The Playbook: Conversations With Craig Budner

In this episode, Craig Budner interviews Mike Haven, current President of Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC). CLOC is a leading organization focused on the business of law. Mike is also the Head of Legal Operations and Associate General Counsel for Intel and prior he was in-house at NetApp, and Gap Inc.  Most notably Mike is a K&L Gates alumni.  Listen to how Mike's circuitous career pat...

In this episode, former Chief Financial Officer of American Skiing Company and LGBTQ community advocate, Cami Richardson, recounts her business career and shares her personal journey on coming out as a transgender woman at 62 years old.   Originally from New York, Cami Richardson was a firefighter before working her way up to become chief financial officer at American Skiing Company and helped tak...

Rich Stoddart's marketing career spans more than three decades. He was most recently the chief executive officer of InnerWorkings, Inc. and has also served as the chief executive officer for Leo Burnett , one of the world's largest and most awarded global advertising agencies. He began his career in 1985 at Leo Burnett and served in managerial positions at Fallon, another Publicis Groupe agency he...

For nearly three decades, Michael Hoffman has been a GC, President and CEO for several prominent corporations in Dallas spanning several industries including telecommunications and large-scale property management. However, in 2020, he may have encountered his biggest challenge. Michael was among the first stricken with COVID-19, was one of the most critically ill COVID-19 patients treated at Texas...

In this episode, we interview Audrey Andrews, the executive vice president and general counsel for Tenet Healthcare. In this capacity, Andrews oversees the law department and government relations for the Tenet enterprise. She has been with Tenet in various roles since 1998. Listen to how her personal approach shaped her outlook with her business career, always with the end in mind.

In this episode, we interview Abhijit Mukhopadhyay, the president (legal) and company secretary at the Hinduja Group, based at the group's headquarters in London. The Hinduja Group is a transnational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India. Listen to how Abhijit's experience working for several multinational companies in different industries and his drive for continuous improvement helped propel him i...

In this episode, we interview Matthew Maletta, executive vice president and chief legal officer of Endo Pharmaceuticals. Matthew was appointed in May 2015 to these roles at Endo Pharmaceuticals, where he has global responsibility for all legal matters affecting the company.  Prior to joining Endo in 2015, he served as vice president, associate general counsel, and corporate secretary of Allergan....

I n this episode, we interview Thomas Smith , Direct Energy's General Counsel and Executive Vice President, North America. Thomas joined Direct Energy from BG Group plc in Houston, where he managed a team of 45 lawyers and professionals in Houston and in five international locations. Previously, he served as an attorney at Vinson & Elkins LLP. Thomas is known to lead by example, actively encourage...

With early family roots as coal miners in Pennsylvania, Bill Farrell's father was able to go on to become president and CEO of one of the largest U.S. trade organizations. By watching his father's success in both business and family matters, Bill was able to learn lessons and emulate a goal of integrity, self-reliance, and humility. Bill had a successful law firm career, but before that Bill was a...

In this episode, Craig Budner interviews L. Song Richardson, the Dean and Chancellor's Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, with joint appointments in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society and in the Department of Asian American Studies.  When she was appointed in 2018 as dean of the UCI Law School, she was the only woman of color to serve as dean among...

In this episode, Craig Budner interviews Dr. Heidi Gardner .  Growing up just outside Lancaster, Pennsylvania in Amish Country, Dr. Gardner went on to live and work on four continents, including as a Fulbright Fellow, and for McKinsey & Co. and Procter & Gamble. She earned her B.A. degree in Japanese from the University of Pennsylvania, a master's degree from the London School of Economics, and a...

In this episode, Craig Budner interviews Maria Varsellona, General Counsel & Company Secretary Member of the Group Executive Committee of ABB Ltd, Switzerland.   The Covid-19 pandemic has caused disruption around the globe. As the legal, commercial and personal implications continue to evolve, Legal Departments have been assisting their companies to navigate the fall out of the pandemic. While wor...

In this episode, Craig Budner interviews Ken Hersh . Working alongside Richard Rainwater , Ken co-founded and was the former CEO of NGP Energy Capital Management (NGP), a premier private equity investment franchise in the natural resources industry managing over $20 billion of cumulative committed capital since its inception in 1988. Until 2016, Ken served as NGP's CEO. He currently serves as Seni...

In this episode, Craig Budner interviews Rich Nichols , who grew up in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the son of factory workers at the height of America's racial tensions in the 1970s.  He made his way to Dartmouth and was a two-time All-American runner.  He went on to earn his masters at Stanford, and then, while in his third year at University of California, Hastings College of the Law, he made th...

In this episode, Craig Budner interviews Brett Walter , General Counsel at A. H. Algosaibi & Bros .  Listen to how this Wyoming native, turned from being a sociologist to a big-law-firm attorney, and then went in-house to a Saudi Arabia company.  Brett is currently guiding the company through the " Bernie Madoff of the Middle East " crisis situation while utilizing his unique skill set built along...

In this episode, Craig Budner has a conversation with Mo Bunnell of the Bunnell Idea Group.  The Bunnell Idea Group (BIG) teaches professionals a practical methodology for being great at business development.     We focus our conversation on how the Coronavirus pandemic provides the unique opportunity to support, help guide and respond to our clients positively in a crisis. 

Interview with Hans Albers - President at ACC Europe and Chief of Staff & Associate General Counsel International Legal Services at Juniper Networks Featuring Craig Budner, Global Strategic Growth Partner at K&L Gates Key Takeaways: 1. Hans Albers on his role model 2. Learning from failure 3. Finding "your voice" and moving up the career ladder 4. Importance of in-house counsel asking questions 5....

In this episode, Craig Budner interviews Anna Tichborne, General Counsel of Megaport. Megaport was founded in Australia by industry expert and entrepreneur Bevan Slattery, who aimed to create a platform that gave customers  access to elastic interconnection services. Slattery wanted customers to have greater simplicity, control, and choice over how they connected to and between the services, appli...

In this inaugural episode, Craig Budner  interviews  Lynn Moore , Jr. President and CEO of T yler Technologies  and former lawyer at Hughes & Luce, the predecessor firm for the K&L Gates Texas offices. Key takeaways from their discussion include: Share Lessons Learned: From big law to in-house General Counsel, President, and now CEO of a billion-dollar company over the past 20 years, this is one s...

Craig Budner, K&L Gates' Global Strategic Growth Partner, introduces the firm's new podcast, Client Conversations .