

The campaign embodies a commitment to improvement that aligns

with Subway’s emphasis on employee empowerment. “The company gives us access to incredible leaders— really smart people who support us, encourage out-of-the-box thinking, and give us the opportunity to grow,” Jasorkowski says.

“We know that a good idea can come from anyone, at any level, and seek to fuel the potential of our team,” she adds. “Our purpose is to help people achieve their goals, whether it’s our guests who are looking for ‘better for you’ food choices, franchisees who are focused on driving their businesses forward, or employees who want to grow in their professions.”

Subway also supports employees by celebrating diversity and promoting

inclusive workplace practices. On top of a dedicated diversity and inclusion (D&I) council, the company helps shape D&I efforts through its ERGs— including the women in leadership ERG that Jasorkowski chairs. “The group’s vision is to inspire, motivate, and support our community,” she says. “It’s a group of talented professionals who share that common goal, and I’m so happy to be part of it and to lead it.”

Jasorkowski’s lack of mentors as a young woman—not to mention the male-dominated courtrooms that she encountered as a litigator—drives her determination to uplift her peers through the ERG. It was not until she met her mentor that changed things for her. “I recognize now how important it

Courtesy of Subway

Anne Jasorkowski Lead Counsel, North America Franchising Subway

is for people to show you the way. It’s not just that women should help other women. Women benefit from other strong women who they can see as their role models,” she says.

Like any good role model, Jasorkowski has her fair share of advice to pass down to junior colleagues. “Don’t be afraid to take risks because you’re uncertain. You have to get over the possibility that you might fail,” she says.

Beyond taking risks, she urges upand-coming attorneys to live to learn. “To be successful in an in-house counsel role, understand what the business needs are, and invest in yourself by developing new skills,” she says, “because those skills will give you the confidence that you need to meet the demands of a constantly changing business environment.”

As for herself, Jasorkowski will always keep growing, no matter how far she has come in her career. “Between my years of private practice and three very distinct roles at Subway in the last three years I’ve learned a lot, including the importance of agility,” she says. “No matter how experienced you are, never think that you’ve gotten to a point where you know it all. There’s always something new to learn.”

“Congratulations to Anne Jasorkowski for being recognized as the superstar that she is. We are proud to call her our partner and look forward to seeing what she does next at Subway.”

–Jay Athey, Tanya Bovée, and Danny Jarrett

©2021 Jackson Lewis P.C. Attorney Advertising | jacksonlewis.com

Jackson Lewis P.C.:

Driving Diversity on a Global Scale

By Natalie Kochanov

WITH A GLOBAL ROLE AT A FORTUNE 100 multinational company, Eben Krim always has a lot on his plate. But when he saw a chance to get more involved in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts at work, Krim didn’t hesitate.

“DEI wasn’t a big part of my day job. It came down to me raising my hand and key leaders tapping me to work on important DEI projects,” says Krim. “I’m personally passionate about DEI because I feel like it’s the right thing to do, in addition to being good for the business and company culture.”

As for his day job, Krim serves as chief labor and employment counsel for safety and productivity solutions (SPS), one of the four publicly reported divisions at US-based technology company Honeywell. The company encourages Krim to make an impact through both his legal duties and his DEI ideas, which have included reimagining hiring practices to effect meaningful change across the organization.

Krim first joined Honeywell in 2010 after honing his understanding of labor and employment law in private practice. “Over the past eleven years at Honeywell, I’ve continued to do labor and employment, but I’ve taken on increasing size and scope in terms of what businesses and what parts of the portfolio I support,” he explains.

Indeed, Krim started out in the performance materials and technologies (PMT) division, then transferred to SPS in March 2020. Today, he is responsible for all employees under the SPS umbrella worldwide. Given Honeywell’s large global footprint, he faces the challenge of building relationships with colleagues and clients spread around the world.

“Most of the people I deal with on a daily basis aren’t colocated with me, and often, they are on a different continent,” he confirms.

Eben Krim believes in making diversity, equity, and inclusion a central component of Honeywell’s fast-paced culture

Eben Krim Chief Labor & Employment Counsel, Safety & Productivity Solutions Honeywell International

However, he has gotten used to this style of operating since coming in-house at Honeywell, where having a global perspective is key. “As the employment lawyer for the business, that’s both challenging and exciting,” he says. “We’re always doing something new, we’re always trying to do it with agility, and we’re usually trying to do it in many different jurisdictions at once.”

In addition to its global mindset, Honeywell has a performance-driven culture in which Krim thrives. “I enjoy that it’s very fast-paced and that there’s always a next challenge to tackle,” he says. “But you have to be a strong communicator across cultures, across businesses, and across functions because we’re not set up in a straight line.”

Beyond communication, Krim has identified collaboration and agility as critical skills to possess for anyone looking to navigate Honeywell’s unique environment. An interest in taking on new projects doesn’t hurt either. “There are lots of opportunities available if you’re willing to jump in on something or you’re passionate about something, whether it’s directly in your skill set or a little out of your swim lane,” he emphasizes.

For Krim himself, DEI proved to be one such opportunity—and one on which he and Honeywell align. “Honeywell has three foundational principles: integrity and ethics, workplace respect, and inclusion and diversity,” he elaborates. “We think of DEI as a foundational principle that starts at the top. We have a very diverse board of

directors, which is helpful in getting the focus on and the support for DEI initiatives within the company. It drives engagement at all levels of the organization, from the top on down.”

Honeywell has a global inclusion and diversity steering committee as well as a council specific to each business group. Krim sits on the SPS council and the council for the global law function.

“The two different councils are obviously attacking the same issues, but sometimes through different workstreams,” he says. “For instance, I led an initiative around diversity of slate. We started our journey a couple of years ago with a pilot in the legal department. Now, it’s a requirement across the company globally for all jobs.”

Krim’s initiative requires that diverse candidates be interviewed for every job opening. “If you consider diverse people at an equal rate, you should end up hiring them at an equal rate,” he says. “It’s a question of ‘at bats.’ You can’t get a hit if you don’t get to bat.”

Within the legal function, Krim took things one step further. He successfully advocated for diversity of panel, meaning that the people interviewing the candidates must be as diverse as the talent pool itself. “There’s a tendency to hire people who come from backgrounds similar to your own, so both diversity of slate in the candidates and diversity of panel in the interviewers are important in terms of ultimately improving representation at the company,” he says.

“I enjoy that it’s very fast-paced and that there’s always a next challenge to tackle. But you have to be a strong communicator across cultures, across businesses, and across functions because we’re not set up in a straight line.”

Krim acknowledges that it will take time to grow the internal hiring pipeline for more senior positions and that certain job categories present a steeper hill to climb than others. Still, he is proud to say that his efforts to date have helped lead to greater diversity at the company—a shift that he values not only for its own sake, but also for the ways in which it benefits Honeywell from a business standpoint. “At the end of the day, we’re a technology company, and we are built on innovation,” he says. “You need to be diverse to think outside the box and to give customers around the world what they want.”

As he continues to push for innovation-driving organizational change, Krim hopes to keep changing on a more personal level too. “I’ve moved into my second decade at Honeywell, but I’m still challenged and I’m still learning and growing,” he says. As long as that remains the case, he plans to continue to grow his career at Honeywell.

“If you consider diverse people at an equal rate, you should end up hiring them at an equal rate. It’s a question of ‘at bats.’ You can’t get a hit if you don’t get to bat.”

Her Superpower

By Pamela Bloom

MARY CATHERINE MALLEY’S INTEREST IN LAW

began at age nine. When her father, a prominent lawyer in Buffalo, was taking the oath to become a New York State supreme court justice, the administering justice asked for one of the children to come up to hold the Bible. She leapt onto the dais. “I made it first because the steps were right in front of me,” she says.

Many more steps have led to Malley’s current role as senior corporate counsel at Juniper Networks. Her position is the result of several key pivots, and she’s discovered that a winding path can be a professional asset.

One of eight children born into a second-generation Irish American family, Malley attended Saint Mary’s College, a women’s college in Notre Dame, Indiana. After earning an undergraduate degree in finance, she attended the University of Buffalo School of Law and completed internships at a large public utility and a small firm dealing with corporate matters. Those small steps led to a bigger leap when the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hired her into the Division of Corporation Finance right out of law school.

After taking time off to raise her children, Mary Catherine Malley leveraged her prior experience and strong network to relaunch her career at Juniper Networks

Mary Catherine Malley Senior Corporate Counsel Juniper Networks

“Working for the SEC was an opportunity of a lifetime,” Malley recalls. “I worked with highly knowledgeable people deeply committed to the mission of the SEC, which is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.” She mastered the rules and applications of the securities laws—knowledge that would later benefit corporate clients.

Following a two-year stint at Shearman and Sterling, a large international law firm based in New York City, Malley returned to her hometown. There, over the next seven years, she developed her corporate and securities legal practice at Hodgson Russ. In addition to focusing on her career, she became deeply involved in leading efforts to revitalize the Buffalo Niagara region. Together with other young professionals, she formed the New Millennium Group, a nonprofit working on economic redevelopment, at a time when many were intent on creating positive change in the area following decades of decline. “I believe that we helped to change the conversation from where Buffalo had been to where it was going,” she says. Today, the city is thriving.

When her children were toddlers, Malley and her husband moved to California for a job he’d accepted, and she took a break from her own career. “Even though I had a growing practice, I thought it was a good time to invest in my little people,” she explains. To that end, as her children grew, she became involved in her new community of Salinas, on California’s

central coast, eventually becoming a Girl Scout leader and a volunteer art docent, teaching art history to elementary school students.

Eleven years later, when Malley was ready to return to law, she found that going back to the professional world was no easy task. She sought out organizations like iRelaunch, the Diversity Lab’s OnRamp program, and the Mom Project, which support professionals returning to the workforce. She also participated in the year-long WILpower leadership program, sponsored by Leading Women in Technology.

In the end, Malley says, it all came down to putting herself out there. A driveway chat with a neighbor turned into a two-year “returnship” (like an internship for people who’ve taken time away from the traditional workforce) at organicgirl, an organic produce company. She also did contract work for a Silicon Valley tech company. When a former SEC mentor offered an opportunity to attend a Women’s 100 conference, she made a connection that paved the way to her present full-time position.

At Juniper Networks, an international IT networking company headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Malley wears many hats as a senior corporate counsel on the corporate team in the Juniper Legal Organization. She works collaboratively with stakeholders across the company on public filings with the SEC and other regulatory entities, trademarks, and a wide variety of corporate matters affecting the company’s business. Malley also serves as

“Today, people reach out to me and ask for help because they see my path. Others have supported me, and I am committed to paying it forward.”

a cochair of the inclusion and diversity initiative for the legal department.

In talking about relaunching, Malley points to the value of vulnerability—an insight she gained from author Brené Brown. “It’s not very easy to put yourself out there again,” she says. “When I stepped back from my legal career in 2005, there were many women taking time off who were talking about the ‘off-ramp’ and hoping to find an on-ramp in the future. Today, on-ramps exist because companies and firms recognize the value that experienced lawyers can offer. I’m fortunate that Juniper is a very supportive environment. Especially in law, it is critical to support one another—men and women—in balancing our goals, our families, and fostering a collaborative department.”

Once Malley found her professional footing again, she was able to identify what she calls her superpower: networking. “Today, people reach out to me and ask for career advice because they see my path,” she says. “Others have supported me, and I am committed to paying it forward.”

Hanson Bridgett LLP: “Mary Catherine is an excellent attorney who is accomplished in several areas of law. She is incredibly thoughtful, sharp, and effective, with a collaborative style. It is a privilege to work with Mary Catherine and her team.”

–Raffi Zerounian, Partner

Where Proactivity and Proximity Meet

Seasoned in-house attorney Angie Karna of Nomura shares her strategies for building a team, managing legal risk, and making a difference

By Natalie Kochanov

Angie Karna Managing Director and Head of Global Markets Legal for the Americas Nomura

WHEN LEHMAN BROTHERS FILED FOR bankruptcy in 2008, Angie Karna didn’t have all the answers. But as one of the investment services firm’s legal leaders, she felt that her team deserved to know as much as she could tell them. She called a meeting the very next day—and brought beers to the office for the team.

“That was the first and only midafternoon meeting I have held in an office with beer,” Karna clarifies. “But it was helpful to literally crack open the dialogue and acknowledge the stress that everyone was experiencing.”

The crisis reinforced in Karna the value of transparent and authentic communication—a key part of the successful team-building strategy that she has honed over her decades-long career as an in-house attorney in the financial services industry. She brings that experience to bear every day in her latest role as managing director and head of global markets legal for the Americas at Nomura.

To mitigate legal risk, Karna focuses on proactivity, collaboration, and close proximity to the firm’s businesses. All the while, she strives to give back to and empower others by supporting external causes dear to her heart and chairing Nomura’s own diversity and inclusion (D&I) steering committee.

Karna’s commitment to empowerment stems from her upbringing in Canada. The

daughter of immigrants, she learned how transformative education can be from her parents’ experiences as well as her mother’s work as a teacher at an inner-city public school. “I saw the lifelong positive impact my mother’s work had on her students, especially female immigrants whose eyes were opened to multiple career possibilities by my mother’s compassionate efforts,” she explains.

For her part, Karna obtained a joint law degree from the University of Windsor in Canada and the University of Detroit Mercy in the United States to equip herself to practice in either country. After getting her start at Canadian law firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, she accepted her first in-house role at Canadian investment bank CIBC in the late 1990s. “I was hired for my legal skills, but I was sitting in a cross-asset-class business group on the trading floor,” she says.

That unique setup shaped Karna’s approach to in-house work moving forward. “I saw the vision and the value of having lawyers work in close proximity— physically and intellectually—to the businesses. It allows them to truly understand those businesses and, therefore, to use their legal skills to maximize revenue and minimize risk in the most effective way possible,” she says. “My subsequent in-house roles have been structured around wanting to have that same level of proximity and

A Leader

Angie Karna continuously demonstrates outstanding leadership as Nomura’s head of global markets legal for the Americas. Mayer Brown is proud to work with Angie and congratulates her on her recognition by Modern Counsel.

understanding of the businesses but wanting to do it within the legal department.”

Karna seeks to cultivate this model at Nomura, which she joined in 2009 following stints at US-based law firm Shearman & Sterling as well as Lehman and its acquirer, Barclays. Whereas she concentrated on equities and joint ventures between equities and fixed income in her prior roles, her purview now encompasses all trading floor businesses. The broadened scope makes it even more critical for her and her team to collaborate toward the common goal of legal risk management.

The COVID-19 pandemic—and the virtual workplace that accompanied it— further amplified the need for everyone to be on the same page. “Communication and connectivity have become even more important,” Karna confirms. “We’ve added more frequent regular meetings and conversations onto the calendar to make sure that people are connecting with their clients and with each other to foster and harness those chains of communication.”

Karna’s colleagues have taken note of her ability to collaborate and communicate clearly with a host of different parties. “Angie is an exceptional leader with a unique gift for fostering collaboration across different

“Some of the earliest advice that I remember receiving from my family revolved around the importance of education and independence, especially for women.”

constituencies. I’m constantly impressed by the way she uses her keen intellect, depth of experience, and her ability to communicate complex ideas simply to bring people together and to get to the right answer,” said Cleary Gottlieb Partner Rishi Zutshi. “It is a privilege to work with her and the rest of her team at Nomura.”

Along with proactive and transparent communication—and connectivity more broadly—Karna relies on a combination of challenge, compassion, and celebration to manage her remote team. She makes a point of marking successes, staying attuned to her team members’ individual needs, and offering opportunities for growth and ownership—all while remaining ready and available to assist when necessary.

Beyond her legal and management duties, Karna chairs Nomura’s D&I steering committee for the Americas. Newly dedicated resources over the past few years have allowed her and the committee to bolster the firm’s employee networks, introduce inclusive leadership training, and establish diversity-oriented recruiting partnerships.

“There’s always room to do more, but we’ve definitely made significant progress in this area,” says Karna. “For example, we’ve scored 100 percent—a perfect score—on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index, which is very important to us.”

Karna places similar weight on her nonprofit ventures outside Nomura. She has served on and led a number of boards, including those of Girls Inc. of New York City, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine as well as the affiliated Cathedral School, the Institute of International Bankers, and Women in Derivatives. She also cofounded

We’re proud to work with

Managing Director and Head of Global Markets Legal, Americas

the latter organization, which prepares women for lasting leadership roles in finance.

Female empowerment and leadership as well as education stand out to Karna as common themes across her board roles.

“Some of the earliest advice that I remember receiving from my family revolved around the importance of education and independence, especially for women. I took those lessons to heart as I thought about areas where I wanted to give back,” she says.

“Those lessons are also linked to my passion for D&I work.”

As Karna continues to search for ways to meet her nonprofit and D&I goals, she retains a strong focus on finding solutions in her legal work as well. She encourages her team members to share this solution-oriented perspective—one more method for not only keeping the team running smoothly but also managing Nomura’s legal risk.

“I really do believe that the most effective legal risk management happens when the lawyers are seen as true partners to the businesses,” Karna emphasizes.

“It leads to better outcomes for the firm and for the team.”

Mayer Brown LLP:

“Angie is a force in the financial services industry, with decades of experience that she brings to the table as head of global markets legal for the Americas at Nomura.”

–Sagi Tamir, Partner

Pivot

Showcasing prominent in-house attorneys who capably adapt to changes in their companies, industries, and personal and professional lives to carve out new paths through imagination and reinvention

Ready, Set, Grow

A former prosecutor and law firm partner, Kelley Barnett leads labor and employment at AmTrust while working to help women advance in the legal industry

By Zach Baliva

APPROXIMATELY TWENTY YEARS AGO, Kelley Barnett parked her car, rushed through security, and made her way into the crowded elevator at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center. She clutched her coffee and dozens of case files as she rode up to her assigned courtrooms. About ten of her cases were set for trial, and she wasn’t sure which one would start that day. While the unpredictable and fast-paced environment would intimidate some lawyers, Barnett was energized. She had the chance to build relationships, perfect her legal skills, and pursue justice for some of Ohio’s most vulnerable victims.

It was the exact job the recent graduate of Case Western Reserve University Law

School had wanted. In fact, she had waited for it. As a student, Barnett had clerked for the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office. “As soon as I set foot in the courtroom, I knew I wanted to become a prosecutor,” she recalls. But there were no openings. She passed the bar—and waited. Finally, in October 2000, she became an assistant prosecuting attorney in the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s office.

The first part of Barnett’s working life set the foundation for her entire career. Early experience building rapport with victims, engaging their families, interacting with judges, preparing cases, presenting evidence, and persuading juries sharpened her legal analysis and crisis and

risk management skills. She wanted to learn as much as possible, and she made those desires known. “I believe in asking for what you want,” she says. “If you have a growth mindset and tell people you want to do more, they usually give you the chance to succeed.”

Barnett’s mother, who started her own business in the early ’80s after facing the threat of losing her job as well as going through a divorce, raised her to believe that anything is possible. “People told my mom she couldn’t or shouldn’t do certain things, and she made it her mission in life to prove them wrong,” Barnett says. Although her mother passed away when she was in high school, Barnett is carrying on her legacy by pushing herself to excel in every role and by embracing a growth mindset.

After gaining prosecutorial experience and trying more serious cases, Barnett was promoted to the Child Victims Section of the Major Trial Unit, where she prosecuted the community’s most serious and violent offenders. During her six years as a prosecutor, she conducted several grand jury investigations and tried more than one hundred cases to verdict.

Although Barnett found the work fulfilling, confronting the issues of prosecuting rapists and murderers—particularly when the victims were young children—took its toll. When a former colleague from the prosecutor’s office asked for a meeting, she accepted. Frantz Ward, a full-service firm with a national client base, wanted to hire someone with trial experience. Barnett took the job.

She stepped into the firm’s litigation practice group and found her time as a prosecutor to be a major asset in the new role. “Prosecutors know how to navigate the unexpected and work in any situation,” she says. “Every case is different, and prosecutors just know how to figure it out and pivot under pressure when things change along the way.” At the firm, Barnett continued cultivating her growth mindset and developed pragmatic skills by asking for

Kelley Barnett VP and Corporate Counsel for Labor & Employment AmTrust

“It’s important to stretch yourself, believe in your ability to do new things, and maintain a willingness to take professional risks.”

Kelley Barnett always f inds a way.

Determined. Hard-working. Creative. These are the attributes Kelley brings to bear on any problem she faces. Whether it was successfully transitioning from a tenacious yet fair prosecutor to a trusted business advisor, first as a partner in a law firm and then in her current in-house counsel role, Kelley has always displayed exceptional instincts and problem-solving skills. This has made her one of the best lawyers we – or anyone else – have ever had the pleasure of working with.

Congratulations, Kelley!

a variety of work, including employment law, product liability, and commercial litigation matters.

Today, Barnett serves as vice president and corporate counsel for labor and employment at AmTrust Financial Services, a global property and casualty commercial insurer and carrier headquartered in New York City. The second major pivot in her career has again required her to learn new skills (though she notes that her new colleagues made the transition relatively easy). “I had done labor and employment before, but I didn’t devote my practice to it. Now, I’m the only labor and employment lawyer at AmTrust,” she says.

Barnett is once again in a new environment: no longer surrounded by prosecutors, judges, and attorneys, she works instead with business partners and executives in the US and internationally. Fortunately, her experience at Frantz Ward trained her to think practically and help drive the business rather than relying solely on technical legal expertise. She’s imported that approach to AmTrust, where she manages litigation and advises on all key global employment issues.

ment regulations. She’s currently focused on helping AmTrust safely reopen offices and bring its employees back to the physical workplace as COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed.

Barnett has excelled in the first two decades of her career and is now helping other female lawyers navigate the male-dominated legal industry. In 2018, she encountered a development and mentoring program known as Ladder Down, which focuses on coaching female lawyers on leadership, rainmaking, and mentoring skills. With the permission and support of the program founders, Barnett launched the program in Cleveland and also participates in other professional groups designed to help women advance their legal careers.

These activities give Barnett the chance to help others as she continues to push herself. “In my opinion, there are two types of lawyers: those who are content in their roles and those who are always looking for more,” she says. Barnett herself is firmly in the second category, of course.

Frantz Ward LLP:

FrantzWard.com

It’s a big job with a wide range of responsibilities, but Barnett carves out several hours each week to keep up with changing labor and employ-

“I’ve always been in awe of Kelley’s ability to tackle every new challenge with a passion to learn and to grow as both an advocate and a person.”

–Christopher Keim, Managing Partner

The Sweets Strategy

As associate general counsel for Mars Wrigley, Philippe Claude embraces the changing world of consumer behavior to reimagine how we snack

By Keith Loria

PHILIPPE CLAUDE BEGAN HIS LEGAL career in Switzerland, starting with a role in the luxury industry before moving on to the consumer packaged goods sector at Nestlé. He had spent most of his life in Switzerland, having graduated from high school and university in his homeland before taking the bar exam in Geneva. Claude stayed with Nestlé for almost sixteen years, until Mars made him an offer that would set him on a very different, exciting path.

“I was given the opportunity to change my life and move from Switzerland to the United States and build a team for my function that had previously been outsourced by Mars,” Claude remembers. “I came out of Switzerland to handle chocolates first.”

His position came as the company was making the switch from outsourcing marketing properties legal work to

making it an in-house operation, and after a year and a half, Mars merged its chocolate business with Wrigley. Claude was put in charge of two teams, with people living in the US (New Jersey and Illinois) and the UK.

“What brought me to the United States was the opportunity to come to a place where there was not a full team in place,” he says. “I was able to build a team and actually make a difference without stepping on somebody’s shoes.”

In establishing his team, Claude wanted a variety of outstanding professionals from diverse backgrounds.

“I wanted diversity and people at different levels, some who are more junior, some more senior, so that there is the possibility for individual development in a business that has been challenged by not only COVID but the environment we’re living in where chocolates, candies, and

gum are facing a little bit more headway than in the past,” Claude says.

Today, Claude holds the title of associate general counsel for marketing properties at Mars Wrigley, a division of Mars that encompasses the company’s confectionery and healthy snack business. He oversees the marketing properties legal work for all Mars Wrigley brands and ensures they have the right protections around the world. He is also responsible for enforcement and anticounterfeiting efforts regarding trademarks.

That last part is key, as much of Claude’s work involves adjusting to the everchanging world.

“The changes in consumer behaviors— the way you are buying now compared to the way you were buying five years ago—has evolved significantly (and the COVID-19 pandemic has even accelerated this evolution), and that means companies like ours have to constantly adapt,” he explains. “You have to be top of mind for your consumers and at the right point of sale, where people buy. If you miss that, you’re not selling, period.”

Confectionery and healthy snacks are highly competitive markets that require constant efforts and constant innovation to stay relevant.

“That makes it, from the professional perspective, a challenging but extremely lively and exciting area to work in as an intellectual property lawyer,” Claude says. “The brands are basically the carrier of the passion of the company for its products. If M&Ms or Snickers are not top of mind, you will maybe buy something else. That makes it very active, very dynamic, and obviously, very competitive.”

Philosophically, Claude believes that our ever-changing environment and evolving behaviors require a mindset that focuses on innovation. For example, as people increasingly order their groceries online, they aren’t exposed to candy and healthy snack options on store shelves as they used to be. Another example is that the enormous popularity of Netflix and other streaming services means people are going less often to movies theaters, which are a popular place to buy candy and snacks.

“All of those changes are impacting every aspect of our lives,” Claude says. “I try to stay as aware as possible of how that impacts my work and my company and [to ask], What is the right response to those changes?”

Lorena Levy

Philippe Claude Associate General Counsel Mars Wrigley

Success requires not only understanding change but embracing it, and Claude is quick to point out that change leads to new areas for growth.

“Ten years ago, we weren’t even thinking about how we can get M&Ms into every Uber,” he shares. “There are challenges but also an equal number of new opportunities, and we have to determine how we get there, test them fast, and determine how they’re working for us.”

Claude takes pride in the speed at which his legal team has taken on all these changes. That marks a difference between his past experience working for huge companies in Switzerland and the United States.

“In Switzerland, there is more prep work and planification for every project,” he explains. “The time taken to design and strategically think about initiatives is longer and deeper, while in the US, I would say the action mode often prevails. Both models are eventually very successful, but it’s a different approach to business.”

Do a Google search of images of Switzerland, with its snow-capped mountains and quaint villages, and you may wonder why anyone would leave it. Claude says all places have their advantages and disadvantages, and that while he loves Switzerland, he’s also very happy with his life in the United States. Notably, the US and Mars Wrigley have given him the opportunity to build his dream team and reimagine the way we snack.

Arent Fox is proud to work with the Mars, Incorporated legal team and congratulates Philippe Claude for this well-deserved recognition of his work and principled leadership.

“If M&Ms or Snickers are not top of mind, you will maybe buy something else. That makes it very active, very dynamic, and obviously, very competitive.”

Where the Action Is

Eliot Cotton came to Riverstone Holdings to aid its decarbonization efforts and work on the front lines of a new energy economy

By Billy Yost

PRINCIPAL AND ASSISTANT GENERAL

Counsel Eliot Cotton came to Riverstone Holdings at the beginning of 2018 because of the firm’s reputation as an innovator in the private equity industry. “I don’t think of Riverstone as a traditional private equity fund,” he says. “I really think of us as an intellectual group of innovators. I wanted to be a part of creating something new, and working with my team allows me to do that.”

Cotton’s outlook is, in many ways, a perfect summation of the lawyer’s own résumé and expertise. Even as early as his college job, Cotton was interested in finding a way to move the conversation forward, whatever that might entail. While an undergrad at the University of Texas, the lawyer-to-be worked for the University of Texas System, aiding a handful of lawyers working in collaboration with

the state legislature, the governor, and other educational institutions on creating legislation that benefited students and helped advance the collective goals of all stakeholders.

“The idea of working toward a better future has been central in my education and life experience. That idea is at the core of how I think about the practice of law and where I hope to take my career,” Cotton explains.

There’s something special about a conversation with Cotton. When recalling his previous endeavors, a clear care and consideration about the ways his roles impacted him is readily apparent.

Whereas many attorneys may spend a great deal of time figuring out what they don’t want to do, Cotton seems to have an innate sense of self, of purpose, and of how to get where he wants to go. He is that rare

Eliot Cotton Principal and Assistant General Counsel Riverstone Holdings

Imminent Breach

Eliot Cotton supports many efforts at Riverstone Holdings, including the traditional private equity business, credit funds, the firm’s decarbonization efforts, its SPAC franchise, diversity and inclusion, as well as the firm’s cybersecurity team. On the cybersecurity front, Cotton is tasked with balancing privacy with the knowledge that one data breach can bring down an entire firm.

“It’s not good enough to just be OK,” Cotton explains. “You have to be excellent in this area. You have to be proactive so that when, not if, an issue occurs, you’re not fumbling around trying to figure out who to call.”

Cotton says trusting experts in the area is essential. Together with Axio, Riverstone has created minimum standards for IT and OT (operational technology) environments, identified and rectified areas where both they and their partners need to improve, and created an after-action team that stands at the ready to respond to any incident that might occur.

“Eliot Cotton was instrumental in designing and leading Riverstone’s cybersecurity efforts for portfolio companies with the Axio360 platform,” says Wassie Goushe, a senior cybersecurity engineer at Axio. “He is forward-thinking, collaborative, and a dedicated partner, helping orchestrate the necessary harmony across Riverstone’s diverse investment portfolio.”

legal professional focused on merging his ideals and his day job into one cohesive identity.

Ability Meets Mission

Cotton’s most impactful role prior to coming to Riverstone was an all-encompassing seven-year associate job at law firm Vinson & Elkins (V&E), where he had the chance to build a vast knowledge base. While learning the fundamentals of being a transactional attorney, namely understanding both the client’s needs and how to best serve their interests, the lawyer still always focused on growing his skill set and perfecting his craft.

“I wound up doing capital markets and private equity M&A,” Cotton recalls. “Then we hired a guy from Goldman Sachs who did fund formation, so I started doing that too.” Cotton would eventually go even deeper on this front at Riverstone, helping create special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), a growing trend that yielded more than $21 billion of raised capital in 2020 alone, according to Investopedia.

Cotton’s skill set grew exponentially, and he credits V&E with allowing him the latitude to work with entrepreneurs and help build out the firm’s New York venture capital and emerging company practice. Yet he still felt like he wanted to be closer to where the most long-range planning and strategizing was taking place. When Riverstone, one of V&E’s largest clients, inquired if Cotton might be interested in going in-house, the stars seemed to line up.

“I came here because, first, I wanted to be inside the room where those important decisions were being made,” Cotton says, “and because my

role allows me to have an impact on strategy and decision-making.”

The lawyer’s second reason for coming to Riverstone seems very unlawyer-like in terms of risk aversion. “I wanted to go somewhere where I knew I could be on the forefront of an industry,” Cotton says. “Here, we are leaders and pioneers in the space, and in a rapidly evolving market, you can’t just look up precedents and try to replicate what’s happened in the past. Our job is to build something new, and I love that.”

The Greatest Challenge of His Lifetime Generating returns for investors may be Riverstone’s final result, but their path there is something else entirely. The firm has focused significant investment in renewable energy sources for fifteen years, a portfolio that has served both the environment and Riverstone’s investors well. That focus has only grown.

“Two years ago, we decided that the future of the economy was really going to be based around transitioning the global economy away from fossil fuels and toward more sustainable footing,” Cotton says. “As a firm that has traditionally been a leader in the energy space, we felt that when it comes to decarbonization and energy transition, there’s no better platform than ours to help push that forward.”

“It’s a privilege to work with Eliot and his team at Riverstone,” says Bailey & Glasser Cofounder and CEO Brian Glasser. “Eliot’s dedication to creating a more sustainable energy industry is important and meaningful.”

Cotton says that the Riverstone team can differentiate the past from the future. The

“Decarbonizing the economy is one of the greatest challenges we’ll face in my lifetime. It’s an immediate concern, it’s a moral concern, and it’s a privilege to be in a position to support these efforts.”

salutes our alumnus Eliot Cotton. We are proud to serve as Riverstone’s trusted counsel.

company understands that instead of sticking one’s head in the sand, embracing the current climate crises as a challenge to be overcome just makes sense.

“This is both a personal and professional privilege for me,” Cotton says. “First, it’s something that our investors are demanding and eager to be a part of. Secondly, I believe that decarbonizing the economy is one of the greatest challenges we’ll face in my lifetime. It’s an immediate concern, it’s a moral concern, and it’s a privilege to be in a position to support these efforts.”

From his seat, Cotton says it’s imperative to make sure that he’s up to speed on policy, on markets, and on consumer sentiment. He must understand where the regulatory governance bodies are heading and how Riverstone can take appropriate advantage of the opportunities that legislation presents.

“We’re able to tackle energy investment from several different sides within Riverstone,” the AGC explains. “With both our private equity side and our credit side, we’re able to attack the same problem from different perspectives.”

Riverstone is currently interested in energy efforts like the electrification of transport, the next generation of liquid fuels,

Bailey Glasser proudly recognizes Riverstone Holdings’ Eliot Cotton.

As traditional energy transitions to a carbonless future, Mr. Cotton and Riverstone are pushing boundaries and providing creative solutions.

and new agricultural practices, all of which are aimed at reducing, if not eliminating, huge carbon footprints. “All of this is a great way to make money,” Cotton says. “But what’s important to Riverstone, and important to our investors, is that we’re able to positively affect society and all of our futures.”

The Cutting Edge

At Riverstone, Cotton has found the perfect mix of advancing a company’s mission from the inside while also working on the front lines of a future that has yet to be written. What sets Cotton’s role apart is the fact that in an undefined space, his judgment and counsel must be sound, even if he’s dealing in areas of the law that may not exist yet.

The idea of risk mitigation, an imperative balancing act for any in-house counsel, seems even more paramount for Cotton, few though the legal precedents may be. But it’s precisely what makes his role all the more pressing— and all the more impactful.

“We’re working with amazing law firms, consultants, and our team to pave a way forward for all of us,” Cotton says. “This isn’t an opportunity that many lawyers get,” he adds. “The entrepreneurial spirit of this place allows you, or forces you, to grow.”

Taken Under Their Wings

By Frederick Jerant

JOHN W. RYAN, CHIEF INTELLECTUAL property counsel at Owens & Minor, belongs to a long line of health professionals. You might consider health or medicine the family business. His mother and aunt were nurses with master’s degrees in their fields; his father was a board-certified radiologist; an uncle was board certified in both radiology and internal medicine; several cousins are doctors; and even one of his own children is finishing his residency in emergency room medicine.

So what’s he doing in IP law?

Ryan was a chemistry premed major in college and originally planned on medical school, but the aftermath of a fractured skull and internal hemorrhaging—including the resultant healing and rehabilitation—derailed those hopes.

One of his brothers, a tax attorney, suggested that a law career (particularly in patent law) could be a viable alternative. Ryan took the advice to heart. After transferring to and then graduating from Bucknell University, he earned his JD (focused on business and commercial litigation) from the Syracuse University College of Law in 1985.

His early work included a threemonth stint at Corning as a patent trainee, followed by similar work at the spin-off Ciba Corning Diagnostics. Two valuable mentors helped shape his professional outlook during these times. One of them was Al Michaelson, chief patent counsel at Corning. “During that first year, Al would sit down and go over patent issues, litigation approaches and strategies, as well as claim drafting,” Ryan says.

John W. Ryan, chief intellectual property counsel at Owens & Minor, credits much of his success to the influence of key mentors

John W. Ryan Chief Intellectual Property Counsel Owens & Minor

“Ray Marier, another Corning attorney and acting general counsel of Ciba Corning Diagnostics, worked with me on licensing issues as well as the political issues that came up as in-house counsel,” Ryan continues. “Both of them were outstanding attorneys and a pleasure to work with and learn from, so I credit a lot of my success, both at the law firms and in-house, to both of them.”

Ryan subsequently earned an LLM in 1988, specializing in patent and trade regulation, at the George Washington University National Law Center. During his studies, he also interned with Judge Helen W. Nies of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. “Judge Nies was a brilliant attorney and a wonderful person,” Ryan says. “She often sat with me to revise my drafts and pointed out areas of concern. The training I received from her was invaluable.”

In 1987, Ryan became an associate at now-defunct Morgan & Finnegan, an intellectual property boutique firm on Park Avenue in New York City.

One of the firm’s important cases was the protracted legal battle between Amgen and Genetics Institute and their partner, Japan’s Chugai Pharmaceutical, over patent rights to a novel form of erythropoietin (often called epogen), a protein hormone

that regulates production of red blood cells.

“In its time, Morgan and Finnegan was one of the top IP law firms in the country,” Ryan says, “with about one hundred patent attorneys and litigators.” The law firm represented a good number of Fortune 500 companies, and Ryan was involved in litigation, prosecution, licensing, and other areas. His colleague, Patricia Rocha, counseled him to “learn everything you can here; it’ll help you down the road.”

In 1992, Samuel J. Wohlstadter—a cofounder of Amgen and the CEO of IGEN International, which developed, manufactured, and marketed diagnostic systems to the healthcare industry—hired Ryan as chief patent counsel. Ryan was later promoted to vice president and chief patent counsel. Among Ryan’s key responsibilities was the creation and management of proprietary portfolios (primarily the company’s patented ORIGEN technology, a universal diagnostic platform), valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Pharmaceutical giant Roche later acquired the company in a multibillion-dollar transaction.

Ryan returned to private practice five years later, serving successively as partner and cochair of the IP group

“I work with everybody from sales to marketing to product development— and particularly with an outstanding legal group.”

at Dorsey & Whitney; partner and head of patent practice at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering; partner & cochair of the IP group at Dechert; and partner at Crowell & Moring, where he further honed his skills in patent strategy, patent infringement litigation, portfolio management, due diligence investigations, and freedom-tooperate and infringement opinions.

Ryan joined Owens & Minor in his current position in 2018.

Ryan was the first intellectual property or registered patent attorney for Owens & Minor. He’s also the only intellectual property attorney at the company. He says that means “I work with everybody from sales to marketing to product development—and particularly with an outstanding legal group.”

The global healthcare solutions company offers a diverse and complex array of product manufacturing, distribution support, and innovative technology services throughout the healthcare industry to thousands of customers worldwide.

“We manufacture items such as N95 masks, surgical masks, and gowns that we supply to hospitals, as well as specialized services such as QSight, a cloud-based clinical inventory management system that saves time and reduces waste,” he says.

And the company continues to push forward. In 2020, he says, “we secured over 150 patents worldwide as well as filed numerous patent applications and pending trademarks.”

Decades ago, with his med school dreams on hold, Ryan followed his attorney brother’s advice and explored an alternative career—one that has been professionally and personally rewarding. And he’s now doing the same for two other Owens & Minor employees. “I’m mentoring Maggie Howell, a very bright engineer who is interested in patent law. I am also working with another engineer in new product development, Jason Gibson, to introduce him to the world of patent law and patent claims,” he says.

Power Up

By Paul Snyder

FOR JOSHUA GROSSMAN, THE COVID-19 PANdemic turned his home and work life upside down in such a way that the only logical comparison to make is to a different reality altogether.

“If you play video games, you know your character usually has a health bar,” he explains. “And that bar can decrease as different things hurt your character, but there can be tokens or other sources of power that can help replenish that lifeline. At the beginning of the COVID19 pandemic, I was trying to read my mental health bar.”

Grossman estimates that at the beginning of March 2020, his mental health bar was at 85 percent. He was living in an apartment in Chicago’s South Loop with his wife and two young daughters (now aged two and four), the older of whom struggles with emotional regulation issues that are often prompted by major life changes.

Before the pandemic began, both Grossman and his wife worked, and his daughters were in daycare. They had purchased their first home and were set to close in April 2020, but COVID19 soon forced Grossman and his wife to work from home, the daycare to close, and a host of uncertainties to arise about how the ensuing days, weeks, and months would play out. Grossman’s mental health bar was hit hard.

Grossman is associate general counsel for Enova International, a Chicago-based multinational company that uses technology to develop financial products and services for individuals and businesses. The company’s technology, analytics, and customer-service capabilities rapidly evaluate new data sources to offer consumers and small businesses the right amount of credit or financing they require.

Grossman joined the organization in 2012, with a focus on supporting Enova’s international consumer lending entities and keeping current with changing regulations at home and abroad that concern the company’s products. In his current role, Grossman’s focus is on small business lending

When a pandemic threw a wrench into his work and personal life, Joshua Grossman of Enova International had to put his problem-solving skills to work in an entirely new way

and regulations, but he also oversees all litigation that involves Enova.

“My workload did not slow down during COVID-19, but the hours I could put in were significantly affected because of how much time I had to focus on my girls and their needs,” he says. “It’s a lot of major changes all at once. There was a six-month period where every single day, I found myself asking, How am I going to do this? It also didn’t help that I effectively had to turn my bathroom into my office.”

During those first six months, Grossman concedes, the reading on that health bar dropped into the single digits. There were days he could feel his body shutting down from sheer mental exhaustion. At work, he was negotiating the demands of his role and an early-pandemic temporary hiring freeze. At home, he was engaging in full-time parenting to kids who needed their parents’ undivided attention—without the help of babysitters or daycare. Just as in a video game, obstacles, and challenges came at Grossman from every angle.

Nevertheless, Grossman says he started finding those tokens that replenished his lifeline. A good friend who’s a child therapist was there to help assist with Grossman’s kids. His oldest child started going to occupational therapy, which significantly helped her control her emotions. He moved into a house where his kids had space to play, and he could move his office out of the bathroom. And he felt fortunate to work for a company determined to weather the pandemic by doing right by its employees and clients.

“One of the greatest things about working with Enova is the team. You become very close working your colleagues,” he says. “A lot of us are parents, and even in being able to discuss and relate to what each of us is going through, you find a lot of support. In some ways, being away from the office managed to bring us closer together.” The support from his wife, his coworkers, and his therapist turned a solo campaign into a multiplayer effort.

Acclimating to a completely new experience, where work and home life were all rolled into the same hours of every day, also prompted some unexpected benefits.

“Most lawyers are most engaged when they are trying to grow or learn a new skill or become an expert in a new area,” Grossman says. “I was able to focus on soft skills—making sure I was more cognizant of speaking directly and being laser focused on the task in front of me when I had the moments to do that. Putting more energy into being concise and productive. Just like with a video game, I developed new attributes that gave me a little extra boost.”

Enova’s concern for its clients— particularly the small businesses it supports—also stood out to Grossman in the initial months of the pandemic, when many businesses were nervous about finances and keeping the doors open.

Joshua Grossman Associate General Counsel Enova International

“From the beginning, I saw that our cus tomers, both consumer and small business, were the number one priority. The empha sis for Enova was not, ‘How can we get paid back?’ but instead was, ‘What can we do to help our customers through this incredibly difficult time?’ It not only fostered a real sense of appreciation to work here but also a new degree of gratitude and loyalty from our clients.”

At the time of writing, the rise of the delta variant of COVID-19 created more uncer tainty for everyone in the ongoing pandemic. While it might be a new level of the theoreti cal video game for Grossman to navigate, he’s gained confidence on how to keep his mental health bar in good condition.

“It’s hard to say how things will shake out over the next few months,” he says. “But I’ve talked to other in-house lawyers who feel like they’re still this advisory role that amounts to just saying yes or no. I’m more of a problemsolver. ‘Here’s how this could work for you.’ When you are in the middle of a pandemic, you feel like you have no control over these things that cause so much emotional and physical harm. It’s that sense of being able to take action, and being a problemsolver, that brings me a feeling of control at a time when so much feels out of control.

“I’ve also had a number of instances where my suggestions are put to work, and that means a lot. It’s not about who’s the most senior person on the team or the direct advisor, but who has the best solution to a problem. Whatever else is going on, it’s comforting to know I work somewhere where people leave their egos at the door and give their all for the team.”

O’Hagan Meyer:

“Congratulations to Josh for this well-deserved recognition and to the entire Enova team for their vision, dedication, and great work.”

–Chuck Seyfarth, Partner

O’Hagan Meyer provides practical and innovative litigation and advisory services to clients across a wide range of matters. With over 120 lawyers across the country, our attorneys are dedicated to achieving the best possible results for our clients. We understand that clients want e ective and e cient solutions to their legal problems – and that is what we deliver every day.

Karen Turner McWilliams Deputy General Counsel, SVP of Legal, and Chief HIPAA & EEO/AAP Compliance Officer

SAIC

Class Is in Session

SAIC’s Karen Turner McWilliams uses classroom principles to lead a collaborative in-house legal team

By Natalie Kochanov

AS THE ELDEST OF FOUR CHILDREN, KAREN Turner McWilliams got used to leading the way long before she became a teacher. Although McWilliams likes to think of her younger siblings as her first students, she wasn’t the only educator in the house.

“My mother was a Sunday school teacher for many years,” McWilliams explains. “So I had an example of a teacher at home.”

Between that example and her own aptitude for both learning and teaching, McWilliams was a natural in the classroom. These days, however, she applies her skills in a different setting. She serves as deputy general counsel, senior vice president of legal, and chief HIPAA and EEO/AAP compliance officer at SAIC, a technology company whose clients include agencies of the US federal government. She may have come a long way since her time as a teacher, but McWilliams still bears in mind the leadership lessons that she learned back then as she carries out her current duties.

Expertise Spotlight

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ashley Prickett Cuttino leads Ogletree Deakins’ nationwide unemployment response team. In this role, Cuttino tracks unemployment changes nationwide and provides counsel to clients on related issues. Cuttino is also the cochair of the Ogletree COVID-19 litigation practice group. COVID-19 litigation involves all areas of employment law as well as personal injury claims. Cuttino has been able to utilize her substantial past litigation experience, which includes employment litigation, personal injury litigation, and complex toxic tort defense, in this role.

Outside COVID-19, Cuttino concentrates her practice in management-side employment litigation, including defending against wage and hour, discrimination, wrongful discharge, and breach of contract claims. Cuttino’s specialty is complex litigation, class actions, and multiplaintiff litigation.

Cuttino is actively involved in raising the profiles of women in her own firm and in her local community. Cuttino is the former chair of the Ogletree Deakins Women’s Initiative (ODWIN) and remains on the steering committee. In addition, Cuttino is president of the board of directors of the South Carolina Women Lawyers Association.

After graduating with a BS in early childhood education, McWilliams started teaching kindergarten in Charlottesville, Virginia. “I found that young minds are like a sponge, in that they’re very naïve and eager to learn,” she says of the yearlong experience. “Children aren’t jaded and they don’t know what they can’t do, so you’re able to shape and mold them.”

As much as she enjoyed her work at the school, McWilliams had been considering a legal career since she was in college. Over the course of her year as a teacher, she studied for the LSAT and got accepted to law school.

Upon completing her JD, McWilliams honed her legal expertise through roles at the US General Accounting Office (now the Government Accountability Office), the Arlington County Office of Human Rights, and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. She went on to make partner at global law firm DLA Piper before going in-house at one of the firm’s clients, financial services company E*Trade.

In 2017, McWilliams left E*Trade to join SAIC as vice president of legal. Today, she manages a lean team composed of four attorneys, one compliance professional, and one paralegal. In addition, she counsels the company’s human resources and employee relations teams on employment and labor

issues ranging from hiring and promotions to acquisitionsrelated due diligence.

“Karen has a laser-point focus on how labor and employment issues impact SAIC as a business,” says Ashley Cuttino, a shareholder with Ogletree Deakins. “Karen is both dynamic and innovative in her approach to L&E issues. At the same time, Karen is a collaborator and works tirelessly with both the SAIC legal team and its business units to achieve effective and efficient results. It is this combination that makes Karen and her style of leadership so impressive.”

Rather than giving a simple “yes” or “no” answer, McWilliams explains the legal principles underlying her advice when a colleague from HR or another department contacts her. “I like to work in a collaborative fashion and educate them about why we’re making a certain decision. That way, the next time that they come across a similar situation, they have the tools to understand it,” she says.

Beyond capitalizing on teachable moments, McWilliams brings an educator’s perspective to her managerial duties. Her leadership

style involves treating others the way that she wants to be treated, minding her manners, and allowing her team members to feel heard—all concepts borrowed from the classroom.

McWilliams also prioritizes clear communication. She makes sure to schedule time to touch base with her entire team as well as individual direct reports. “We have regular team meetings where we talk about the projects that we’re working on and some of the challenges that we’re facing,” she elaborates. “And I have an unofficial policy that if we’ve traded three emails or other forms of written communication about something, someone needs to pick up the phone or jump on a Zoom call so that we can have a more collaborative conversation.”

McWilliams places the same emphasis on communication and collaboration when interacting with parties outside the legal department. “You have to be approachable to problemsolve and help the company achieve its goals,” she says. “I don’t want people to think

of the legal department as the school principal’s office.”

To encourage business colleagues to keep the legal department in the loop, McWilliams participates in community service and other extracurricular activities through SAIC to build relationships with employees across the company. Those colleagues then feel more comfortable asking her for legal advice—and doing so at the earliest stage possible—in the future.

On top of her role as a legal leader, McWilliams contributes to SAIC as GC and corporate secretary of the company’s charitable foundation, which she helped found in 2020 in the wake of the COVID19 pandemic. “We didn’t have a companysanctioned method for employees to donate to colleagues experiencing financial hardship,” she says. “Establishing the foundation to collect money—and having the company match employee donations— is something that I’m very proud of.”

McWilliams plans to remain involved in SAIC’s charitable endeavors moving forward and to keep bonding with colleagues in the process. With stronger ties come stronger collaborations—a lesson that McWilliams has learned well, and one that she will no doubt continue to impart to others.

“I like to work in a collaborative fashion and educate [colleagues] about why we’re making a certain decision. That way, the next time that they come across a similar situation, they have the tools to understand it.”

Curious, Naturally

By Donald Liebenson

INDIGO VICE PRESIDENT AND DEPUTY General Counsel Marc Meunier speaks fluently and passionately about sustainability, biologicals, and carbon. This from a man who previously worked in industries ranging from healthcare to real estate. Learning about a business is what he most enjoys about being an in-house counsel.

“It was a steep learning curve,” he says about joining the global agricultural technology company. “But I have a high degree of curiosity.” When he joined Indigo in 2016, “I really poured myself into understanding the agriculture industry to make myself as much of an expert as the stakeholders.”

Meunier credits a childhood in which he “moved around a lot” with shaping his career and life choices. He was born in France. His father worked for a construc-

tion company, and the family moved from country to country, primarily in North Africa. “I lived in five different countries by the age of eight, when we moved to the United States,” he says.

“Traveling and meeting different people in the early part of my life instilled a natural curiosity in me,” he says. “This intellectual curiosity lent itself to the study of law and helped me get to understand the issues so I could solve problems, which is ultimately the big part of being an in-house attorney.”

Meunier also credits John Grisham’s courtroom thrillers, which he read “voraciously” in high school, with giving him “this built-in passion for what I perceived the law to be,” he says. “I still enjoy a good legal novel.”

Indigo’s mission is in part to create the tools to help growers harness nature

Marc Meunier exercises his curiosity at agricultural technology start-up Indigo, where he is both a subject matter expert and in-house counsel

naturally to create more sustainable agriculture and food. The company’s reputation as a leading-edge “disruptor” in the food space is what drew Meunier there from Johnson & Johnson, where he oversaw legal matters in over twenty countries. “I was responsible for the change in their distributor-focused go-to-market strategy in emerging markets to going direct,” he says. “It was a fairly broad role, and every day was different, which is unusual in a big company.”

His role also encompassed more typical corporate responsibilities, albeit within “a great, great company,” he says. “There’s a reason Johnson & Johnson is repeatedly cited as one of the best companies to work for. But I was interested in the kind of work I previously did for them, which was ever changing and where you felt like you had an impact.”

Marc

In interviews, Meunier was impressed by how passionate the Indigo start-up team was about the company’s mission. “I was really drawn to the opportunity to help start something from scratch.”

While Meunier doesn’t get many opportunities for Grisham-esque courtroom drama, he is impressed with what Indigo has accomplished in his almost five years with the company. In that time, Indigo has grown from a company of around seventy employees to more than one thousand. He expresses personal satisfaction at creating the right legal framework to operate Indigo’s broad spectrum of businesses as well as the company’s expansions into Latin America, Europe, and India.

“The company is a game changer in facilitating the way agriculture is done,” he says. “There is no political lens to what we’re doing. The practices we are

“The practices we are promoting are all about being good stewards of the land, which resonates with our farmers.”

Meunier VP and Deputy General Counsel Indigo

promoting are all about being good stewards of the land, which resonates with our farmers.”

As Indigo has grown, so has Meunier’s role. For his first few months with the company, he was the only attorney. “My role at that time was as you’d expect at a typical start-up,” he says, “which is to do everything that’s needed. Today, my role has evolved. I have a bigger team and my job is to focus on key initiatives, such as M&A, debt and equity financings, and strategic partnerships.”

At present, Meunier has eight attorneys on his team. In regard to his leadership style, he credits Indigo General Counsel Paul Dacier with being a mentor. “His view of leadership is that you have to trust your team and empower them by giving them the flexibility to do things their way,” he says. “You don’t want to completely let go of the wheel, but rather stay involved when needed and be a continued resource if they are at an impasse. That’s how you retain talented people—by giving them the room to grow and to build their skills.”

Meunier met his wife while studying finance at Syracuse University. Their three children, aged seven to nine, “keep us busy,” he says with a laugh. Working from home during the pandemic, he cherished the time he got to spend with them during these formative years.

Reflecting on the unlikely career path that led him to Indigo confirms for him that “it is important to take risks in life,” he says. “Moving to Dubai when I was twenty-nine for a job opportunity was not a clear-cut or easy decision, and later, moving from Johnson & Johnson to a start-up was questionable, especially as a father of three. But sometimes you’ve got to take a chance in life.”

.

“Marc

For 75+ years, clients have turned to Foley Hoag when faced with their most challenging, complex and sensitive legal problems. For more information, visit www.foleyhoag.com or follow @FoleyHoag on Twitter. Foley

–Alex Aber, Partner

A Path to Success

With her husband, Alexandria C. Samuel grew her family and legal career. Now, she makes the most of her role at PNC Bank by paving the way for others to find success of their own.

By Natalie Kochanov

“If you had taken a snapshot and put odds on us, you would have said that we weren’t going to be much of anything,” Samuel says. “We had both dropped out of college, we were waiting tables and struggling to make ends meet, and we didn’t really have a career plan at the time.”

Samuel and her husband, however, did find success—by standing united in their goals and forging a path all their own. Today, Samuel serves as managing senior counsel for litigation at PNC Bank, one of the largest banks in the United

States. And beyond the significant strides that she herself has made over the years, she is now in a position to guide others who are still finding their way.

Samuel’s willingness to pay forward her achievements stems from her roots. Born in the housing projects of Baltimore, she grew up in a primarily single-parent household. After moving to the suburbs with her father when she was in middle school, she became the first woman in her family to graduate from high school.

Samuel enrolled at Howard University in Washington, DC, where she met her husband—a DC native whose mother had raised him as a single parent—when they were both at a crossroads in their lives.

WHEN ALEXANDRIA C. SAMUEL MET HER now husband, neither of them looked like the traditional picture of success.

Alexandria C. Samuel Managing Senior Counsel for Litigation PNC Bank

Their similar life experiences helped the two young people connect. “I dropped out of school at Howard for a year and half or two years. He had been at Tuskegee University in Alabama and had dropped out,” Samuel explains. “We found each other at that time and fell in love.”

Despite their circumstances, the couple shared the same drive to succeed. They took turns finishing their bachelor’s degrees, with Samuel transferring to the University of Maryland. While there, she took an assistant job in the legal department of wireless company Nextel Communications. “My boss supported me going to law school,” she says. “He and another lawyer at Nextel gave me research and writing assignments as an assistant, paid for me to take a law school prep course, and wrote recommendations for me when I applied.”

Samuel received a partial scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and moved to Pennsylvania with her husband and their young son. In Pittsburgh, both the family and the couple’s careers continued to blossom. They had a daughter

during Samuel’s second year of law school. Later, Samuel’s husband completed a PhD in biology and founded a local nonprofit focusing on STEM education.

As for Samuel, she spent five years at international law firm Reed Smith after graduating from Pitt, then an additional two years clerking for Judge Cathy Bissoon before joining PNC in 2014. These days, she remains calm under pressure while managing a large litigation portfolio and a team of six attorneys and paralegals. “My background lends to my ability to pivot well and to compartmentalize,” she says. “I’ve been rolling with the punches my entire life.”

Her background also pushes Samuel to give back, both at PNC and within the broader Pittsburgh community. She is the vice cochair of the PNC legal department’s diversity and inclusion council and helped launch a secondment program that brings associates from external law firms into the bank’s litigation group. “We’re looking for diverse talent—racially and ethnically diverse folks, members of the

“We’re looking for diverse talent— racially and ethnically diverse folks, members of the LGBTQ+ community, attorneys with disabilities or military service backgrounds—and training them as in-house lawyers.”

Congratulations, Alex Alex brings numerous strengths to her work for PNC. Not only is she smart and diligent, but she also is unflappable in pursuit of the best course towards meeting all challenges.

LGBTQ+ community, attorneys with disabilities or military service backgrounds— and training them as in-house lawyers,” she explains.

In addition, Samuel has partnered with St. Benedict the Moor School in the Hill District, a predominantly Black community in Pittsburgh. She leads a program that introduces the school’s eighth grade class to the legal profession by way of a mock trial, a visit to Judge Bissoon’s chambers and courtroom, and a law school tour and mock class at Pitt.

“It gives the students a view into a world that they might not otherwise get an opportunity to see. The goal is to put lawyers who look like them in front of them so they understand that law is an option,” Samuel says.

Samuel appreciates the impact of having someone in your corner, and she is proud to be that person for the next generation. She is equally proud of all that she and her husband have accomplished together, including raising two children who value education and respect how far their parents have come—and will continue to go.

“I do what my dad did for me,” Samuel says of her family. “And I found the right person to support me, and my husband found the right person to support him. It just shows that the path to success is often not a straight one, so you should never discount anyone, because people can always turn things around and achieve their goals.”

“Alex

We congratulate Alexandria Samuel for her leadership, insight and support as Managing Senior Counsel – Litigation at PNC. We value the partnership that has been built and the trust that she has placed with our firm.

Reed Smith:

brings numerous strengths to her work for PNC. Not only is she smart and diligent, but she also is unflappable in pursuit of the best course toward meeting all challenges.”

–Jason Hazlewood, Office Managing Partner, Pittsburgh,

and Perry Napolitano, Executive Committee

The Next Level

By Zach Baliva

AS PROTAGONIST MILES MORALES swings through the New York skyline in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, a video game released by Sony Interactive Entertainment, he uses a bio-electric venom blast to battle a criminal army that threatens the city. The player controlling Morales must be quick, agile, and reactive; they never know exactly what’s coming next. Those same skills help Vice President of Intellectual Property and Litigation Michael Edelman thrive at Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is based in San Mateo, California. There, and at SIE studio locations around the world, teams of artists, engineers, animators, programmers,

and others work together to research, develop, market, and sell PlayStation games, products, content, and services.

Edelman’s role has three main components. First, he provides oversight for all of SIE’s litigation in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. Additionally, he is responsible for all matters related to patent licensing and strategic opportunities connected to licensing of SIE’s patented innovations. Lastly, he manages intellectual property enforcement and combats both piracy and the sale of counterfeit goods.

SIE covers the entire PlayStation ecosystem, so Edelman deals with issues related to everything from gaming consoles like the new PlayStation 5 to peripherals such as the

DualShock 4 wireless controller to subscription and on-demand services, including PS Now and PS Plus. On any given day, he might encounter issues relating to semiconductor chips and firmware or interact with third-party publishers and retailers. He may have a detailed conversation about the technology developed for a VR headset or discuss the internal components of a charging station.

Like the fans who buy and play the games his colleagues create, Edelman never knows exactly what he’ll encounter next. “I love being in-house at a company like Sony Interactive because I have to be prepared to handle anything I encounter, and no two days are the same,” he says.

Like the hero in a side-scrolling or sandbox game, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Michael Edelman is prepared to battle whatever comes his way

Michael Edelman VP of Intellectual Property & Litigation

Sony Interactive Entertainment

“After working with Mike for many years, I’ve been repeatedly struck by his calm demeanor and strategic thinking,” says Erise IP Partner Eric Buresh. “IP litigation is like playing threedimensional chess, and Mike sees all the angles quite intuitively.”

Like all attorneys, Edelman has routine calls and scheduled meetings, but he purposely builds flexibility into each day so he can prioritize the new and unexpected matters that inevitably arise based on their level of urgency.

While some professionals sit down on each Friday to plan the next week, Edelman says that for him, the exercise would be a futile one. “There’s at least one surprise a week, and sometimes there are many,” he explains. “My job has a certain level of uncertainty baked into it, and anyone working in this industry has to learn to navigate this type of environment.”

Organization is key. Edelman relies on the teams he’s helped lead over his eleven years. Each discipline he manages has its own team. “You can succeed even when things are unpredictable if you have the right people in the right place to handle the right thing at the right time,” he says. In addition to his internal teams, Edelman engages a small network of carefully selected outside firms he trusts to guide SIE through complex and specialized legal matters.

While PlayStation is massively popular and SIE is multifaceted, Edelman’s teams are relatively small. With three attorneys and four paralegals, litigation is his largest group. Together, they are responsible

for the day-to-day management of claims against SIE.

The large volume of litigation and related tasks at SIE, including docketing and document collection, make litigation a very busy affair at SIE, so Edelman maintains regular one-on-one check-ins with every single person on the team to gauge performance, assist with issues, and ask about job satisfaction. The meetings help him review ongoing activity and stay informed and involved so that he’s not simply waiting for someone to call him late in the game when problems arise.

More than a decade spent in California Bay Area firms helped prepare Edelman to thrive in an in-house role. After graduating from Santa Clara University School of Law, he started his career as an associate at a small firm in San Francisco, then worked at multiple firms in the Bay Area before making partner at Dechert and moving to Paul Hastings. This era helps him at SIE because it enables him to assess matters from both the outside counsel and in-house perspectives. “If I had only been in-house for my entire career, I think I would suffer from a lack of perspective,” he says.

SIE’s PlayStation 5 (PS5) launched in the United States on November 11, 2020. The leading console features an Ultra HD Blu-ray drive and custom processors that enable 4K graphics and ultra-high-speed loading. By the summer of the following year, despite supply chain issues related to a semiconductor shortage, the company had sold more than ten million consoles, making the PS5 the fastest-selling console in SIE’s twentyeight-year history.

“There’s at least one surprise a week, and sometimes there are many. My job has a certain level of uncertainty baked into it, and anyone working in this industry has to learn to navigate this type of environment.”

Those accomplishments keep Edelman and his colleagues motivated and engaged. While SIE’s legal department has had some big accomplishments and milestones, he says the greatest fulfillment comes when they work together to defend the company consistently and successfully against invalid claims. SIE’s litigation track record is exemplary. “Sony Interactive is an ethical company, and our results demonstrate that,” Edelman says.

Keeping pace in a fast-moving industry presents an additional challenge. Edelman and the entire department must understand new issues, innovations, regulations, and technologies. To do so, they need to stay in constant communication with engineers, vendors, experts, and others. Edelman encourages his teams to attend internal presentations and any other source of ongoing education.

When it comes to US litigation, Edelman wants to shield his colleagues on the business side from the process as much as possible.

“The nitty-gritty of the litigation process should be as invisible as possible to the business,” he says. “The less they are thinking about it, the better I’m doing my job. They have a business to run, and the best thing I can do is to bring them in only when necessary and otherwise stay the heck out of their way.”

On the IP side, he looks to maximize opportunities. A company like SIE can often get new inventions and technologies from engineers. Edelman’s team can then pursue strategic licensing deals that help the company and its customers at the same time as SIE offers new or improved games, products, and services.

When Edelman leaves the San Mateo office and returns home, he often finds his kids playing video games. They prefer online multiplayer games like Overwatch or Apex Legends , but Edelman himself is a big fan of SIE’s open-world games, like Horizon Zero Dawn and Ghost of Tsushima . He is proud to have had a part in SIE’s bringing these experiences to gamers around the world.

Kirkland & Ellis:

“Mike is a pleasure to work with and always keeps the team focused on the whole picture—litigating to win in a way that is efficient and supports business goals.”

–David Rokach, Partner

Rimon, P.C.:

“Mike is one of the best lawyers I know. His passion for what he does has a direct impact on his team’s success in addressing litigation and IP disputes. And he is genuinely a good guy.”

–Karineh Khachatourian, Office Managing Partner

“You can succeed even when things are unpredictable if you have the right people in the right place to handle the right thing at the right time.”

A London State of Mind

A two-year stint in the UK gave Matthew Winings of Cummins a new perspective on law and life

By Natalie Kochanov

WHEN MATTHEW WININGS ACCEPTED A TEMPORARY transfer to the London office of global power solutions company Cummins, he knew that he was in for a challenge. But he also knew how much he stood to gain from the experience.

“It would have been easy not to take an opportunity like that and instead to continue doing what I knew best,” Winings says. “Now, I look back fondly on the time that I spent in London. There was certainly an adjustment period, but it forced me to think differently, get out of my comfort zone, and work on new and complex things.”

Once he left his comfort zone behind, Winings began to learn—about the laws, the cultures, and the businesses that he encountered abroad. His two years in the UK continue to influence his work at Cummins to this day. In his current role as senior litigation counsel back in the US, he brings a nuanced and global perspective to the matters that he oversees. Furthermore, he continues to grow his skills within the company, all while keeping a lookout for his next challenge.

Five years before he moved abroad, Winings was a new corporate counsel in the Cummins litigation group. The

Matthew Winings Senior Counsel, Litigation Cummins

Zachary McCrory

Proud to honor Matt Winings. A

group’s size proved to be an advantage as Winings got his bearings.

“At the time, it was a pretty small group,” he says. “That provided a lot of opportunities for people like me, who were just coming on board. It was a really good introduction to the company, and it allowed me to work pretty closely with our general counsel and a lot of my colleagues internationally.”

Energized by the global projects to which he was contributing, Winings found himself getting more and more involved in litigation matters in Europe. “Our colleagues who were managing litigation around the globe had other primary responsibilities. Through discussions with my manager at the time and the general counsel, the idea came about of me working in London and taking over the litigation to free up my colleagues to handle other things,” he explains.

ferences. And with London being a truly international city, you have people from all over the globe and from many different cultures in one place. That, and working with lawyers in different jurisdictions, gave me a greater appreciation for different ways of doing things, in both business and life in general,” he says.

jay.felton@lathropgpm.com

Before Winings knew it, that idea had become reality. He left the US for the UK in 2017. Over the next two years, he not only continued to oversee certain US litigation but also delved into new litigation, disputes, and product safety matters across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. In addition, he served as lead lawyer for the company’s generator technologies business and supported a subgroup of its power systems business.

Even as the scope of his role expanded, Winings made a point of connecting with local outside counsel as well as the leadership teams of the two businesses that he had started to advise. “Moving to a new country, there are cultural dif-

Winings brought that newfound appreciation back with him upon returning to the US in 2019. Today, he seeks to remain conscious of cultural and business differences alike as he navigates international interactions and collaborations. “Cummins is obviously a global company, so we’re constantly working with people from all over the world,” he says. “The nice thing is that I still get to work with a lot of my colleagues in London. While I was there, I got to develop some really good relationships that have made my work now that much easier.”

“Matt is a unique talent,” says Joe Wendt, a partner at Barnes & Thornburg and cochair of the firm’s commercial litigation practice group. “He’s both a versatile lawyer, with deep knowledge and strategic insights in multiple areas of the law, and a great manager, consistently getting all members of his teams working in the same direction and making them feel meaningfully included.”

The COVID-19 pandemic led Winings to recognize another benefit of his experiences abroad. Whereas the majority of the company was going remote for the first time in 2020, he had previously

strategic advisor. A visionary.

been remote to the US-based litigation team while in London. “When I was the only one who wasn’t physically present in the US office, I had to be really deliberate about checking in,” he elaborates. “During COVID, I’ve been able to help some of my colleagues and direct reports when it comes to maintaining connections without being physically present in the same place.”

Although the pandemic has limited recent international travel, Winings has discovered plenty of ways to expand his horizons stateside. On top of his primary role in litigation, he now coordinates with the Cummins corporate quality group on manufacturing, product quality, and supplier quality issues. He also actively participates in pro bono work, including through the Cummins Advocating for Racial Equity initiative.

Between the varied nature of his role and the rapid pace of technological advancements in the industry, Winings sees it as a particularly exciting time to be at Cummins. And, just as he did with his assignment in London, he plans to make the most of whatever the future brings.

“I’ve always been someone who’s focused on education— learning, growing, developing, and improving—in all aspects of my life,” Winings says. “I want to continue being open to opportunities and taking on new challenges, just like the one that I had a couple of years ago.”

We are pleased to partner with Matthew Winings, senior counsel-litigation, and Cummins Inc. as they provide power solutions for customers around the globe.

Beyond Legal

After almost ten years in-house at ConocoPhillips, Kelly Herrera looks outside the legal department for her next step

By Natalie Kochanov

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HER in-house career, Kelly Herrera isn’t providing legal advice. On September 1, 2021, the former senior litigation counsel at leading independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company ConocoPhillips stepped into a more forward-facing role at the organization as its newly minted director of public policy.

Even though she is breaking new ground, Herrera is ready to leverage her existing expertise to find success outside the legal department. “I may not be practicing law currently, but all the analytical and problem-solving skills that I’ve worked on as a lawyer do get to come with me,” she says. “Like a good warranty, my skills are fully transferable.”

“Kelly is the ultimate teammate. She participates directly in the process and collaborates with her hired outside team to find a practical solution,” says Gray Reed Partner Darin Brooks. “These skills will transfer well to Kelly’s new role.”

As she looks to her future at ConocoPhillips, Herrera takes the time to reflect on the trajectory that brought her to this point. From her various legal roles to the six-month stint in Canada that opened her eyes to opportunities outside litigation, her career has grown immeasurably since she joined the company back in

Kelly Herrera Director of Public Policy ConocoPhillips

2012. She hopes to continue that path of development—which she considers all the more valuable for being nontraditional—into her tenure as director of public policy and beyond.

Herrera’s journey within ConocoPhillips began at a pivotal moment in the company’s history. Its downstream business had just spun off as Phillips 66, opening the door for the upstream business to become leaner and more independent just as Herrera was coming on board as counsel of litigation and claims. Her adept handling of landowner claims, personal injury incidents, maritime issues, emergency response, and a variety of other matters resulted in a promotion to senior counsel, a role in which she took on high-profile arbitrations both domestically and internationally.

“Eventually, I ended up in a hybrid role, managing both litigation and arbitration for the company,” she says. “I was never bored because there were new challenges every day around many different issues and questions of law.”

Herrera had just begun overseeing the legal hold order and e-discovery processes when she learned of the director of public policy position. The two- to four-year role immediately appealed to her, especially because she had already made a brief foray out of the litigation department.

“In 2020, I took a Canadian transactional role. The company needed somebody to fill in during a six-month maternity leave, so they asked for one

Gus Morgan

of the lawyers from the US to volunteer to cover it,” she elaborates. “I was ready to expand my experience beyond litigation, and I had fun learning something new and meeting new people within the organization.”

Whereas the transactional role allowed Herrera to continue performing her regular legal duties, her current role has required her to leave those duties behind. “This new role is a bigger leap and a bigger risk in that I’m not giving legal advice to the company,” she confirms. “Instead, I’m looking at risks and exposure for events that may come to pass in the future, and I’m supporting our external advocacy and internal engagement around ESG, energy transition, sustainable development, and other emerging issues.”

Herrera plans to apply her prior experience analyzing risk and bringing internal stakeholders into alignment toward the task of developing ConocoPhillips’ strategic positions in the public policy sphere. She imagines that her demonstrated ability to get up to speed quickly on unfamiliar substantive issues will come in handy as well.

“In the context of a dispute, you’re required not only to get up to speed on those issues but also to become the expert and the advocate related to them. I think that’s a lot of what I’ll be doing here too—different issues, but the same concept,” she says.

For all the similarities between her past and current roles, Herrera knows that she will encounter even more dif-

ferences. However, she also knows that those differences will strengthen her knowledge base—one of the reasons she encourages other attorneys to explore nontraditional career options.

“Whether you take a business role or something in human resources, government affairs, or business development, you’re always going to come away from it with an additional viewpoint,” she says. “This role is a win-win because I’m going to be a better lawyer for having worked on the issues most pressing to our company and our industry. If I stay or move on to another business role, I’ll have all these new skills to carry with me.”

Furthermore, Herrera views taking a role outside the legal department as a chance to network with colleagues elsewhere in the company. That chance is even more accessible given how open ConocoPhillips is to attorneys and other employees exploring alternative paths in general. Although Herrera is one of only a few attorneys to transition out of legal, ConocoPhillips employs individuals with law degrees in areas including government affairs, operations, and human resources, among others.

“ConocoPhillips has been doing so much in recent years to offer these kinds of cross-functional opportunities,” she

“This role is a win-win because I’m going to be a better lawyer for having worked on the issues most pressing to our company and our industry. If I stay or move on to another business role, I’ll have all these new skills to carry with me.”

says. “As another example, nonlawyer subject-matter experts have been assigned to work in the legal department to help the lawyers do a better job synergizing with the business needs when structuring deals or vendor contracts.”

Just as she believes in the value of a cross-functional career, Herrera believes in a type of success that doesn’t necessarily resemble traditional top-tier legal roles. To achieve such success, she remains receptive to all experiences from which it may be possible to grow.

“I’ve always looked for and always taken every opportunity to know ConocoPhillips as a business—to go to the drill site, to go to the well site, to board an oil tanker ship. Every time that I’ve done that, I’ve grown my capabilities,” Herrera says. “I definitely have a steep learning curve ahead of me as I come into this new role, but that’s exciting. My goal is to look back a year from now and be amazed by how far I’ve come.”

There’s never a dull moment for these five executives, who work on a veritable buffet of legal matters in the retail space

Stacia Jones // lululemon P178

Angela Liberto // DICK’s Sporting Goods P182

Michael Licker // Wayfair P188

Amir Vonsover // eBay P192

Sonia Banerji // PayPal P195

To fully reap the benefits of diversity, equity, and inclusion, companies must give them a proper platform. That’s where Stacia Jones and lululemon’s IDEA come in.

By Taylor Karg

tacia Jones has more than twenty years of experience as a labor and employment lawyer under her belt. So when lululemon approached her with the opportunity to lead its rejuvenated IDEA (inclusion, diversity, equity, and action) platform, she really had to think about what she wanted for her career. Now, more than a year into her position as the global head of IDEA, Jones says her legal training comes into play every day. And while this may be her first position where she doesn’t primarily function as a lawyer, she’s well versed in leveraging her background to increase diversity and improve company culture.

Prior to joining the athletic apparel and lifestyle brand, Jones did short stints at Microsoft and MFR Law Group. Before that, she spent eleven years in-house at Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F), and the last three years as vice president, associate general counsel, and chief diversity and inclusion officer.

During her tenure, Jones and her team worked to transform the company’s global employment and D&I efforts, including a new hiring and review process designed to eliminate unconscious bias. They also expanded associate engagement and broadened efforts to impact customers, suppliers, and other business partners. Before A&F, she spent eight years as external counsel with Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease.

Jones joined lululemon in 2020 after the company pledged to become a global leader in driving meaningful, lasting change in diversity, equity, and inclusion. Though lululemon had a DEI program before Jones joined, “like a lot of corporations, after George Floyd was murdered and the racial reckoning came, there was a renewal of commitments to DEI,” she says.

The company had “in-depth conversations with its underrepresented employees as well as individuals in the communities they serve on how they could drive change both internally and externally,” Jones continues. “Those conversations resulted in the formation of IDEA—I like to refer to IDEA as inclusion, diversity, and equity in action.”

For companies and their employees to fully reap the benefits of DEI, Jones says that diversity, equity, and inclusion must be given a proper platform to operate—and IDEA does just that. “IDEA is not just a simple program or human resources initiative,” she explains. “It’s a critical business function that feeds into each level of the organization and is essential for us to be the impactful company that we are.”

IDEA already has more than twenty team members. Currently, they’re in the process of reviewing all the company’s policies, practices, and procedures that touch employees, ambassadors, and guests—and taking the

necessary actions to drive change. So far, IDEA’s efforts have culminated in three advisory committees, several task forces, an executive steering committee, multiple work streams dedicated to the cause, and eight employee-led resource groups.

IDEA’s efforts don’t stop there, though. Over the last year, IDEA has worked cross-functionally with other teams to diversify lululemon’s talent pool; create a more robust process for workplace investigations; find new ways to listen to employees and take action; roll out a career development program; and start the global internship program.

“We’ve been really strategic and aggressive with our approach,” Jones says of IDEA’s accomplishments thus far. “What you see with IDEA right now is something that was sparked in 2020 and that has catapulted beautifully into a multifaceted, sustainable program that is driving change globally. My team, as well as the lululemon organization as a whole, has a serious

Paul David Gibson

“I was inspired to help companies build cultures of inclusion where each person, regardless of their background, felt like they could grow.

”

Stacia Jones Global Head of IDEA lululemon

bias for action. That is, when we say we’re going to do something, we do it full force.”

While Jones may not have predicted the path her law career would take, she’s certainly grateful for the way it transpired. “Handling employment law matters day after day, I was able to connect with the humans on the other side of it,” Jones says. “I saw how the wrong actions made by companies impacted individual’s professional and personal lives. I was inspired to help companies build cultures of inclusion where each person, regardless of their background, felt like they could grow.”

Jones’s success as an employment lawyer, combined with her passion for building cultures of inclusion, have even resulted in additional, exciting opportunities outside lululemon. In 2021, she was named the inaugural Dean’s Impact Scholar at the University of Washington’s Michael G. Foster School of Business.

As part of this achievement, Jones provides strategic consulting advice to the associate dean of inclusion and diversity as well as the Foster Diversity Committee. Additionally, she teaches an undergraduate course on the intersection of DEI with employment law, employee activism, and customer influence. “The opportunity to advise and teach on something that I’m passionate about is extremely rewarding,” Jones says. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m thankful.”

We would like to congratulate Stacia Jones on her continued success as a diversity, equity and inclusion trailblazer. We need more leaders like Stacia in our world.

Vorys:

“We have partnered with Stacia on diversity, equity, and inclusion, in one capacity or another, for more than twenty years. Her passion for, and commitment to, doing the necessary work are unmatched.”

–Jolie Havens, Partner

Diversity, equity and inclusion are core values at Vorys. These values have created an atmosphere in which our people thrive, and are encouraged to use their unique talents, perspectives, and experiences to serve our clients and communities and take care of one another.

Angela Liberto continues to develop her legal expertise, business acumen, and leadership skills as she turns the company vision into a reality at DICK’S Sporting Goods

By Natalie Kochanov

Angela Liberto Senior Corporate Counsel DICK’S Sporting Goods

ro und the time that she joined DICK’S Sporting Goods in 2015, Angela Liberto heard a cautionary tale about the fate of in-house attorneys at large organizations.

“I was told that when you work for a big company, you can get pigeonholed into one area of the law,” Liberto says. “But quite the opposite has been true for me at DICK’S. I’ve been able to branch out, learn new things, and move around.”

Liberto, now a senior corporate counsel at the sporting goods retailer, relishes the engaging nature of her work. It keeps her on her toes and requires her to dive in deep, as she needs to understand DICK’S as a business to assist the company in achieving its vision for strategic growth. To build up her knowledge even further, Liberto recently completed the Program for Leadership Development, a fast-track executive MBA alternative offered by Harvard Business School (HBS). Between the HBS program and her other career experiences, she has grown into a confident businessperson and leader who hopes to inspire young women to believe in and stand up for their own worth.

“Angela is a double threat in the sense that she both really knows the business and really knows the law. She is a very commer-

“I was told that when you work for a big company, you can get pigeonholed into one area of the law. But quite the opposite has been true for me at DICK’S. ”

cial lawyer who is wonderful to work with,” says Dale Cendali, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis.

Liberto’s advice to young women today is very different from what she might have told them at the start of her career. Back then, she was a recent graduate in information sciences and technology, a male-dominated area of study from which she had flowed directly into the male-dominated world of consulting.

“My advice was something to the effect of, ‘You deserve your seat at the table. Keep a thick skin and don’t let anything bother you.’ That stance served me well, but I do think that things have changed,” she says.

Now, as a seasoned member of the DICK’S legal team, Liberto feels a responsibility to send the right message to the younger generation. Motherhood has pushed her to reevaluate her ideas as well. “I have a two-year-old daughter. Having her has really changed my worldview, in that I want to be a role model for her and for young women,” she says. “If there are comments or behaviors that

make you uncomfortable, my advice is to say something. You don’t need to let it roll off your back. You’re supposed to be there, and other people are looking to you to do what’s right.”

Her advice isn’t the only thing that has evolved since Liberto arrived at DICK’S. Within her first couple of years at the company, her role transitioned from providing transactional support to the technology team to advising on a wider range of matters touching multiple subsets of the business.

“One of the first things that I took on was supporting our team sports headquarters line of business, which

is our youth sports ecosystem,” she explains. “That included folks from our community marketing group and some small start-ups that we had acquired, so I got broad exposure to things that were unique to making a small business run as well as emerging areas, like privacy.”

The scope of Liberto’s role continued to expand as she ventured into the territories of marketing, strategy, and vertical brands. In the process, she gained a newfound appreciation for her collaborators inside and outside the company. “As you broaden what you work on, one of the challenges is that you’re not able to do all the work

yourself anymore. You realize that you just can’t have your hands in every single thing, so you begin to rely more on your team, whether internally or externally,” she elaborates.

Liberto partners with outside counsel to bring in issue-specific expertise for her internal clients. She also works closely with members of her team within DICK’S to ensure top-notch legal support across intellectual property, data security, and other forward-facing areas. As she sees it, DICK’S is always looking to the future—a direction that resonated with her all the more when the COVID-19 pandemic first took hold.

“In those more uncertain days, it made me feel good that there were still a lot of us working on strategic growth vehicles, including new concepts that just recently opened,” she says. “When I work with those teams, my goal is to look for ways that I can help solve their problems, remove any obstacles, and support their vision. It’s very inspiring to hear from them about what they’re thinking and what’s on the horizon.”

Liberto highlights her agility, openness to new ideas, and ability to pivot as key factors in keeping pace with the company’s growth. In addition, she points to critical lessons learned during her time in HBS’s Program for Leadership Development. Whereas she entered the program to enhance particular aspects of her

skill set, she took away much more than a finetuned business acumen.

“The experience really broadened my perspective on what business is. I left the program feeling excited to look at my work at DICK’S through a different lens,” she says. “Now, when someone comes to me with an idea, I’m starting to see all the strategic underpinnings of what they’re working on and why they’re putting certain things in place. And I’m starting to see how all those aspects inform the bigger picture and make the organization run.”

Among the program’s outcomes, Liberto now reflects as much as on the business achievements of DICK’S over the past several years as on ways to maintain that trajectory moving forward. What’s more, she situates her personal trajectory within the broader context of this organizational change. “I love what I do. My role keeps evolving, and the variation keeps it really interesting,” she says. “My goal is to continue to progress at DICK’S, take on challenging work, and help our team execute on their vision.”

Her belief in that vision energizes Liberto every day. It shines through in her business-driven legal counsel, her vested interest in innovation, and her empowered leadership. They’re all traits befitting the role model for young women that she has sought to—and has—become.

“If there are comments or behaviors that make you uncomfortable, my advice is to say something. You don’t need to let it roll off your back . You’re supposed to be there, and other people are looking to you to do what’s right ”

Michael Licker takes a holistic approach to process efficiency in the newly created role of head of litigation and investigations at Wayfair

By Donald Liebenson

hen Michael Licker was young, his mother told him he might someday be a good lawyer. “She told me I was very argumentative, and that I liked to go back and forth,” he says with a laugh. “She meant it in a good way, but I thought you could probably say that about any kid.”

But the law wasn’t on Licker’s radar. He loved sports and wanted to be a sportswriter. He attended Syracuse University, which boasts one of the nation’s top journalism schools. But at some point, he realized that a sports reporter’s lifestyle was not one he wanted in the long term.

Then a required journalism class about libel and First Amendment protections for journalists fascinated him. “From that point forward,” he says, “I thought, ‘Maybe I ought to go to law school.’”

Licker’s newfound interest in law was stoked when, after attending law school, he clerked for a year for the Honorable James Duggan of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. “It was a really fun year,” he says. “I saw a lot of lawyers in action, good and bad, and learned a lot from that.”

Licker became so close to Duggan that he invited the judge to his wedding. “He answered questions I had about the profession and guided me,” he says of his mentor.

Today, Licker is the head of litigation and investigations for Boston-based Wayfair. He came to the e-commerce purveyor of furniture and home goods following almost nine years with Foley Hoag, where he made partner.

“I wasn’t actively looking to leave,” he says. “I remember it clearly. I was on vacation last June—the first time during

Michael Licker Head of Litigation and Investigations Wayfair

the pandemic that our family was able to get away. I was scrolling through LinkedIn and I saw the job posting. I thought that if I was to leave my then-current job, this would be the opportunity for me and that I needed to explore this.”

The opportunity was to oversee all litigation and government investigations. What made the position especially attractive to him was that he would have a chance to shape the role and develop the function. He would be able to make the kind of impact he envisioned when he first transitioned from sportswriting.

This role, unprecedented in the company, brought with it several challenges. Licker joined Wayfair during the pandemic. “For the first eleven months I was with the company, I worked remotely,” he says.

But here, he had an advantage. Licker initially came to Boston with his future wife, who was attending grad school there. One of the jobs he took before attending Northeastern University School of Law was in customer service with CSN Stores, the precursor to Wayfair. “Customer service helped me develop an understanding not only of the customer experience, but also the customer representatives’ experience.”

Appreciating that dynamic has been very helpful for Licker as he focuses on the big picture, he says. “Wayfair already did a lot of things really well, and I came into the company looking for ways to build on and improve that groundwork.”

Licker takes a holistic view of his role in the company, which he divides into three “bullet points.” The first is to identify risk and determine how to proactively mitigate it. The second is to handle litigation and investigations cost-effectively and with minimal interruption to the company’s business partners. The third is to seek ways to do things more efficiently.

One example, he says, is processing complaints Wayfair sometimes receives that certain products on its website infringe on the intellectual property of a third party. “We are completely changing the way we process those claims to become more efficient and less manual,” he says. “The bigger a company gets, the bigger a target it becomes. I foresee in the next five years, between building our team, process efficiency, and automizing, we will become an even more well-oiled machine.”

“It has been a true pleasure to work with Mike on several successful matters,” says Roberto Braceras, a partner at Goodwin Procter. “He is thoughtful and strategic, he welcomes the insights of others, and he adds real value without micromanaging. Mike is a litigator’s litigator.”

Licker was born in Poughkeepsie, New York. He is a self-proclaimed diehard Yankees fan. Boston, home to the dreaded Red Sox, “was the last city in the country I would have picked to live,” he jokes. While he has come to love the city, he retains his loyalty to the pinstripes. He and his wife of ten years are raising their two sons, aged

“The bigger a company gets, the bigger a target it becomes. I foresee in the next five years, between building our team, process efficiency, and automizing, we will become an even more welloiled machine. ”

six and four, to be Yankees fans. “They have a blast at Red Sox games parading around in their Yankees hats and jerseys,” he says.

In his spare time, Licker serves on the board of a nonprofit, Casa Myrna Vazquez, that helps survivors of domestic violence. He was introduced to the organization by a former law school classmate who worked for them. He ran the Boston Marathon on the nonprofit’s behalf and did pro bono legal work before becoming a board member.

Now entering his second year with Wayfair, he is excited about the future. “Everything is a new challenge,” he says, “and this company’s values are in the right place in the way it treats its employees. It’s a dynamic and fascinating place to work.”

Do he and his wife take advantage of any Wayfair employee discounts?

“We definitely order our share of things,” he says with a laugh.

Meet us at the intersection of capital and innovation.

Serving both the innovators and investors in a rapidly-changing, technology-driven economy, we partner with our clients to practice law with integrity, ingenuity, agility and ambition.

Zuckerman

Spaeder LLP:

Learn more at goodwinlaw.com.

Goodwin is proud to join in recognizing our friend and client Michael Licker for his ongoing contributions to Wayfair as Head of Litigation and Investigations

“Like his colleagues, Michael is smart, pragmatic, and fun to work with. He brings keen insights as well as a sense of humor to his role as Wayfair’s first ever head of litigation and investigations.”

–Kate Duval, Partner

Amir Vonsover has always sought new career challenges. At eBay, he’s found a company aligned with his values, helping him create a culture of empathy and communication.

By Abigail Sutter

mir Vonsover has never been content to stay in one place for too long. In fact, change has been a hallmark of his career. “I get anxious when I see a horizon that’s pretty flat and goes for years and years because I’m looking for the next challenge,” he explains.

Going to law school was the result of following interests and passions that he developed during his undergraduate years. He realized he wanted to, as he describes it, “be in the trenches and be a real, practicing lawyer in a way that was interesting and got my hands dirty.” Vonsover saw no better place to pursue this than the Manhattan DA’s office, where he spent five years expanding his knowledge base as a criminal prosecutor.

One of the things that drew him to the DA’s office was its fast-paced, constantly evolving work environment. “It’s a job where every day is different, every day is exciting, every day is a learning experience,” he says. “I wanted to be a part of that, and I wanted to be challenged every day and every week and every month in a job.”

Vonsover’s time at the DA’s office sparked an interest in investigative work, and he decided to apply the skills he learned in a business context. For Vonsover, that meant entering the employment law space. He spent the next four years as a midlevel associate at Morgan Lewis, a law firm based in Philadelphia. He developed his skill set on the

Amir Vonsover Senior Director, Global Employment Legal & Ethics eBay

whistleblower and individual plaintiff side of cases, volunteering to jump on cases that interested him whenever possible. He credits three mentors— Sam Shaulson, Tom Linthorst, and Sarah Bouchard—for giving him the opportunity to work on cases with them and continue building on his previous experiences.

The year before he would have been eligible to make partner at the firm, Vonsover decided he wasn’t ready to settle down. Instead, he brought himself even closer to the business aspect of his work by going in-house at eBay to identify problems and stop them before a firm could ever even be called in.

After almost seven years with the company, Vonsover is now the senior director of global employment legal and ethics. His time is largely taken up by employment- and ethics-related internal investigations, along with complicated employment issues such as leaves of absence, disability accommodations, and restructurings.

His ability to manage his wide range of responsibilities is thanks in part to his team, he says. He trusts them completely to have full autonomy over their work, which makes it easier to delegate and achieve greater efficiency. “I want the work done well for the company’s sake,” he explains. “That’s ultimately what my goal is: to

do the best work for eBay. I’m lucky to have a group of folks I work with who do exactly that and care about it just that way.”

And Vonsover’s colleagues outside the company are as grateful to work with him as he is to work with his own team. “Amir is a strategic and practical problem preventer and solver,” says Brian Lee Johnsrud, partner at Curley, Hurtgen & Johnsrud. “He excels at cutting to the material facts and discerning the sometimes subtle motivations that drive employee behavior. Our firm is thankful to partner with him on a wide range of interesting and emerging employment and compliance issues.”

When discussing projects he’s proud of, Vonsover points out that some of the most complicated and interesting work he does concerns the most confidential matters he oversees. “If things just go and you never hear about it, the company is not spending huge money, and things aren’t on anyone’s radar—that, in a lot of ways, is a huge success,” he says.

Still, there are successes that he’s happy to discuss. Early in 2020, eBay sold online ticket marketplace StubHub just before the COVID19 pandemic hit the United States. The pandemic was devastating for StubHub, and Vonsover worked with the people experience team at eBay

to create a plan where StubHub employees could continue to work and receive pay through eBay while StubHub did not have the revenue to pay employees.

“I just thought that was a wonderful thing to be a part of. We were working in a somewhat uncertain legal framework, and having accomplished that and gotten those folks to keep working felt very positive to me,” he says.

Vonsover seems to have found his perfect match in eBay: his role affords him new opportunities and challenges, and he’s proud to work for a company that supports small business owners. “That philosophy of people being good really runs into the company today,” he says. Working for a company that puts ethics front and center makes it easy to lead an ethics legal team, he says; he feels like he’s aligned with the company’s mission, which helps him facilitate better relationships with other employees.

“It’s not reporting to ethics; it’s talking to Amir or the other team member,” he says. “The ethics team is the tip of the spear, the faces and names people can know to reach out to instead of raising concerns into an unknown void of nothingness. I feel it’s a huge success and a huge piece of eBay’s culture, and I’m really proud to be a notable part of that.”

“I get anxious when I see a horizon that’s pretty flat and goes for years and years because I’m looking for the next challenge. ”

With operations across the globe, PayPal’s employment law department can’t take a onesize-fits-all approach. But Sonia Banerji keeps it running smoothly.

By Frederick Jerant

lthough Sonia Banerji had lawyers in her family, she originally planned to take a different path. “I majored in history and economics at the University of Richmond and had been considering the idea of getting my PhD in history. But I wasn’t sure that a career in academia would really suit me,” she says. She hedged her bets by applying to both doctoral programs and law schools.

“Law seemed a good alternative choice,” she explains. “My best talents include reading, researching, assembling evidence, and crafting arguments. And I was attracted to the idea of using those talents to influence and persuade clients—especially in terms that nonlawyer clients could readily understand. I also knew I could keep a cool head under pressure, which turns out is something that clients appreciate in their lawyer.”

Ultimately, she chose law and received her JD from Harvard Law in 1998.

She kicked off her career with a sixyear stay at the firm Heller Ehrman (which later dissolved during the financial crisis but was then one of the West Coast’s premier firms). “Joining a major firm was a common trajectory for Harvard Law graduates,” Banerji says. “I wanted lively and engaging work, and big firms offer more options. Employment law involves events between human beings in the workplace—and I found that more attractive than contract law and other less colorful areas.”

Banerji worked with experienced lawyers and top-tier clients; the firm represented Bank of America, Genentech,

Visa, and other household names. “It was my first exposure to litigation, and I quickly learned the nuts and bolts of defending an employment case,” she says.

In late 2004, Banerji joined Morgan Stanley as its in-house West Coast employment attorney—her first in-house role—focusing on managing employment arbitrations and class action litigation as well as providing employment legal advice in the securities industry. “They were often high-stakes cases, and I gained invaluable experience there,” she says. “I also learned that in-house attorneys add value

Sonia Banerji Global Head of Employment Law PayPal

when they understand the specific priorities and legal challenges that a business faces.”

She spent nearly fifteen years with Morgan Stanley, but in 2019 a former colleague who had moved to PayPal told Banerji about an irresistible opportunity. “I had the chance to build and manage a global team, which would help take my career to the next level,” she says. “I’d

already had plenty of financial-industry experience, and I saw PayPal as being similar, yet a distinct and new challenge.”

As the company’s global head of employment law, Banerji advises senior stakeholders in HR matters, guides teams conducting internal investigations, manages major litigation, assists with due diligence in M&A matters, and supervises and

leads PayPal’s team of domestic and international employment lawyers.

Her employment legal team includes two attorneys and two senior paralegals for the Americas, in addition to about a half-dozen lawyers covering Europe, India, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region. Additionally, within her remit is a global workplace investigations team that reviews serious workplace infractions such as allegations of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.

Banerji’s team staffs key locations around the world, including Luxembourg, the UK, and Singapore, to cover employment law issues in the approximately twenty-six countries where the company has employees. “That means we must be conversant not just in local practices, but entire regions as well,” she says.

Adhering to laws and customs that vary dramatically by country is something of a balancing act. Countries often have differing approaches to work-related concepts, but PayPal needs to maintain a consistent baseline in employee conduct, discipline, and other factors. “That’s why my global team is so valuable,” she says. “They are my trusted advisors, and they’re masterful enough to handle many situations independently—but I still provide advice and guidance as needed.”

“That’s why my global team is so valuable. They are my trusted advisors, and they’re masterful enough to handle many situations independently—but I still provide advice and guidance as needed ”

GREENBERG TRAURIG CONGRATULATES Sonia Banerji

Because financial transactions are PayPal’s lifeblood, and wellness one of its core values, it’s fitting that the company has rolled out initiatives to promote employees’ financial wellness. Banerji’s team helps vet these for legal compliance. “For example, employees can use an app that enables them to essentially get an advance on their paychecks but without incurring additional expenses or interest,” she explains. “And when you feel financially secure, it benefits your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.”

The COVID-19 pandemic added another layer to Banerji’s responsibilities. “It’s been a crazy sixteen months,” she says. “We confronted all sorts of new questions and procedures—how do we move a population of employees to work-from-home status? What must we do to be legally compliant?”

She notes that the company had essential employees, such as facilities management, IT, and security, who couldn’t work from home. “We had to stay on top of rules regarding exposure cases, quarantine regulations, government reports, and so on,” she says. “We just had to figure out the proper questions and then develop the answers.”

Her approach to finding those answers is good advice for anyone sailing in uncharted waters.

“Remember what you know! If you’ve never encountered the situation before, consider something that was similar to it,” Banerji advises. “Have confidence in your own judgment, but always be willing to call upon your subject-matter experts. Consult with your other team members, and then come to a conclusion.”

Greenberg Traurig:

“Sonia is a brilliant and dedicated lawyer who always impresses with her ability to find practical solutions to the most complex problems. Unflappable in the trenches, Sonia is also an absolute pleasure to work with.”

–Tracy Gerber, Shareholder

ATTORNEYS | 40 LOCATIONS°

Greenberg Traurig is a service mark and trade name of Greenberg Traurig, LLP and Greenberg Traurig, P.A. ©2021 Greenberg Traurig, LLP. Attorneys at Law. All rights reserved. Attorney advertising. Contact: Tracy L. Gerber in West Palm Beach at 561.650.7900. All rights reserved. °These numbers are subject to fluctuation. 35327

on this well-deserved recognition and applauds her commitment to service as Global Head of Employment Law, for PayPal.

We are proud of our partnership with PayPal and we look forward to continuing our work with Sonia and the PayPal team.

Evaluate

A look at the logistical challenges, evolving regulations, industry shifts, and cultural concerns outside the office that lawyers must analyze and navigate to manage their impact inside the office

A BeastLitigation

By Billy Yost

BEGINNING IN THE 2010 s , AS THE POPularity of energy drinks was skyrocketing, so too was the number of lawsuits filed against energy drink companies. Monster Energy, one of the leading energy drink companies in the world, was a primary target. Aaron Sonnhalter, vice president and chief litigation counsel, was brought on board in part to address the growing number of lawsuits.

Sonnhalter came to Monster Energy in 2014 after spending seven years at DaVita, a Fortune 500 healthcare company, where Sonnhalter came on to build DaVita’s global litigation capabilities. Prior to building DaVita’s group, Sonnhalter spent a decade litigating complex matters around the country at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, two of the country’s top law firms at the time.

“I have significant experience litigating major product liability cases, including large class actions and

multidistrict litigation, so these types of cases were not foreign to me,” Sonnhalter explains. “I know the importance of identifying the goal, creating a plan, and executing on that plan.”

With the spotlight on energy drinks and increased case filings nationwide, including dozens of cases specifically filed against Monster, Sonnhalter knew the importance of litigating aggressively, with the goal of winning a case at trial. “We know the facts and the science are on our side, and we know Monster Energy drinks have always been safe,” Sonnhalter says. “We knew that if we have the right counsel to tell the story through the evidence, a jury would see the truth. And that is exactly what happened.”

The most high-profile case for the company involved a lawsuit alleging that Monster’s caffeinated products were responsible for a Texas man’s heart attack. Sonnhalter explained that there was no way the Monster Energy drink,

Aaron Sonnhalter has been successfully defending Monster Energy from lawsuits for seven years and gives much of the credit to his trusted team

The Outside Edge

Aaron Sonnhalter, vice president and chief litigation counsel of Monster Energy, says one of the keys to the company’s continued litigation excellence lies in the trust he has built with his outside counsel. One of Sonnhalter’s most trusted advisors is Marc Miles, a partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon.

“Too often, outside counsel at other companies litigate with an eye toward their bill and a focus on only the case they are litigating. I feel fortunate to have true partners that consider the entirety of an issue and understand how even ‘small’ decisions fit into the overall puzzle. Marc especially gets it,” Sonnhalter says. “Being able to have honest conversations where nothing is off-limits and there are no bad ideas is vital to achieve the success we have. When there is a lot on the line, you really need to be confident that your team is considering every way to succeed. As I like to say, ‘Everything matters.’ I am grateful that our team approaches each challenge this way.”

Aaron Sonnhalter VP and Chief Litigation Counsel Monster Energy

Marc Miles Partner | mmiles@shb.com

with half the caffeine of a same-sized Starbucks drip coffee, could have caused the injury.

“It took many weeks for Marc and his outstanding team to present all the evidence. But once the jury got the case, they deliberated for only fifteen minutes and ruled in our favor,” Sonnhalter recalls. “This was the culmination of years litigating a large body of cases that many lawyers thought was going to be the next big thing in legal plaintiff work. Our goal was to show everyone that Monster Energy drinks are safe. I think we did that. Now, fortunately, that collection of cases is gone. It was the reason I came to Monster, and I am glad we did our small part to protect the industry from frivolous attacks on our products.”

Sonnhalter repeatedly expresses appreciation for his in-house legal team, his outside counsel relationship with Shook, and the leadership at Monster for knowing when to take a stand. “Our co-CEOs, Rodney and Hilton, are authentic, genuine, and great people who want to do the right thing,” Sonnhalter says. “We will take an aggressive litigation posture when that is the right thing to do, but we won’t drain resources just to make a point.”

Monster’s legal successes are impressive, considering that the $50 billion company’s in-house litigation team is relatively small—just three people. Sonnhalter says that success is possible due to the company’s leadership empowering and trusting its in-house team and outside counsel. Sonnhalter explains that working closely with the co-CEOs is an ideal situation where his lean team can operate in a trusted and supported environment. “Great leadership is imperative to making a lean team successful and effective,” Sonnhalter says.

“I also want to make sure to recognize everyone on the Monster team that makes our work possible, including the other Monster legal lanes and departments throughout the company,” he says. “Everyone pulls in the same direction. It starts at the top. If you have great leadership, you get great results. I believe our results are unparalleled.”

Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP:

“Aaron is a skillful lawyer who has a keen sense of balancing an aggressive litigation stance with commonsense business purpose. He has proven to be successful in efficiently and effectively furthering the company’s interests.”

–Marc Miles, Partner

The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.

We salute our client, friend and trailblazer Aaron Sonnhalter Monster Energy for his insightful leadership and achievements as part of Monster Energy’s legal team. ATLANTA | BOSTON CHICAGO | DENVER

| KANSAS CITY | LONDON

“We will take an aggressive litigation posture when that is the right thing to do, but we won’t drain resources just to make a point.”

Sharing Extraordinary Robots with the World

Jason Fiorillo leverages his lifelong pursuits of science and law to enable Boston Dynamics’ magical robots to help humanity

By Donald Liebenson

WHEN TALKING TO JASON FIORILLO ABOUT HIS JOB, IT’S hard not to think about every robot-centric sci-fi movie that’s been released. Fiorillo is the chief legal officer for Massachusetts-based Boston Dynamics, a robotics design company that is bringing the robots of our dreams to life through its unique, futuristic inventions.

Unlike the luxurious corporate digs that often ensconce a general counsel, the entire back wall of Fiorillo’s office is made of tempered glass that overlooks the “Spot Lab,” where dozens of Boston Dynamics’ eponymous quadrupeds traverse stairs, open doors, flip switches, turn cranks, and every so often, practice a new dance routine.

But beyond its daily duties, Fiorillo sees a higher calling for his company’s technology. “We have a responsibility to ensure that robots and humans can

work together safely and effectively,” he says. “The pandemic has highlighted the critical role of essential workers and demonstrated new ways in which our robots can be used as tools to help humans stay safe.”

If this was a sci-fi story or screenplay (think I, Robot), this would be the cue for the robots’ red lights to illuminate, indicating malevolent intentions. But Fiorillo pushes back against the sci-fi narrative of uprising robots. “R2-D2 and C-3PO were very handy droids,” he says. “Wall-E and Baymax and Star Trek ’s ‘Mr. Data’ all show robots that reflect the goodness in humanity.”

Science-based fact, in this case, is considerably more interesting than any fiction, and the company continually strives to show the world how helpful a robot can be to take people out of harm’s way.

Spot, the company’s first commercially available robot is an autonomous, dog-like machine that completes routine inspection tasks, captures data, and can also dance. The company’s latest robot, Stretch, can help streamline warehouse operations by reaching for and picking up boxes. At any point in his workday, Fiorillo can look out his window and watch them go. “It’s the coolest thing,” he says.

Fiorillo joined Boston Dynamics in 2019. Combining an early love of sci-fi films like Star Trek and Star Wars with his lifelong interest in law and technology, his role at Boston Dynamics is “the culmination of my experience to date,” he says.

Fiorillo studied electrical engineering and computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

He was part of a prestigious five-year master’s program, working with an engineering company that granted him a paid position over the summer and a job after five years, with his degree paid for. “My role as a summer intern was to write code in a refrigerated space all day long,” Fiorillo says with a laugh. “It was cool, but I was looking for something a bit more social.”

He embarked on a new plan: he studied for the LSAT to get into law school. He did well and applied to his two top schools (Harvard and Stanford). He chose to attend the latter. Out of law school, he accepted a position as a corporate attorney for a firm that specialized in mergers and acquisitions.

“It was very challenging,” Fiorillo says, “but I learned a lot. The first year, it was like being at an all-youcan-eat legal buffet every single day;

Courtesy of Boston Dynamics

Jason Fiorillo Chief Legal Officer Boston Dynamics

there was more than you could possibly handle.”

Naturally, the eighteen-hour days, every day, threw his work/life balance out of whack. So he opted to explore intellectual property and worked for a few years at an IP boutique firm until his wife got a job offer she couldn’t refuse in Boston.

Fiorillo rebounded after the powerhouse law firm he worked for, Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, dissolved, and in 2007, he joined Analog Devices. By the time he departed in 2019, he was responsible for the company’s global commercial legal matters, intellectual property strategy, and litigation. “Analog Devices was a great springboard to prepare me for life at Boston Dynamics,” he says.

Boston Dynamics had long been on Fiorillo’s radar. The founders of the company came from the Leg Lab at MIT. “As far back as the ’90s, I would see the fantastic creations they put together,” he says. “I was blown away.” So when they were on the cusp of producing Spot for commercial use, Fiorillo “jumped in with both feet” and was asked to join the company.

In June 2021, Hyundai acquired a controlling interest in Boston Dynamics, opening the doors for the company to help define the future of mobility. Fiorillo’s week is split between M&A work, handling Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) regulations, commercial alliances, and articulating the company’s code of robot ethics.

Considering how robots are often portrayed as malevolent creatures in pop culture, Fiorillo insists that some Hollywood memes are incomplete. To disband these stereotypes about human/robot interaction, the company recently posted on its website its “Statement of Robot Ethical Principles.” Among them: “We prioritize the human element in human-robot partnerships,” “We build trustworthy robots,” and “We promote . . . laws and regulations that promote the safe and responsible use of robots.”

As an author of this statement, and the force behind the company’s similarly focused term and conditions of sale, Fiorillo reflects on this work with pride. “These documents illustrate key principles that drive our company.”

Fiorillo also credits his amazingly strong team of lawyers, paralegals, and safety personnel for helping him succeed at his job. “They’re all rock stars in their own rights. My job is to make sure they are supported, motivated, and directed and that all of our incentives are aligned,” he says.

Outside of work, like any good robot caregiver, Fiorillo occasionally takes Spot out for a walk. On one particularly memorable occasion, he says, “My children were involved in a weekend program at MIT for middle school students. We took Spot and walked through the hallways. I let my daughter pilot Spot and she felt like a superstar. That’s the type of magic we’re bringing to the world.”

The Family Law of the Corporate World

Longtime employment lawyer John Hamlin remains as passionate as ever about his field as he helps Marsh McLennan navigate regulatory developments and pandemic-era challenges

By Natalie Kochanov

Hamlin Chief Counsel, Employment, Benefits & Governance Marsh

John

McLennan

“Employment law is fascinating. It’s complex and challenging, and it’s packed with human drama,” says Hamlin. “I’ve always said that I practice the family law of the corporate world.”

The inherently high stakes of employment law have been on full display throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Hamlin has risen to the challenge by helping Marsh McLennan navigate the crisis from an employment perspective. Fortunately, the firm’s executive leadership team set the stage for success by prioritizing employee well-being from the start—a move that Hamlin considers reflective of Marsh McLennan’s overall company culture. It’s a culture to which he is proud to contribute by bringing to bear his extensive employment law experience.

Before discovering his passion for employment law, Hamlin obtained undergraduate and master’s degrees in English literature. However, the practicality of the law soon drew him away from a potential career in academia. He attended law school at the University of Connecticut, then spent a year clerking at the US District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.

“The clerkship was a great experience in a fast-paced and dynamic court that handled a

vast array of cases, including another chapter in the original lawsuit to desegregate Savannah’s public schools. The court also handled a lot of employment cases, which I found particularly interesting,” he says.

Hamlin continued to gravitate toward employment law during his years in private practice, first at Connecticut law firm Wiggin and Dana and then at international firm Paul Hastings. He gained exposure to a wide variety of employment cases, from collective bargaining and class actions to discrimination claims and workplace investigations.

“What I loved most about private practice was advising employers on how to maneuver the crazy, complex quilt of employment laws and regulations,” Hamlin says. “I was able to become an expert in the essential subject matter areas of employment law, and I developed into what I like to think of as a pragmatic generalist.”

When he joined Marsh McLennan as an in-house employment counsel in 2002, Hamlin narrowed in on the elements of private employment law practice that had most appealed to him. His time at the law firms had prepared him to dive right into managing significant employment disputes and litigation and advising Marsh McLennan’s four primary businesses on legal risk.

By 2007, Hamlin had stepped into the role of chief employment counsel. “Since then, the role has expanded and developed as the organization has grown and the legal and compliance function has grown with it,” he says. That

JOHN HAMLIN LOVES WHAT HE DOES. THE chief counsel for employment, benefits, and governance at global professional services firm Marsh McLennan found an area of law that perfectly suits his sensibilities early on, and he’s never looked back.

has meant refining the scope of his role, which has extended at times into new areas—such as overseeing benefits and compensation and governance teams— and has included greater involvement with advising on M&A activity and the company’s growth strategy.

In 2019, Marsh McLennan closed its $5.6 billion acquisition of global insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thomson, and Hamlin advised on the integration of JLT’s ten thousand employees, located in dozens of countries around the world. “Our team also took on the responsibility of advising on restrictive covenant matters and managing restrictive covenant disputes and litigation,” he adds. “That’s now a significant

portion of our practice because there is a greater movement of talent within our key industries these days, and our businesses continue to grow.”

As Hamlin gained experience counseling the businesses on those issues, the scope of his work became increasingly global. Given that he currently leads a lean team of five employment lawyers, he partners with colleagues in employee relations and human resources (HR) as well as other legal professionals at the firm to enhance the team’s ability to perform effectively and to keep pace with the businesses themselves. He also relies on Marsh McLennan’s internal employment law council and an external network of employment law firms

for up-to-date information about new challenges facing the firm and the field at large worldwide.

“The biggest challenge for our team is the increasing intricacy and sheer quantity of employment and workplace regulation. There are constantly new and more complex regulations imposed on employers by national, regional, state, and local authorities,” Hamlin says. “For a multinational corporation, the key employment risks are still in the US, with its complex regulatory scheme, jury trials, and class actions, but every jurisdiction around the globe has its own individual version of employment regulation as well as laws governing restrictive covenants.”

Expertise Spotlight

With a singular focus on labor and employment law, our team is better equipped to serve your business. Why? Because our experience is vast, and our knowledge is deep. For more than seventy-five years, we’ve focused exclusively on labor and employment law. But we realize it’s not enough to know just the law—we have to know your business too. By understanding your challenges and opportunities, we can tackle everything from simple questions to complex litigation needs with the same rigor and the same nuanced approach. And we can respond to each of your questions—not just with an answer, but with your answer.

At Littler, unconventional thinking is our norm. We listen to our clients’ issues and respond with bold answers that not only address their needs but help shape the industry. So whether you’re a CLO facing compliance challenges in the financial services field or a higher education human resources leader with employee benefits questions; whether you’re a GC dealing with wage and hour issues in the retail space or a business leader of an energy company who needs help navigating international employment law—you’ve come to the right place.

With the help of his colleagues and external partners, Hamlin closely monitors the shifting employment law landscape to support Marsh McLennan’s global operations. He strives to maintain a consistent approach to HR compliance, which he has seen evolve into a substantial component of employment law over his decades in practice. “Every year, employment regulation becomes more complex, more intricate, and more burdensome for employers. An employment lawyer today spends less time on disputes than on advising on strategies to comply with the incredibly complex employment regulation in the US and globally,” he confirms.

Hamlin encountered a new class of regulations in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold around the world. Just as every jurisdiction presents its own unique employment laws, individual cities, states, and countries established different standards for COVID-related workplace safety. “For employment lawyers, managing through that maze of regulation has been a huge undertaking,” Hamlin says. “It’s part of that same theme of variation and complexity in regulation. During the pandemic, that only intensified.”

At Marsh McLennan, Hamlin has advised on health and safety protocols, new working arrangements, return-to-

“Do the right thing, focus on what’s best for the mission of the enterprise and our clients, and at the same time, be smart and honorable.”

office priorities, and other issues throughout the pandemic. In addition, he has provided legal advice to the global crisis management team—a cross-functional, cross-business group concerned with the pandemic and the firm’s response to it.

In Hamlin’s eyes, that response has been spot-on. “At the start of the pandemic, when there was so much uncertainty, our CEO announced almost immediately to the workforce that a priority for the company through the worst of the crisis was going to be protecting our colleagues’ jobs during the worst of the crisis,” he says. “The strength of management’s communication of that priority relieved some of the extraordinary stress that employees were feeling and helped them hunker down and work more productively.”

Hamlin views the decision not to furlough workers as a testament to the values and culture in place at Marsh McLennan. The firm’s code of conduct, The Greater Good, drives home the essential nature of acting ethically and taking ownership of compliance efforts across the organization.

“We have an inclusive culture that values collaboration, innovation, and the diversity that our individual colleagues bring to work each day. Our code of conduct embodies the values of the enterprise, and those values have been ingrained in the consciousness of our workforce through training, discussions, videos, and corporate communications as well as by the example of our leadership,” Hamlin elaborates. “Do the right thing, focus on what’s best for the mission of the enterprise and our clients, and at the same time, be smart and honorable.”

Hamlin plans to remain grounded in the firm’s culture as he facilitates its next steps, including transitioning out of the pandemic. “Marsh McLennan has an opportunity to craft the future of work, to enhance its operations, and to make sure that the workforce of

tomorrow is equipped and supported to help the company continue to thrive. I want to help shape that dynamic future,” he says.

As he assists the firm in its ongoing growth, Hamlin will continue to focus on identifying and sensibly managing employment-based risk. He will keep building up his relationships with colleagues and clients, all while leveraging the skills and expertise that he has accumulated throughout his career in employment law—a field that he still loves, both despite and because of its complexities.

“At a professional services firm like Marsh McLennan, where your assets are your people, the employment law issues matter a lot,” Hamlin emphasizes. “They involve serious work, and our colleagues and our leaders care about these issues deeply. And we need to get those issues right.”

Faegre Drinker:

“I have watched John grow into his position—chief counsel of employment, benefits, and governance—over the course of the past twenty years. He has shown intelligence, steely grit, resilience, and empathy in dealing with the myriad issues around the globe. Congratulations, John, on a much-deserved recognition.”

–Erika

C. Collins, Partner

Jackson Lewis P.C.:

“John is a superb employment lawyer with unparalleled experience. He is an insightful and dedicated professional. Partnering with John and MMC’s employment law team is always productive and a pleasure.”

–Cliff Atlas, Partner

Kramer Levin:

“John Hamlin brings a potent blend of creativity and practicality to the management of the employment group at Marsh McLennan. His leadership is a driving force behind the group’s well-earned reputation as the gold standard for employment departments throughout the country.”

–Kevin

B. Leblang, Partner and Chair, Employment Law

Littler Mendelson:

“Working with John is a privilege. He appreciates the nuances of employment law and collaborates directly with outside counsel, using a risk/reward approach to find practical solutions to problems.”

–Michael Weber, Shareholder

Modern Counsel

With strategic offices crossing three continents, Faegre Drinker supports clients’ global cross-border needs – wherever their business takes them. In supporting Marsh McLennan, we’ve watched John Hamlin take the business through international integrations and a once-in-a-century pandemic, cementing himself as a trusted partner on issues of employment, governance, benefits and compensation, and employee relations. In a globalizing world, he’s an exemplar of modern counsel.

Focused on labor and employment law since 1958, our 950+ attorneys located in major cities nationwide consistently identify and respond to new ways workplace law intersects business.

©2021 Jackson Lewis P.C. Attorney Advertising | jacksonlewis.com

A Career in Energy

Mark Schroeder led Enable Midstream Partners through a $7 billion acquisition. Now, he’s looking forward to retirement and encouraging young attorneys to consider the energy sector he made home for nearly four decades.

By Zach Baliva

MARK SCHROEDER DIDN’T CHOOSE THE energy industry; the energy industry chose him. Schroeder, a CPA, enrolled in law school to focus on tax law. But something unexpected happened during an internship with a congressman from his home state of Louisiana. Schroeder was infected by “Potomac fever,” or the desire to stay in Washington, DC.

There was just one problem. Not many DC firms were recruiting summer clerks from Louisiana State University, where Schroeder was in his second year. The ambitious student, however, was undeterred. The intersection of law, policy, and business motivated him. He knew he could

leverage his skills to make an impact. And instead of settling for something else, he waited until a large Houston firm with a DC office came to campus. Baker Botts, which specialized in energy regulation in Washington, represented Schroeder’s only opportunity to go to Washington. When they offered him a summer clerkship, he took it on the spot.

That was 1981. Schroeder left his first internship with a solid job offer in hand. However, not everyone in his life thought he should accept it. “People thought the industry was about to be deregulated or was too volatile,” he explains. “This is indeed an interesting industry with

special challenges, but that is part of what attracted me to it.” Schroeder accepted the job offer and has been in the oil and energy sector ever since.

Schroeder thrived as part of the Capitol Hill community and enjoyed observing how government offices, federal courts, and other entities combined to form one of the nation’s most unique legal markets. Five foundational years with Baker Botts helped

the young lawyer improve his writing and communication skills. A group of commercially minded associates and partners helped him develop a problem-solving mindset.

“Some new lawyers focus only on nuanced contract language or minor points of principle that don’t really add value to the transaction, but I learned how to help a client achieve its business goals,” Schroeder says.

By 1989, Schroeder was serving as a deputy general counsel for the United States Department of Energy. In that role, he managed natural gas and environmental legislation. Three-plus years in the Bush administration allowed Schroeder to work closely with people who committed to government services as a career. The experience helped him understand how decisions get made in large bureaucracies and how to navigate the competing demands of various constituencies.

As Schroeder stacked up experience and broadened his skills, he found more opportunities to make an impact in oil and energy. He left the federal government and returned to private practice in 1993. A year later, the Enron Corporation recruited Schroeder to step in as general counsel of Northern Natural Gas in Omaha. From there, Enron took him to London, where he negotiated with agencies and utilities across Europe as the EU was building an energy commodities market and starting a deregulation process.

By 2003, Schroeder had built a reputation as a respected veteran in the space. He moved to Houston-based CenterPoint Energy and entered a new phase of his career. “I’ve never been content maintaining the status quo. I always challenge myself, and I value continuous learning,” he says.

Schroeder was ready to take on a more dedicated leadership role and emerge as a top manager of talent. Schroeder started as the only lawyer for CenterPoint’s midstream energy group and grew the department from the ground up. In 2011, he became a deputy general counsel for the entire CenterPoint organization, with oversight of an important legal team that supported the regulatory and commercial side of

Mark Schroeder

EVP, General Counsel, and Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer Enable Midstream Partners

electric transmission and natural gas distribution, in addition to the oil and gas midstream business.

In 2013, CenterPoint partnered with OG&E to combine each company’s midstream assets and form Enable Midstream Partners (Enable). Schroeder stayed as the new organization’s general counsel to lead all legal affairs, including important growth initiatives and M&A transactions.

It’s been the perfect role for someone nearing the end of a four-decade career in energy. “I’ve seen a lot of my experience come together here as I take on some big challenges and hopefully influence and prepare our younger lawyers for what’s ahead,” he says.

Enable’s external partners, including Bradley Murchison & Kelly Shea, can attest to Schroeder’s eminent capabilities: “Outside counsel working with Mark can be confident that all client matters will be handled ethically and professionally and that he will support and provide guidance to associates and young partners included on his projects,” says Kay C. Medlin, a founding member of the firm.

Schroeder manages a robust ethics and compliance function and has developed new governance structures and internal policies for the organization. In 2014, he drafted public Securities and Exchange Commission filings for the company’s

“Some new lawyers focus only on nuanced contract language or minor points of principle that don’t really add value to the transaction, but I learned how to help a client achieve its business goals.”

$575 million IPO. The deal was the largest IPO by asset value for a midstream energy company.

While historic in size, the 2014 deal only prepared Schroeder for even more complex transactions. In 2020, he helped steer Enable through a $7 billion all-equity acquisition by Energy Transfer. As he continues to lead Enable’s legal function, Schroeder is focused on maximizing effectiveness and maintaining momentum in the business. Enable is the plaintiff in one major piece of litigation going to trial in 2022. The company also recently received approval for a $550 million pipeline construction project to access Gulf Coast markets.

Schroeder knows he is probably in his last year as a full-time corporate attorney and is preparing his team for a successful transition. “Good people make you look good,” he says. “I’ve surrounded myself with the best people I can find, and I’m doing my best to build the culture here so the team will be as strong as possible going into the future.”

Enable embarked upon a program called “Liberating

We are proud to represent

Leadership,” through which its managers provide employees “high-challenge” work and “high support.” The philosophy is to challenge Enable’s employees, including the attorneys, with meaningful work, and for managers to make sure that employees have the support and resources they need to thrive. While any merger brings a measure of uncertainty, Schroeder says good leaders can ensure their team members either have a place at the new company or are prepared to find their next landing spot.

As Schroeder reflects on a long and successful career, he’s both grateful and hopeful. “Younger lawyers can still find an interesting, exciting, and meaningful career in energy,” he says. While those lawyers won’t be dealing with the same issues found in the fossil fuels industry that Schroeder once did, they can harness the potential of the energy transition in growing renewable markets, development of efficient battery storage, and carbon capture projects. Energy is what moves our economy, no matter how we produce it, and good lawyers will always have a home in the industry.

Getting It Done

Amy Conley has gone from ranch hand to paralegal to lawyer and now juggles corporate litigation for DISH Network with pro bono work and family

By Pamela Bloom

HOW DO YOU GO FROM HERDING CATTLE to becoming a personal injury litigator at one of America’s top corporate firms?

For Amy Conley, now corporate litigation counsel at DISH Network, one of the country’s biggest satellite TV providers, the path to success wasn’t exactly straight. It was, however, colorful, enriching, and reflective of great networking, encouraging mentors, and a lot of hard work.

Conley’s story begins on her family’s sixty-thousand-acre cattle ranch in the middle of rural South Dakota. Growing up there, she says, was reminiscent of Little House on the Prairie. Up until fifth grade, she attended a one-room schoolhouse, branded Herefords, butchered chickens, and grew veggies. At one point, faced with shucking a whole truckload of sweet corn, she came up with a motto that’s guided her life ever since: “Just get it done.”

Conley went on to earn an English degree; while she had no desire to be a teacher, she believed that “everyone needs someone who can read and write.” She briefly considered going to law school after that but chose paralegal school instead.

“I teach my kids there are always two sides to any story and that the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.”

Postgraduation, a variety of paralegal positions—from interning with famed Colorado dog lawyer Linda Cawley to working for an immigration firm—gave Conley a more intimate understanding of the law. While raising her first two children, she spent the wee hours of the night transcribing heart-wrenching testimonies from asylum refugees (which would later inform her pro bono work).

In 2004, one of the firm’s bigger clients, DISH Network, called her to a position there. With just one day of training, she dove into the three-person litigation group, processing a hundred subpoenas a month, plus all the small claims, and assisting the litigation attorneys with a wide variety of caseloads. Practically on her own, she gathered evidence, prepped witnesses, and prepared regional managers for small claims trials throughout the country.

As she helped grow the department, she gained a variety of experience in litigation, from small claims to class actions. Around 2012, her general counsel commented: “You’re doing better work than a lot of young associates. It’s too bad you can’t be an attorney, with your background.” Conley quipped back, “Can’t you just make me one!?”

Though her colleagues kept encouraging her, applying to law school was not easy for Conley: she was managing a full-time caseload at DISH, raising five children, and volunteering at various organizations. She procrastinated on applying; then a Colorado snowstorm nearly deterred her on the day of the LSAT. But she made it through the exam and earned a spot on

Amy Conley Corporate Litigation Counsel DISH Network

the waitlist at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. After her general counsel made an important call, she started the following Monday.

She attended school at night, keeping her position at DISH. In later semesters, she gave herself a little break by transferring to TTEC, a global customer experience technology and services company with a lighter caseload—but she was still working, raising a family, and doing volunteer work the entire time she was in school.

“I cut out a lot of distractions,” Conley explains with a laugh. She gives credit to her family and the extended family of her church community, and says that instead of driving to class, she would take the train so she could study for an extra twenty minutes. She carried her outlines to her kids’ sporting events and forwent TV altogether.

“Whether I had five minutes or an hour, I tried to say yes to what was most important and let other things go,” she says. “Law school taught me you can

always do more than you assume. Once I was done, I realized how much time I had on my hands.”

Then, a few months before she took the bar in 2018, DISH called again. Returning to a company where she had once been a paralegal seemed daunting, despite the fact that the DISH litigation team knew and respected her work.

“I knew the business at DISH and the litigation process. But I had to gain the inner confidence that I was now the final decision-maker on my cases,” she says. “My colleagues were always here to advise me, but with each decision, I got more confident about litigation strategy and instructing outside counsel. And I still learn every day.”

Today, Conley handles all tort litigation involving personal injury and property damage for the company; DISH has many vans out on the road doing installations, which means that inevitably, there will be accidents. “A lot of times, liability situations are clearcut,” she explains. “If we did something wrong, we try to settle it reasonably. If not, we are not afraid to go to trial. We have almost nine million customers, and we don’t want to set precedents.”

Still, some cases stick with her. Conley remembers one head-on collision in which a young woman passed away at the scene. “It’s so hard to put values on those kinds of cases,” she says. “Our entire department felt empathy. It’s difficult when you know the only thing you have to offer is money.”

Conley’s deep connection to the plight of others has kept her devoted to her work for Alight, a nonprofit she began working for during law school that connects human trafficking survivors with pro bono counsel through

“I knew the business at DISH and the process. But I had to gain the inner confidence that I was now the final decisionmaker on my cases.”

an app. Presently, Conley is also exploring how she might be able to serve a local homeless coalition. Building a sphere of influence through networking and relationship-building is very important to her.

“I have a strong faith and believe there are ways to live out my faith in everyday life,” she says. “Many attorneys go into practicing law wanting to change the world, but then they discover they have to pay bills. When they get to pick up pro bono work that truly changes somebody’s life, they feel, just like I have, that they’ve become part of the bigger solution.”

The practice of law has illuminated something else for Conley, and it’s a life lesson she has passed on to her family.

“I teach my kids there are always two sides to any story and that the truth is probably somewhere in the middle,” she says. “But that’s what I love about the law. It’s not about maneuvering the truth. There is a lot of gray, and as an attorney, you’ve got to be willing to play in the gray.”

Mozley, Finlayson & Loggins LLP: “Amy is a resourceful and decisive litigation partner with a sharp eye for detail in each case. She brings common sense to every decision and will stand her ground. Amy is a true professional.”

–John L. McKinley, Jr., Partner

anMakingImpact

At Volkswagen Group of America, Jen White dives deep into the science of motor vehicles to inform her risk mitigation and litigation work for the company

By Pamela Bloom

UNTIL RECENTLY, FEW WOMEN COULD BE found at the junction between automobiles and the law. But Jen White, corporate counsel in automotive products liability and litigation at Volkswagen Group of America, has had an interest in cars since she was young—and she’s been working in the automotive industry since before she even graduated from law school.

A child of the Rust Belt, White grew up in northeastern Ohio, in a blue-collar town dependent on the auto and steel industry. She remembers getting down and dirty to help her grandfather when he was tooling under vintage cars in his garage. Simultaneously, her parents worked in the court system. “I loved visiting them because something was always happening,” she remembers.

She was fascinated by the way judges explained rulings, but she also loved science.

One summer, at space camp, she blurted out what she really wanted to be when she grew up: “The first lawyer in space!” Twenty years ago, exactly how that was going to happen was anybody’s guess.

During law school at the University of Akron, White was selected for an internship at Bridgestone Firestone. It coincided with the beginning of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s investigation of the Ford Explorer’s Radial ATX and Wilderness AT tires, an inquiry that would ultimately lead to a massive nationwide recall and substantial product liability litigation. White’s three-month internship turned into a part-time job through law school.

“I learned so much about crisis management, how to handle nationwide bet-thecompany litigation, and how important sound

Jen White Corporate Counsel in Automotive Products Liability & Litigation Volkswagen Group of America

Expertise Spotlight

Shook, Hardy & Bacon’s automotive team represents most of the world’s leading auto manufacturers, handling just about every type of automotive claim. A differentiator is Shook’s commitment to science and technology, which includes an industry group focusing on highly autonomous vehicles. Researchers and analysts with advanced degrees in engineering and technology round out the team, giving the firm greater depth and breadth of knowledge in automotive technology, engineering, and product design.

Chambers ranked in class action, Shook’s deep bench of leading automotive lawyers take a multidisciplinary approach to representing clients at trial and on appeal, addressing issues in product liability and tort, class action and complex litigation, intellectual property, and heavy machinery and transportation as well as the rapidly developing field of autonomous vehicle regulation and law.

At the forefront of representing automotive companies, Shook understands its clients’ products, their businesses, and the industry as a whole as well as the legal and regulatory landscape, emerging technology, and liability theories. The automotive team stretches from DC, for regulatory guidance, across the nation to its three offices in California, for industry knowledge and litigation prowess.

“I love to disassemble things and see how they work. It helps you better understand how all the parts interconnect and how all this work becomes someone’s family vehicle.”

legal advice is to risk analysis and the success of a company,” she says. It also gave her a deeper understanding of how a business works as a whole.

“It was stuff they don’t teach you in school,” White explains. “Usually lawyers are seen as the ‘no’ people. Everybody thinks if legal gets involved, we’ll tell you that you can’t do something. But we are really business advisors. Our goal is to help a business achieve what it wants with the least amount of risk.”

When White got her first job out of law school—at Holland & Knight, Firestone’s outside counsel—she picked up where she had left off at Firestone. This time, though, she was learning about litigation and strategy development from the outside looking in. “It also exposed me to some of the best trial lawyers in the country, from both the plaintiff’s and the defense side,” she says.

As much as White enjoyed the experience, she wanted to make a bigger impact. When she arrived at Volkswagen in early 2019, she became an integral part of an interdisciplinary team of in-house counsel and technical support professionals representing the company’s interests in complex automotive litigation and regulatory matters. This was a perfect fit, given White’s unique abilities for tackling complex scientific issues and her substantial experience, both from a business and outside counsel perspective.

White also interfaces with international in-house counsel, providing advice and insight regarding the difficult legal landscape in the United States. “It’s very difficult for a someone without training to understand how unpredictable the US legal system can be,” White explains. “So we saw our role, first and foremost, as educators.

German law is based on civil code, so there is not much likelihood of a runaway jury with an astronomical verdict. For our US cases, we can give our best educated guess as to outcome, but there are so many unknowns, especially with juries. But I am proud of how our team has opened many new avenues of communication about this with both our German colleagues and our business partners.”

Given Volkswagen’s commitment to electrifying its fleet and employing more ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) features, White has had to dive even deeper into science. To better understand the complexities of accidents, she interacts daily with all kinds of engineers, including advanced software technicians. Her favorite days are when she can walk the assembly line or attend hands-on training. “I love to disassemble things and see how they work,” she says. “It helps you better understand how all the parts interconnect and how all the work behind this becomes someone’s family vehicle.”

White’s colleagues outside the company have noted the level of commitment that she brings to her job.

“Jen has been a gearhead longer than she has been a lawyer, which makes her stand out from many of her peers in the industry,” says Grant Law, partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon. “This skill set makes her the ideal captain of the case teams she puts together, and there is no better proof of this than the many litigation successes she has achieved for VW and Audi.”

While the automotive industry has historically been a boys’ club, White says, it’s improved a lot over time. “Today I have a lot of female colleagues, both in the US and Germany, who are becoming the face of the company and

taking leadership roles. That has definitely had a positive impact, and it’s a change that has been necessary for a long time.”

The rise of women at Volkswagen also dovetails with the company’s commitment to diversity. “We want to reflect diversity not only in our company but in outside counsel as well, to better reflect our customers,” she says.

Volkswagen is also committed to developing AVs—autonomous vehicles that drive themselves—and is particularly focused on its MaaS (Mobility as a Service) initiative. Those initiatives, according to White, will help people with disabilities who can’t drive or who live in rural areas without access to reliable transportation. Presently, she is focusing heavily on the sticky legal issues of responsibility that selfdriving technology will bring. “It’s about becoming better corporate citizens and educating the consumer ahead of time,” she says.

These days, White drives a Volkswagen, of course. And while she has not yet made it to space, her twelve-yearold daughter has already gone to space camp, and her ten-year-old son will soon follow. When asked if she is still dreaming about being the first lawyer in space, she laughs. “These days I think I prefer to remain more grounded!”

Herzfeld & Rubin, P.C.:

“Jen White is top-notch, combining extraordinary legal knowledge and experience with keen practical skills, creativity, diligence, and a unique ability to navigate successfully through complex legal and commercial issues. We congratulate Jen on this well-deserved tribute!”

–Michael Gallub, Member/Director

We salute our friend, client and trailblazer Jennifer White Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. for her insightful leadership and achievements as part of Volkswagen’s legal team.

The Challenge to Make Things Better

Alyssa Koo helps PG&E do everything it can to mitigate the risk of wildfires in California

By Will Grant

ALYSSA KOO UNDERSTANDS THAT HER job is not for the faint of heart. As the managing counsel for gas and electric operations at PG&E for the past two-plus years, she has spent a fair share of her fifteen years with her employer under a microscope. PG&E has more than one hundred thousand miles of overhead electric distribution and transmission lines and fifty thousand miles of gas pipelines that bring power to sixteen million people in northern and central California.

But those familiar with the name of the company outside of California are probably most likely to recognize it because of its role in the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion in 2010 and in catastrophic wildfires in 2017 and 2018—including the 2018 Camp Fire, which claimed the lives of eighty-five people and virtually wiped the town of Paradise, California, off the map.

“This was a terrible tragedy that was ultimately caused by one of our facilities,” Koo explains. “I can’t imagine being one of the 911 dispatchers or first responders assisting with these emergencies, let alone the people who were killed or injured or lost their homes. There are no words to express how awful that fire was.”

The managing counsel says PG&E’s response to the tragedy is exactly why she chooses to work in a role that some might find too stressful.

“I understand the public’s outrage, and I understand how people feel negatively toward us, but I also know that this

company is genuinely trying to do what’s right,” Koo says. “I know what we’re doing and how much effort everyone is putting in, and if I don’t stay to help achieve that success, then I’m failing to do my part to help the state of California find solutions to its energy needs—critical and vital needs.”

Response to a Growing Threat

Koo says that the exponentially increasing effects of climate change have hit places like California and its forestland particularly hard. “No overhead electric system is able to function perfectly, but the drastically increased fires—in numbers and intensity—show how climate change is creating major changes for California,” Koo says. “And it’s coming much faster than anyone anticipated.”

The difference lies in the margin for error, the lawyer says. With brush and forested area essentially primed for the most minute ignition, PG&E and other power companies have had to continually work to perfect a power delivery system that can never be 100 percent foolproof. But the lawyer says her company has taken extensive measures to keep the potential risk as low as possible.

Among other measures, PG&E consulted San Diego Gas and Electric. A decade before, more advanced wildfire risk in southern California had spurred San Diego Gas and Electric to implement the proactive switching off of power in designated areas (what later became

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Ann Taylor

“If I don’t stay to help achieve that success [with the power grid], then I’m failing to do my part to help the state of California find solutions to its energy needs—critical and vital needs.”

Alyssa Koo Managing Counsel, Gas & Electric Operations PG&E

Someone Like You

Alyssa Koo says that even though she’s fully Americanized, feeling like an outsider has always been part of her journey. It has inspired Koo to help women, Asian Americans, and others advance and feel supported by the community. She has served as the cochair of the Bar Association of San Francisco Minority Scholarship Committee and on committees as a member of the Asian American Bar Association. She is also a board member of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Coming from the IP law field, which she describes as heavily White and male during her tenure, Koo believes in the value diversity can bring. “Earlier in my career, I didn’t feel I needed to see successful people from similar backgrounds as mine, but as I’ve matured, I’ve recognized its importance more and more,” she says. “When you see someone who comes from your background succeed, it encourages you to persevere; you realize advancement is possible.”

known as the Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) program. “One difficulty was that our territory is so much bigger than theirs,” Koo says. “But still, they had done it, and we needed to start somewhere.”

The company would find more answers in Australia, a country that has been struggling with its own massive wildfire issues. “It was a symbiotic exchange; they wound up asking us for advice after we had gotten our own PSPS program up and running,” Koo remembers.

The PSPS, Koo says, always functions as a double-edged sword. While it may help mitigate fire risk, PG&E will inevitably face criticism for cutting off power. The decision of if and when to de-energize relies heavily on PG&E’s meteorology department to evaluate weather forecasts in light of soil and climate conditions. It’s Koo’s job not just to make sure that the methodology and measures taken are legally sound but also to help translate the hard science talk of meteorologists and engineers to the broader company, regulators, and the public.

“To be blunt, these people are brilliant, but they’re not always able to communicate that brilliance to a general audience,” Koo says. The

lawyer’s previous extensive patent litigation experience serves her well in helping convey difficult and specialized concepts to all.

A Vital Connection

One of Koo’s proudest moments at PG&E was precisely one of those translations. After the deadly Camp Fire, the Caribou-Palermo line where the fire had originated was de-energized but had to go through several steps before it could be removed. After a conversation with an engineer included an offhand reference to induction, Koo followed up and realized that there was a small chance nearby power lines could still cause electrons to flow through the de-energized line.

“I knew we needed to do something about it immediately,” Koo remembers. “It set off this whole process where the law department was pushing electrical operations to analyze the situation and implement a solution immediately. The engineers hadn’t put the whole context together and realized any risk, small as it might have been, on that particular line, was unacceptable risk.”

It was a connection Koo says she was able to make partially because of the amount of diversity her career has

entailed. After preparing law school applications for the following year, Koo spent a year teaching English in China. She later clerked for the Honorable Andrew Kleinfeld, whose Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judgeship based her in Fairbanks, Alaska, for a year.

Koo would go on to spend nine years litigating at Heller Ehrman (including working on the Tenaska vs. Bonneville Power Administration case, the largest arbitration involving the US government) before pivoting into IP law. It was the perfect mix of law and scientific advancement for a girl who grew up in what would become Silicon Valley.

After PG&E emerged from bankruptcy in 2020, Koo still says her role comes with its own share of unique challenges. The lawyer admits that because of PG&E’s public reputation, she’s sometimes reluctant to share that the company is her employer.

“Even my friends will joke about PG&E rates or news articles, and it can get tiring,” the lawyer says. “But we’re always looking at creative ways to try to solve very complex issues. Someone needs to be thinking of these ideas and implementing them, or else conditions are not going to improve. Our leadership team and employees are determined to make things better.”

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