CCBJ July/August 2023 Edition

Corporate Counsel Business Journal

JULY/AUGUST 2023

VOLUME 31, NUMBER 7

Building & Maintaining a Cohesive Team

GULZAR BABAEVA LETS US IN ON HOW STRATEGIC FLUIDITY IS KEY TO SUPPORTING ONE ANOTHER WITHIN LEGAL AND ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION.

INSIDE

Building & Maintaining a Cohesive Team

The DEI Framework

The Keys to Driving Success in the Legal Department

Wellbeing in a Post-Pandemic World

AND MORE!

Strategic

Clifford

Mitratech

Advisors

The participants in the CCBJ Network demonstrate, through their many contributions, their unwavering commitment to the advancement and success of corporate law departments. The engagement and support of these “partners of corporate counsel” assure we continue to develop and distribute the news and information this unique and sophisticated audience relies on to meet the evolving legal and business needs of their organizations. Opentext Society of Corporate

CobbleStone Software

DISCO

Please help us improve and expand our services to corporate counsel by sharing your ideas with our publisher, Kristin Calve, at 844-889-8822 or kcalve@ccbjournal.com

Building & Maintaining a Cohesive Team

 Gulzar Babaeva, VP, Deputy General Counsel at Shipt, lets us in on how strategic fluidity is key to supporting one another within legal and across the organization.

What led you to join Shipt?

As a customer, I had always admired how Shipt went the extra mile for its customers, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that I saw Shipt’s purpose come to life in a big way, and how truly people-centric the company is. Shipt is an industry leader in service and care—and its commitment to providing above-and-beyond service extends from its customers and retail partners to its network of trusted personal shoppers and drivers. So when the opportunity to join Shipt presented itself, I was excited to become a part of this fast-growing, innovative technology company. Also, the role itself was appealing because it was a chance to build programs and teams to position the company for continued growth and success.

Please tell us about your leadership style and who or what has influenced it?

Adjusting to life as an immigrant in the United States has played a crucial role in defining my leadership style. Navigating a different culture and language was incredibly challenging when I moved here as a teenager. As I worked hard to adapt to my new home, I felt like an outsider looking in. I’ve never forgotten what that feels like and, as a result, inclusion is at the epicenter of my leadership style. I strive to create an environment in which every person has a voice and a sense of belonging. My hyperfocus on inclusion has also produced an organizational environment of openness, candor and empowerment which are all necessary

underpinnings for the cultivation and development of high-performing teams.

What qualities do you look for when hiring new people for your team?

One of the unique aspects of my current role is that I had to build my team from scratch when I joined Shipt. In doing so, I had the good fortune of meeting many talented lawyers and compliance professionals. Although I look for different qualities depending on the role they’ll play, I always look for people who are curious. The curiosity piece is critical; we want our team members to bring

that to the job no matter the role they’re performing. We need team members to be continuously curious about our business, especially as we are in a constant state of evolution as a tech company. I also look for candidates who are not afraid to roll up their sleeves and, if needed, take on tasks that are outside their job description. Although all our team members have defined scopes and areas of focus, we don’t always have the luxury of staying in our designated lanes. We strive to practice strategic fluidity so that we can best support one another in the Legal Affairs team and across the company. I have also found that this model is helpful in broadening team members’ skill sets and knowledge of other areas, contributing to their career development.

How would you describe the culture of your organization?

Shipt has an inclusive culture that moves fast and has fun while doing it! One of my favorite aspects of the culture is an appreciation for the care of others. Our company’s core values—authenticity, care, positivity— speak to this culture. These values come to life in both structured ways, such as  through our employee resource groups and volunteer initiatives, and informal, everyday ways, such as how crossfunctional teams work together on a project or coworkers take an interest in each other’s families, hobbies and interests. And because things move fast in the tech world and no day is ever the same, there are many times we have to come together quickly to solve a new challenge. Our team members thrive in this environment of constant change, where a new innovation is always around the corner.

What is the most useful career advice you ever received?

I would say it is to embrace opportunities outside of your comfort zone. The periods in my career when I’ve grown the most are when I have stretched myself by making myself uncomfortable. For example, at Target I raised my hand to do litigation and was assigned general liability litigation. I had only done transactional work up to that point in my career and for the next six months I was drinking from the fire hose trying to learn litigation while handling a high volume of assigned cases. Reading each file seemed to take me forever and at times was reminiscent of learning a new language. But I grew tremendously because of it. I learned how to think and strategize like a litigator, adding a new depth to my ability to assess risk. Most importantly, even though I experienced serious growing pains, I learned that I had good litigator instincts and to trust those instincts, even if I didn’t yet have the full picture.

What changes would you like to see within the legal profession?

First and foremost, and this shouldn’t come as a surprise, we need to continue to move away from the billable hour. The law firms that adapt to alternative fee arrangements effectively will gain leverage when it comes to securing new work as well as retaining existing clients. Second, we need to re-evaluate how we are training junior lawyers to ensure that our practices stay relevant to clients’ evolving needs. As more places embrace fully remote or hybrid work, where organic opportunities for development may not be as abundantly available, we need to be more intentional than ever in how we invest in the next generation of lawyers. 

I strive to create an environment in which every person has a voice and a sense of belonging.

Front

The DEI Framework

Can Bloomberg Move the Diversity Needle?

Now in its third year, Bloomberg Law’s DEI Framework may be getting some traction among law firms. That’s BB Law’s take based on a 25% bump in submissions compared to Year 2. But like most good news on the DEI front, this sliver is modest. A key goal of the Framework is to provide in-house counsel with a list of outside counsel that are prioritizing DEI based on BB Law’s interpretation of the empirical data collected. The Framework has six components, each with a possible score from 0 to 100: firm demographics, leadership/talent pipeline, recruitment and retention, business innovation and strategy, marketing, and D&I in the community. (And to the cynics among you, yes, these data are a bit squishy to fit under the empirical umbrella.) BB Law’s silver lining arises from the increase in firms tracking origination received by diverse attorneys. In Year 1, the Framework did not track origination. In Year 2, only about one in five “non-member firms” (defined as firms that submitted data but were not among the 55 U.S. firms that made BB Law’s quota), but Year 3 saw a meaningful move in the right direction. “Last year, only about one out of five firms that didn’t make the list indicated they tracked the origination credit that diverse attorneys receive,” BB Law says. “This year, non-member firms are on par with member firms, with fully half saying they’re tracking this credit. That’s a step in the right direction for equity!” (See accompanying chart.)

3rd Annual

Legal Operations Executive Leadership Forum

Tarrytown House Estate

September 26, 2023

Legal Operations Executive Leadership Forum, created by CCBJ, is designed for law department and law firm operations executives. This will be an interactive, high level gathering exchange led by individuals revolutionizing the role legal operations in today’s corporations.

Kristin Calve CCBJ

Laura Kibbe Unisys

SHO R T TA K E S

Lawyering Unplugged

Ready for In-house Action

In this post, Mark Smith discusses 5 skills showcased by highly effective in-house counsel. For example, “It’s all about the business stupid!” Smith writes, noting that a genuine understanding of the business is indispensable. Additionally, his “most fundamental rule” for in-house lawyers is to stop “speaking legal.” That leads right to “cut to the chase,” which is longhand for prioritizing issues so internal clients understand what’s most important and the need to focus on what will have the biggest impact on the business. The fourth skill is to “get stuck in,” which is very much not about getting stuck. “Although not a skill, a can do, pro-active approach was seen as a valuable characteristic for an in-house lawyer,” Smith writes. Finally, “don’t bring me problems – they just make my head hurt,” Smith says. “Making sure advice is practical and not too abstract helps achieve these goals, but it’s also a combination of many of the factors above that can lead to breakthrough solutions.”

Source: The Intelligent Challenge

Noncompete Backlash

The general counsel from the NLRB, Jennifer Abruzzo, recently put employers on notice that they could face allegations that their use of restrictive covenants may violate federal labor law, according to this piece from Bloomberg Law. “The Biden administration’s chief labor law enforcer created an immediate problem for employers that use noncompete agreements even as they await a broader ban on those restrictive contracts from another agency, the Federal Trade Commission,” says the Bloomberg article. The NLRB’s appearance on the noncompete scene could add staying power to federal oversight of the agreements as the FTC faces the looming threat of lawsuits over its proposed rule. In the short-term, companies can expect to face greater scrutiny and case-by-case enforcement over their use of restrictive covenants as a result of the NLRB’s involvement, says Catherine Fisk, a University of California, Berkeley Law School professor. “Many noncompete agreements that were formerly arguably lawful are now void,” Fisk says. “That is, they’re an unfair labor practice, so any effort to enforce could presumably draw an unfair labor practice charge.”

Source: Bloomberg Law

“Technology today is as hard to escape as death and taxes,” say the folks at InfoTrack, which integrates with case management systems to automate court filing tasks. “This is especially true for legal professionals who rely on technology for everything — from client intake forms to closing arguments. Though technology has undeniably made our lives more convenient, it comes with a cost: chiefly, the inability to escape from work and stress.” Enter the Total Tech Detox Kit, an E-Book that explores the dominant role of technology and the mental and physical hazards that trail in the wake of ubiquitous tech. “So sit back, relax, and grab a pen and a piece of paper for taking some good, old-fashioned handwritten notes,” say the cheeky un-adopters at InfoTrack. “You just might need to turn to them when you get to the part where you shut off your devices.”

Source: ABA Journal

Avoid Online Comms Nightmares

This piece from Paul Falcone at SHRM Online sorts out the perils of online communications, including: e-mail comments will be used as evidence ( "Email has become to civil law what DNA has become to criminal law.”); never destroy electronic evidence (deliberately or even accidentally); don’t codify the damage by restating bad facts (write stuff that’s specifically vague); descriptive words are not friends (stick to concrete facts – not characterizations; and use attorney-client privilege intelligently (and call your lawyer!).

Source: SHRM Online

Those Bloated Bills

As law departments dig deeper to control expenses, they are likely to stumble upon additional billing bloat – and new ideas for assuring they pay only for the value they receive. Consider three sources of bloat: rate increases, rate errors, and other billing guideline errors. OK, so what do we do about it? Look at the data to better understand what you’re paying now and what you’ll pay in the future by matter and by law firm. Also, look at industry benchmarks. What are other companies such as yours paying for like work in like geographies? In addition, check each invoice against the agreed-upon billing guidelines and market benchmarks to help your legal department pay an appropriate price for each invoice and stay in line with market rates in the future.

Source: Thomson Reuters Blog

Briefly

Corporate Counsel Business Journal Announces

Inaugural 50 Women To Watch

Nicholas Dancey Bolsters Global Real Estate Practice at McGuireWoods in Atlanta

Clifford Chance scales up US Tech Group with hire of four partners, starting with Violetta Kokolus

Akin Gump Advises Vista Credit Partners in $75 Million Growth Investment in RapidAI

Weil Advises Churchill Capital VII in its $1.58B Combination with CorpAcq

BigHand’s Latest Research Gives Insight into Just How Deep the Staff Attrition Crisis is for Law Firms

Cooley Secures Rulings Overturning Second-Degree

Murder Conviction, Granting Compassionate Release to Pro Bono Client

Exterro and ModeOne

Announce Global Strategic Partnership

Anoop Dogra Named Managing Partner at Simplex Legal LLP

OpenText powers organizations to achieve digital success in a multicloud world with Cloud Editions 23.3

Clifford Chance advises BlackRock and Angelo Gordon on US$250 million private placement for Landsea Homes

Weil Wins Dismissal of Nationwide VPPA Class Action for Paramount Global

New York Partner

Helen Gavaris Bolsters

McGuireWoods' Fiduciary Litigation Team

Required Reading

Too busy to read it all? Try these books, blogs, webcasts, websites and other info resources curated by CCBJ especially for corporate counsel and legal ops professionals.

ETHICS OPINION: ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility

Attorneys are free to share offices with other lawyers, but they must comply with applicable ethics rules, according to Formal Opinion 507, released July 12 by the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility. To assure client confidences are safeguarded and conflicts avoided, attorneys must consider measures such as avoiding discussion of cases in common areas, using separate lobbies or waiting areas, installing privacy screens on computers, and training staff on the ins and outs of confidentiality. The upshot is that sharing office space with other lawyers is fine, but only when a strong element of caution is baked into protocols.

BLOG: Corporate Legal Operations Consortium

In this piece from the CLOC blog, Keanu Maui Gevero, senior manager of legal advisory with PERSUIT, a popular platform for reverse auctions, which allow outside counsel to revise their prices in real time, discusses “true market price.” Gevero defines “true market price” as the average cost that buyers and sellers can be expected to agree upon for a particular good or service. Gevero says finding a true market price actually renders price less important when you select your firm for a matter. Yes, that’s a bit counterintuitive, but it makes sense, according to Gevero. Using a reverse auction, in-house counsel can empower their teams to manage risk by choosing the best firm — and not just the firm with the best rate. That’s a step in the right direction when it comes to inside-outside counsel relations.

REPORT: Bloomberg Law

Civil rights protections are migrating to exotic new locales to sweep in novel characteristics and categories, especially in jurisdictions led by Democratic lawmakers. The C.R.O.W.N. Act, which stands for “Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” was created in 2019 to ensure protection against discrimination and is seen as the most widespread of the new discrimination protections. It first passed in California and New York in 2019 and has gained momentum since, becoming law in more than 20 states and dozens of cities. Passage in Texas is widely seen as a major victory given the state’s size and its conservative lawmakers. Worker protections have increased against the backdrop of culture wars, says Michelle E. Phillips, an employment attorney with Jackson Lewis in New York. “At the same time that there’s an expansion of rights, there’s also a retrenchment of rights. It’s difficult for employers to navigate,” says Phillips, noting that many businesses have considered it important for employees to look a certain way, particularly in customer-facing roles. “The idea of a look-ism policy by a company is just no longer acceptable.”

Contributors

Thanks to the law firms, technology companies, alternative legal service providers, management consultants and other supporters of corporate law departments who share their insights and expertise through the CCBJ network. Your participation is appreciated.

Barnes & Thornburg Adds Restructuring Partner Ken Kansa In Chicago

Akin Gump’s MarketLeading International Trade Practice Adds Three-Partner Team With Strong National Security and CrossBorder Compliance and Investigation Capabilities

Thomson Reuters Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Casetext

Finance Partner M. Shams

Traci Cipriano is a clinical psychologist and formerly practicing lawyer, as well as a speaker, coach, consultant, and author. She works with lawyers and other high achieving professionals to promote well-being and healthy work environments. Dr. Cipriano provides coaching and advises lawyers and other high achieving professionals on ways to mitigate stress and uncertainty, promote well-being, improve workplace culture, communicate and lead effectively, optimize performance, manage conflict, and seek help.

Richard Cohen is a Managing Director with Protiviti Legal Consulting. A former general counsel and litigator, Rich advises public and private in-house counsel on how to work smarter, leaner, and more effectively by managing their legal operations with business discipline. Rich works with companies on the latest emerging issues and trends, including ESG and the future of global corporate governance.

Russ Dempsey is currently the General Counsel for BroadStreet Partners. Russ has expertise in corporate governance, mergers & acquisitions, litigation, privacy and data security, intellectual property, commercial law, labor and employment, regulatory and commercial compliance, regulated products and services, and taxation. Experience prior to BroadStreet includes General Counsel at Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, and leadership roles at AIG Life & Retirement and Nationwide Insurance.

8th Annual Directory of Leading Legal Technology and Project Management Solutions

Billah Joins Barnes & Thornburg To Lead Private Credit Team

Devika Kornbacher Named Houston Office Managing Partner for Clifford Chance

Cooley Announces New Leadership in Six Offices

Weil Wins Complete Dismissal of Securities Fraud Claims Brought Against Sleep Number Corporation

DISCO Cecilia Enters Private Access, Currently Live Across Select Client Databases Investment Management

Partner Patrick Dundas Joins Akin Gump in New York

Clifford Chance advises Mitsui on its US$472.5 million majority acquisition of Celanese's Food Ingredients Business

Barnes & Thornburg Partner Molly Flynn Elected Board Chair for Public Interest Law Center

Elizabeth deBoer Named Vice President of Class Action Services, Epiq Canada

Thomson Reuters Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Imagen Ltd.

Pulse

The Keys to Driving Success in the Legal Department

RICHARD COHEN & RUSS DEMPSEY PROTIVITI & BROADSTREET PARTNERS

CCBJ: Please start by describing some of the challenges that business leaders and executives face as they try to drive efficiencies in processes and technologies within their legal departments?

Richard Cohen: One of the biggest challenges is people’s reluctance to accept change. While change is not an indictment of current or past practice, people tend to be wedded to approaches with which they are familiar. “We've always done it this way. Why do we need to change?” That's one of the challenges leaders face when trying to implement change. Another is having adequate time to focus on the change. Everybody's running from issue to issue, trying to figure out what fire to put out first, and they don't have time to look carefully at new ways of doing things and to

understand the value and implications of new processes for the organization.

Russ Dempsey: I agree. Any change is hard. People get entrenched in the way they've always done things. And, frankly, learning something new isn't always that exciting. “Why do I need to reinvent the wheel?,” “I've done it this way for 15 years,” and “Why do I need to think about it differently?” are common refrains. Another challenge is that oftentimes business leaders aren't that good at change management.

For these reasons, it’s important to have a set of tools in place to help you identify allies so you don’t have to make decisions all on your own – techniques to help you reach out to the group that will be adopting this change – to bring them along in the decision-making process rather than

forcing it upon them. Having the right team in place to help reach decisions can be really effective in implementing a new process or technology.

How can general counsel get a ‘seat at the table’ and become collaborative partners with company stakeholders?

Dempsey: That's a really important question. It takes listening to your clients, delivering practical solutions, and helping them solve real business problems. To take it a step further, I like to remind myself about the adage, "What my boss finds interesting, I find fascinating." While one might get the eye roll, there's a kernel of truth in it.

For example, if you're working with the finance team and they're talking about their EBITDA margins or some other financial measure, make sure to note what, in particular, is important to them. When you're delivering advice, you will understand what their metrics are for success. You should think about delivering solutions for all your clients with this perspective and not just for the organization overall. And it’s not only about listening to your clients. Being able to provide practical solutions also requires spending time with them, getting to know them, and building a rapport. You have to invest the time to make sure you understand their needs (and pain points).

Cohen: I’ll add by saying that it is important that general counsel and other legal executives have an in-depth understanding

of the business. General counsel are being brought in on so many issues and you don't always know which issues to focus on first. Learning the business and getting close to its people will enhance your ability to understand the priorities not only of its employees, but also of its customers and shareholders.

Think about a three-legged stool—shareholders, employees and customers all need to be in balance. Earlier in my career, when I was general counsel of an electric utility company, I wanted to learn the business, so I went out and read electric meters; observed accounts payable and receivable transactions; answered phones for complaints. I even went into a coal mine! Seeing what's actually going on within the business operations will make you more effective when you do get that seat at the table.

Over the past few years, businesses both large and small have undergone a seismic shift in how they manage their business, facing challenges including hybrid work expectations and the so-called great resignation. How have you reacted to the market environment and what strategies are you putting in place to become more resilient?

Dempsey: One of the things I learned early on in my practice is to manage the work, not the person. This lesson has been reinforced in recent years and especially as it relates to remote work. Then you have a set of metrics and goals that you're working toward. Before the shift to hybrid or remote work, there was too much of the former way of thinking; too much stopping by a desk to make sure that someone had their computer on, or that they arrived at their office on time, or left work a few minutes early—instead of reviewing the actual work being performed and focusing on priorities.

Hybrid work has its own share of problems. While giving people flexibility is terrific, there's a tax in not having people at the office, not least of which has been the great resignation. Since I've been at my current company, I've hired four attorneys and a paralegal and onboarded them, introducing them to other members of the team and helping them to feel part of the organization. This was a

Richard Cohen is a Managing Director with Protiviti Legal Consulting. A former general counsel and litigator, Rich advises public and private in-house counsel on how to work smarter, leaner, and more effectively by managing their legal operations with business discipline. Rich works with companies on the latest emerging issues and trends, including ESG and the future of global corporate governance. Reach him at rich.cohen@protiviti.com

challenge especially with everyone working remotely. So, part of surviving the “seismic shift” is recognizing the value of having people together and making the most of that time to integrate new hires; to educate them about the organization’s goals, procedures and cultural norms; and to work on projects collaboratively. Otherwise, everyone’s just going their own way and you’re not really capturing the full value of your team.

Also, when I get my people together, I always make sure we use that time to achieve other goals and objectives, such as working on pro bono matters, engaging in team-building activities to build unity, and otherwise enjoying the time we have together. Making the most of time in the office also shows consideration for those with long commutes.

Cohen: Hybrid working is here to stay and the old way of doing things has been lost, for better or for worse. What people want in their careers now is balance. Protiviti's parent company, Robert Half, places individuals in a wide variety of permanent and part-time positions around the world. What we discovered through the great resignation is understanding the values people prioritize today, which is personal life balance and maximizing career potential. We all need to adapt to this changing dynamic. I analogize it to when I first started practicing law and there was a place that we used to go called the library, and there were books there and that’s how we did our research. With the advent of the internet legal research is now conducted online. Now, we're talking about artificial intelligence. Things change, people adapt. At the end of the day, our job as an in-house attorney is to make sure that we're helping the business grow within the guardrails of risk and compliance, and we need to adapt as necessary to remain competitive and profitable.

How does your team stay close to changing business requirements and prioritize between urgent, important and less critical action items?

Dempsey: One of the challenges, especially in a world of instant messaging, emails, texts, etc., is to focus on the issue of the day. Any employee can fill up the day with tasks. The challenge is raising the important tasks to the top of the

list. This requires individual and team goal setting. Every year, I review our company’s five-year business plan to make sure those goals are aligned with our team and individual objectives. I also check in regularly with team members on their progress.

Cohen: Today, people can prioritize their tasks and evaluate prioritization metrics through the use of technology, allowing more repetitive and lower-risk tasks to be handled by the business side of the organization without involving the legal department. Only when things go outside of the identified parameters does the legal department need to be involved.

To stay close to the business, you need to not only work in the business but also understand the direction that it's going. Create the future, not wait for the future – be proactive. Understand the work that your team is doing, why they're doing it, for whom they're doing it, and ask yourself, “Is there a better way to do it?” That's how you make sure you're working on the most important tasks, not necessarily the most urgent.

Dempsey: People should also be aware of scope creep. I’m not saying attorneys shouldn’t help solve business problems. Rather, that is exactly what we should be doing. Just that's it’s a risk when someone in legal doesn't push back and the scope of their job expands into ongoing administration of strictly business functions. I want to ensure that legal resources are

Russ Dempsey is currently the General Counsel for BroadStreet Partners. Russ has expertise in corporate governance, mergers & acquisitions, litigation, privacy and data security, intellectual property, commercial law, labor and employment, regulatory and commercial compliance, regulated products and services, and taxation. Experience prior to BroadStreet includes General Counsel at Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, and leadership roles at AIG Life & Retirement and Nationwide Insurance. Reach him at rdempsey@broadstreetcorp.com

applied to high-priority legal matters, not day-to-day issues that are essentially business in nature.

How do you enhance the attractiveness of your organization to potential candidates while ensuring the current team remains satisfied and empowered?

Cohen: I think that what you need to have in the workplace today is diversity of work and diversity of thought. When you create a culture of diversity—embracing DEIA and ESG as core values throughout your organization—that attracts talent. It’s important that employees feel proud of the company they work for as well as the work they do. Holistically speaking, an environment where people know what they're doing, why they're doing it, for whom they're doing it and the impact of their work are all key factors that will keep people engaged and attract candidates to your organization.

Making decisions around technology investments is never easy, and a lot of internal buy-in is required when adding new technology tools. What process do you go through before pulling the trigger, and then how do you ensure that your team is maximizing the benefits of the technology?

Dempsey: This is tied to the question you led off with about change management. I'll just go with an example. The most recent technology that we've purchased here is an e-billing solution. Before making a decision, I narrowed the possibilities down to a couple of different options. I formed a team to look at these options, do demos, and then make a decision because they’re the ones that would have to use it on a day-to-day basis. I may lean in on a certain decision but getting feedback from the users that have to implement it

and work with it every day was very important not only to help with change management but also because they have the experience. They may have worked with other solutions so they're able to contrast and compare the options that you're considering – also, because moving forward they will be the ones that have to own that decision and operate it.

Cohen: It’s important that people understand that this is a process and not an event. When you implement new technology, it's not like you flip a switch and magically realize the benefits that you anticipated. It takes time to adapt to new technology. Just as it’s important to bring others into the purchase decision, you also should make them part of the process of resolving implementation problems.

It’s also important to evaluate periodically whether the technology is doing what it’s supposed to do. “Are we truly getting out of it what we thought we’d be getting out of it?” Stay close to your service provider to make sure that you're using the technology in the way it's intended. I'm frequently asked to consult for legal departments that want to make a wholesale change in technology, when what they need isn’t new technology but some “WD-40” on their existing technology to make it function in the way it was intended. We often find that people are not maximizing the utilization of technologies. Use them the right way and you will realize the ROI. And remember, no technology will fix a broken or flawed process. Process evaluation is a necessary prerequisite for technology success.

Do you have any advice for general counsel and legal operations professionals?

Cohen: Today, the role of the general counsel and legal operations professionals is more dynamic and exciting than ever. There are opportunities to be involved in so many facets across the organization – whether it be people, processes or technology. Choose the areas that interest you and those that have measurable impacts across the organization. Test your comfort zone, challenge the status quo, learn your business, partner effectively with your colleagues, maintain integrity and you'll have a more rewarding career. 

Learning the business and getting close to its people will enhance your ability to understand the priorities not only of its employees, but also of its customers and shareholders.

Wellbeing in a Post-Pandemic World

TRACI CIPRIANO, JD P h D

Please tell us about your background as a lawyer and as a psychologist.

I have longstanding interests, dating back to my undergrad days, in psychology, health, law and policy. Initially, I went the law school route. I was very interested in legal issues and the challenges of problem-solving, and I enjoy research and writing, but I found that I did not enjoy the day-to-day practice of law. Specifically, I found the adversarial nature of the profession draining and I didn't want this to become my default way of relating to the world and my work and the people around me. So I decided to return to graduate school for my doctorate in psychology. It was at that time that I began my work in the lawyer wellbeing realm. My dissertation research looked at work stress and family stress and their influence on physical and psychological health. I was also interested in how personal traits, such as perfectionism and optimism, might further influence those relationships.

At the time it was pretty novel. People weren't looking at lawyer stress, or how personal traits such as perfectionism can exacerbate stress. The legal profession had little if any awareness of how stress can be detrimental to your mind and body. To collect data, I presented to lawyers, explaining how stress impacts us and why they should care about it. From then on, I've been devoting a portion of my time to educating and advising the legal community about the importance of self-care, as well as the many other factors that influence one’s wellbeing, and how to address them. Over time, my focus has shifted from primarily addressing stress at the individual level to the cultural and organizational forces that create stress and are detrimental to wellbeing.

The COVID-19 pandemic increased mental health awareness. What impact did the pandemic have on awareness relating specifically to lawyer wellbeing?

The COVID-19 pandemic created major upheaval in all our lives. There was the seemingly endless uncertainty: ongoing threats of new variants, economic and financial disruptions, supply chain issues, childcare shortages, blurred boundaries between work and home life. Add to that political instability at home and abroad, and inflamed racial tensions in the wake of George Floyd’s death. A lot was going on, and the whole population was feeling a lot of stress. CDC

 Traci Cipriano, author of a new book on mental health & wellbeing for legal professionals, shares what is needed to help lawyers deal with stress and to promote wellbeing in the profession.

data showed that a high percentage of Americans were experiencing depression and anxiety.

Even before the pandemic, survey data showed that lawyers tend to have high levels of depression and anxiety.I Law is a stressful profession. The pandemic stressors compounded the stress that the legal profession was already experiencing. Law firms and in-house legal departments had to take note as lawyers in unprecedented numbers were struggling to cope with burnout, which can involve physical, mental, or emotional exhaustion, or feeling detached or disconnected from your work, among other things, caused by prolonged and excessive work-related stress. There was an explosion of interest in helping lawyers manage all the work-related pressures and pandemic-related stresses that they were experiencing including adjusting to remote work and new technologies, extreme workflow changes, and juggling unexpected child and elder care responsibilities.

What is needed to help lawyers deal with stress and to promote wellbeing in the profession generally?

behave and treat each other,and other workplace issues. So, it's important to increase awareness of all these factors that influence wellbeing, as well as the important roles of other factors, such as unmet social support needs and pressures, and the need for a sense of purpose, and to begin to address those things as well.

At the most basic level, it is important to understand why we should care about wellbeing in the first place. What is the impact of stress on physical and mental health and performance? How do we monitor this and what can we do about it? Self-care is essential but it's not the only answer.

Absolutely. And its only in the past five years or so that mental health has emerged as a topic of conversation. Before, it certainly was not talked about.

It was taboo. There is a stigma surrounding mental health within the legal profession. I wrote an article about this in 2019. It has been brought on by a lot of things, including a lawyerly focus on being rational and seeing emotions as a sign of weakness. Then there are the mental health-related questions on many state bar applications which deterred many law students from getting treatment for fear that it would call their competence into question.

Traci Cipriano is a clinical psychologist and formerly practicing lawyer, as well as a speaker, coach, consultant, and author. She works with lawyers and other high achieving professionals to promote well-being and healthy work environments. Dr. Cipriano provides coaching and advises lawyers and other high achieving professionals on ways to mitigate stress and uncertainty, promote well-being, improve workplace culture, communicate and lead effectively, optimize performance, manage conflict, and seek help. Reach her at traci@traciciprianojdphd.com

The billable hour issue continues to be a problem in the profession as it does create a lot of stress but is also the foundation of law firm practice and something we are not going to get rid of anytime soon. But lawyer stress goes well beyond the billable hour to the demands of the work itself. It relates to policies and expectations, degrees of flexibility and autonomy, how people

What role does law firm leadership have in addressing firm culture as it relates to lawyers’ mental health and wellbeing?

Leadership plays a major role in all work settings. Leadership defines workplace culture through their words and behaviors beyond formal policies. Leaders set the tone for how people are supposed to work, when they're supposed to work, where they're supposed to work, and how they're expected to behave and treat each other.

Leaders also define culture through their failure to address unhealthy workplace issues. Leadership sets expectations around the importance of self-care and prioritizing wellbeing and de-stigmatizing mental health issues.

Leadership plays an important role in creating workplace policies that promote wellbeing, and in offering services and benefits that enhance self-care and address physical and

mental health, and help people to better balance their work and home life responsibilities.

Do you think law firms are doing enough on this issue?

Some law firms are doing better at it than others. It's a work in progress. Seeing the increased awareness gives me hope. Even before the pandemic, many of the larger law firms started bringing in chief well-being or wellness officers (CWOs) or wellness directors, and others sent up well-being

committees, so they recognize there's a problem. But the issue now is figuring out how to pay more than lip service. What else can we do besides having a few speakers come in or offering a meditation app to promote self-care and a healthy work environment?

Do you think the problem with lawyer wellbeing is mostly an issue in the United States, or is it more widespread?

While the US is the focal point when we talk about lawyer wellbeing, the issue really is an international one. Survey data from Canada, the UK, Australia, Singapore, the International Bar Association and other sources reveals a similar pattern in lawyer depression and anxiety, unhealthy substance use, high levels of perfectionism, and the like. So it's not just a US issue.

Your book, “The Thriving Lawyer: A Multidimensional Model of Well-Being for a Sustainable Legal Profession”, addresses many of these issues. Tell us why this subject is important for the legal community and psychology profession.

My new book brings together many of the important issues influencing lawyer wellbeing and how to address them all in one place. It considers the role of lawyer traits in addition to the demands of the profession, one's personal life and the work environment, all of which create stress, as well as barriers to addressing those stressors and the stress itself. The book also talks about wellbeing as a way of being, as something intentional that involves commitment and hard work, and which really is a lens through which we see our world and how we relate to our work and our home lives. Positive in tone, the book discusses various approaches to improving individual and organizational wellbeing. It recognizes that while we're not going to radically change the profession, there are things we can do to make the most of the current situation; the book looks at how we can evolve and adapt to difficult challenges and explores what can we do as individuals and leaders to promote thriving.

Check out Traci’s new book “The Thriving Lawyer: A Multidimensional Model of Well-Being for a Sustainable Legal Profession” on July 25, 2023. 

The Tarrytown House Estate

CCBJ is proud to announce the 5th Annual Women in Business & Law, Nov. 13, 2023, 2022, at The Tarrytown House Estate in Tarrytown, NY. Back again for the 5th time, this right-sized, in-person event allows for crucial education, mentoring and networking as well as pending CLE-eligibility.

LEGAL TECH STARTUP SPOTLIGHT

CEO: Tom Dunlop

HQ: Manchester, UK

# of Employees: 45

Total Raised: $10.68M

Post Valuation: $16.87M

Growth Rate: 0.55%

Institutional Investors:

• YFM Equity Partners

• Maven Capital Partners UK

@Summize_it

www.summize.com/

Description:

MEDIAN 8.08x

SIZE MULTIPLE

Developer of a digital contracting platform designed to simplify the contract reading process. The company specializes in an intelligent document review platform that instantly extracts key information from any contract and displays it in an interactive summary or table view for analysis and comparison, enabling clients with ways to improve and streamline complex processes used by legal teams.

Most Recent Financing Status

The company raised GBP 7.45 million of Series A venture funding in a deal led by YFM Equity Partners on October 24, 2022, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at GBP 7.70 million. Maven Capital Partners UK and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round. The funs will be used to build company’s presence in the US.

Source: Pitchbook (As of Jun 2023)