The Legal Department

Are you overwhelmed with worry about looming cyber threats and feel like your organization is a sitting duck? Dominique Shelton Leipzig , a privacy and cybersecurity partner at Mayer Brown, and also one of the world's leading thought leaders in digital privacy and data governance is here to give you a plan of action. On today's episode, Dominique shares a 6-step action plan for how The Legal Depar...

Lawyers focus on developing technical skills and learning the law, but few of us spend much time on developing ourselves as leaders or cultivating a network. Scott Westfahl , Professor of Practice and Director of Executive Education at Harvard Law School, is here to tell you that technical skills are only one leg of the stool – to succeed in The Legal Department, lawyers must develop their leaders...

Litigation management is meat and potatoes for most in-house legal departments, but it's a rare case that goes up on appeal. The stakes are higher in those cases, and you need expert counsel to help navigate the process. Appellate specialist M.C. Sungaila is in The Legal Department to tell you what you need to know. She has appeared before many state and federal appellate courts, including the U.S...

On this episode of The Legal Department, Chris Weber , Managing General Counsel of the iconic McDonald's corporation underscores again why building strong relationships is crucial to success in-house. Whether he is navigating tough governance issues, working with board members, or advising on executive comp under the Golden Arches, Chris shows why fostering a state of trust at your company is an e...

What do you do when a crisis hits your organization? Anne Marie Malecha, CEO of crisis communications firm Dezenhall Resources, shares tips on how to survive. Starting from aligning internally on the key objectives and using those as a north star to align legal and comms to weather the storm. Anne Marie provides concrete advice on establishing crisis objectives, a communications protocol, set...

Deborah Solmor  worked as a litigator at Skadden Arps and later as deputy general counsel and chief compliance officer of a public company. Despite these 20+ years of legal experience, the General Counsel role was "like nothing I had done in my career." Finding few resources for women lawyers new in their GC role, Deborah took the unlikely step of building an educational program tailor-made f...

Employment law matters, especially #metoo complaints and investigations are meat and potatoes for an in-house attorney. In this episode, veteran employment lawyer Allison West shares the fundamentals of workplace investigations. She provides best practices for engaging investigators including how to avoid legal traps, ensuring independence and maintaining credibility throughout the process. Alliso...

Antitrust is a highly technical area, but with increasing scrutiny from state and federal agencies, it’s an area that in-house counsel needs to know. In this in-depth episode, Antitrust expert Leigh Oliver of Clifford Chance breaks down four key areas for in-house counsel. Tune in and find out what should be on the "worry wall” in The Legal Department. 

Optimal performance in The Legal Department requires optimal health and wellness. In this bonus episode, health and wellness expert Jenn Zerling shares the five anchors for optimal health. Known as the "JZ High Five," these five steps will help you level up at work and in life. You should have a strong foundation of optimal health and avoid gambling with the disease. Nutrition, Hydration, Fitness,...

Do you want to level up your profile as a legal thought leader? Gain exposure and showcase your knowledge and experience by getting a speaking gig at a conference. If this sounds like a stretch goal, Nas Panwar, Chief Production Officer of the  International Performance Management Institute , offers concrete tips to get you there. Nas has produced thousands of events, conferences, and expert...

It can seem like a sleepy topic, until it isn't. Insurance is an asset that all organizations need, so it is incumbent on in-house attorneys to understand insurance fundamentals. In today's episode of The Legal Department, insurance specialist Jacque Burke from Cooley LLP breaks down the basics of insurance with Stacy Bratcher, as well as what in-house attorneys need to know to protect and optimiz...

Building relationships extends outside of The Legal Department. In this episode, legal recruiters Edina Beasley and Heather Fine of Major Lindsey & Africa take us behind the curtain to learn what companies are looking for in their next general counsel or chief legal officer. Heather and Edina share how to build a relationship with recruiters, how to position your LinkedIn profile to...

Jeannine Taylor of Keck Medicine of USC shares her journey into a senior leadership position at a top 20 academic medical center in this episode of The Legal Department podcast. While leading the legal team at a $3 billion health system, Jeannine also serves as president of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, California's largest women's bar association. Her leadership development in the...

Success isn't just about winning cases; it's finding fulfillment, breaking free from the legal box, and having the courage to trust yourself. Today's guest is Glenn Llopis, executive coach, Forbes contributor, best-selling author and former talent scout for Love Connection. He discusses breaking free from professional constraints and unleashing your true potential. As he shares his story, he shows...

Joe Schohl set out to become a public company GC before turning 40. He wrote this goal on a piece of paper and carried it in his pocket until he landed a General Counsel role at the nation's largest dialysis provider, Davita, at age 34. He later became Chief Legal Officer of Radiology Partners and also founded the health law firm General Counsel West, where he currently serves as Chairman. A lifel...

It is quite the leap to go from in-house counsel to the board of directors. The transferable skills are definitely there, but there are governance essentials you have to practically learn on the job. We talk about this fascinating topic with today’s guest. Lisa Hatton Harrington has been Corporate Secretary and Chief Legal Officer to global, publicly traded companies, privately held companies and...

Detroit Lions Senior Vice President and General Counsel Maggy Carlyle shares how she started her career in sports and landed an internship with the Kansas City Chiefs during the financial crisis and roles at the San Jose Sharks, PAC 12 Conference, and the San Francisco 49ers. She shares what it means to be a sports lawyer, her day-to-day as a senior legal executive of an NFL team, and how to demon...

Brandon Neal , Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Walgreens Boots Alliance , shares his experience moving between industries, ultimately into an executive role in one of the largest global companies.  After working on Wall Street, Brandon transitioned into an in-house position at Wells Fargo where he led a team of 100 lawyers to develop “living wills” for the bank following t...

It’s too easy in our profession to be a little too stuck in our identity as lawyers. But once we get outside the four walls of the legal department, who are we, really? Who are you going to be if you suddenly woke up tomorrow and you’re no longer a lawyer? In this episode from the Professional Development series, executive coach and leadership development consultant, Carol Fabrizio talks about fin...

As digital communications become more advanced and complicated, protecting confidential information and documents also becomes a more complex process to accomplish. In this in-house fundamentals episode, litigation partner Diana Feinstein of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher breaks down what you need to know to protect the attorney-client privilege in your in-house Legal Department. She shares concrete t...

Artificial Intelligence has undeniably transformed so much of how we do things that we can only conclude it is here to stay. For the legal profession, this means it is only a matter of time, if you haven’t already, for us to confront and accept this added dimension to our work. Our guest in this episode already foresees that every lawyer will someday become an AI lawyer. Alya Sulaiman of McDermott...

A lot has changed in the general counsel role in the past few decades. In today’s day and age, in-house lawyers have to learn how to establish human connection with the people they’re dealing with. Unfortunately, there is a serious lack of training in people skills in both law school and even in legal practice. That needs to change. In this episode of The Legal Department, Aarash Darroodi , Execut...