To the Extent That...

Host Gary J. Ross talks with Art Dicker, senior counsel at R&P China Lawyers, about venture capital in China, the second-most active venture capital market in the world. Gary and Art discuss the growth of the venture capital industry in China; differences between venture capital in China vs. the U.S., including China’s trend of liberal spending at a loss to grab market share; the growth of localiz...

Host Gary J. Ross talks with Chris Hayes, advisor to institutional investors and former Senior Policy Counsel at Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA). Among the topics covered are the preferences of LPs vs. GPs with respect to fund investment strategies; the ILPA model limited partnership agreement (LPA) and its relation to the ILPA guiding principles; specific ILPA LPA provisions inc...

Host Gary J. Ross discusses down round financings with Troy Foster, partner and firmwide co-chair of emerging companies and venture capital practice at Perkins Coie. Topics covered include common provisions in down round term sheets, such as pay-to-play and pull-up mechanisms; anti-dilution adjustment mechanisms; obtaining the consent of previous investors; Section 228 notices; and Business Judgme...

In this episode of Mind the Gap we will be talking with the President of Harvey Mudd College, Dr. Maria Klawe, who has had a distinguished career as a theoretical computer scientist, scholar, and college administrator. Dr. Klawe is also a gifted painter -- a watercolorist. And has been painting for longer than she has been a computer scientist. In this episode we explore with Dr Klawe her widely a...

Host Gary J. Ross talks with Jose Ancer, partner (and CTO) at Optimal Counsel and the author of Silicon Hills Lawyer, an internationally-recognized legal blog on emerging companies and VC fundamentals. Gary and Jose discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different securities instruments for emerging companies, including convertible notes and pre-money and post-money SAFEs; friends & family vs...

In this episode, Judge Stong talks with Buck Lewis, who will explore the history of this program; highlight its recent benchmark 200K answers made on February 8, 2022; and how lawyers can be a part of dynamic program.

Judge Elizabeth Stong speaks with Michael D. Rubenstein who will discuss his background and the importance of pro bono when it literally means “life or death.” Michael D. Rubenstein is a shareholder with Liskow & Lewis in Houston. He is an experienced bankruptcy practitioner with a diverse commercial practice encompassing not only business bankruptcies, restructurings and reorganizations, but comp...

Host Judge Elizabeth Stong talks with Eric Ball, Litigation Partner and Hilarie Atkisson, Senior Director of Corporate Social Responsibility/Pro Bono Counsel, about the award-winning pro bono program at Fenwick & West LLP and how it draws on, and contributes to, the firm’s culture of collaboration, service, and excellence.

Judge Elizabeth Stong speaks with the Anna Dodson about the background, mission, and services provided by the Neighborhood Business Initiative.

From self-driving cars to voice automation in homes, inventors are developing ambitious AI technologies that will continue to impact the ways in which we learn, work, communicate, and travel. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the number of AI-related patents increased at an astonishing number, from 4,598 in 2008 to 20,639 in 2018. In this episode of Mind the Gap,...

Host Gary J. Ross discusses mergers and acquisitions with John Coates, Professor of Law and Economics at Harvard Law School, former partner at Wachtell Lipton, and former Acting Director for the Division of Corporation Finance and General Counsel at the SEC. Gary and John discuss trends in global M&A deals, the significance of business and legal due diligence, motives behind whether deals are stru...

Host Gary J. Ross talks with Alexandra Poe, partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed, about considerations for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) funds and investors. Topics covered include a history of ESG, recent ESG-related SEC investigations into BNY Mellon and Goldman Sachs, the SEC’s proposed rule on ESG disclosures for investment advisers and investment companies, and general advice for th...

A supermassive black hole is estimated to be a million or a billion times bigger than the Sun, but no one truly yet understands the origins of these massive phenomena. In this episode of Mind the Gap, Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist and research fellow at Christ Church College, Oxford University, describes how AI is helping to answer fundamental questions about the formation and evolution o...

Host Gary J. Ross discusses broker-dealer issues with David Blass, partner in Simpson Thacher’s Investment Funds Practice and the former Chief Counsel of the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets. Gary and David chat about the outsize role that transaction-based compensation plays in determining whether someone is functioning as a broker, the Paul Anka and M&A broker no-action letters, the process...

This two-part podcast provides insights into the work of business lawyers and the rule of law, through the lens of the World Justice Forum 2022, which took place in The Hague, Netherlands on May 30, 2022 to June 2, 2022. Listen to this podcast to hear Judge Elizabeth Stong and John Stout, Business Law Section members, comment “live from The Hague” about the Forum’s strategy of convening community...

This two-part podcast provides insights into the work of business lawyers and the rule of law, through the lens of the World Justice Forum 2022, which took place in The Hague, Netherlands on May 30, 2022 to June 2, 2022. Listen to this podcast to hear Judge Elizabeth Stong and John Stout, Business Law Section members, comment “live from The Hague” about the Forum’s strategy of convening community...

In Episode 7, host Jordan L. Fischer, Esq. interviews Jordan Strauss, Managing Director at Kroll, and his special guest Chris Ballod, also Managing Director at Kroll. Jordan walks through his career in the government, working on a variety of national defense concerns, including cyber risk. Jordan and Chris provide key insights into the evolving cyber threat landscape, and the unique interplay betw...

Host David Hamm, Co-Chair of the In-House Subcommittee of the ABA Corporate Governance Committee, talks with Sterling Miller, former GC at Sabre Corporation, Travelocity, and Marketo. We kicked off our conversation with Sterling’s unique path to becoming GC, which was inspired by the Game of Life and included him handwriting five hundred letters to companies in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Ultimate...

Host David Hamm, Co-Chair of the In-House Subcommittee of the ABA Corporate Governance Committee, talks with Randall (“Randy”) Ebner, former Vice President and General Counsel of Exxon Mobil Corporation. We start off the conversation discussing the path that Randy took to become a general counsel. He admits that although he knew he wanted to become a lawyer since middle school, he never thought ab...

In the early-eighteenth century, Rembrandt’s largest and most famous painting, The Night Watch, was cut down on all sides to fit on a wall in Amsterdam’s City Hall. The removed pieces were never recovered. In this episode of Mind the Gap, Rob Erdmann, Senior Scientist at Rijksmuseum and Professor at the Rijksmuseum and Professor at the University of Amsterdam, walks us through how museum scientist...

Host Gary J. Ross talks with Alexander Davie, partner at Riggs Davie and the author of the Strictly Business blog, about the advisor registration requirements and available exemptions relevant to fund advisers, particularly those advising smaller venture capital funds. Anyone interested in starting a fund or serving as counsel to a fund should listen, as the Form ADV filing is an often-overlooked...

Host Gary J. Ross talks with Zachary Fallon, partner at Ketsal PLLC and a former attorney at the SEC, about the current state of cryptocurrency regulation in the U.S., including the Lummis-Gillibrand Bill, the enduring Howey Test and the listing of tokens on onshore exchanges.

Good credit impacts whether you can rent an apartment, take out a mortgage or car loan, or in some instances, receive a job offer. Financial institutions are increasingly utilizing AI to analyze non-traditional data sources, such as standardized test scores, to assess a borrower’s risk profile. In this episode of Mind the Gap, Dr. Talia Gillis, Professor of Law at Columbia University, will discuss...

Host Gary J. Ross talks with Kendrick Nguyen, CEO and co-founder of Republic, about crowdfunding in general and Republic in particular, including recent changes in the law such as allowing for “testing the waters”, as well as other changes he would like to see.

So far, advances in AI are not bringing us real “intelligence.” Rather, these advances are bringing us a key part of intelligence: prediction. This enables businesses to make predictions faster and more precisely to improve their business models and marketplace advantage. In this episode of Mind the Gap, Avi Goldfarb, an economist at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and one...