The PERSUIT Podcast

Tammy Moss Finley is a people person. Early in her career, as a labor and employment attorney, she found herself drawn to the HR world. When the opportunity arrived to join Advance Auto Parts in the HR department, she jumped at the chance. She would have the opportunity to put in place programs that would prevent the very labor issues she was being called in to handle as a lawyer. Since that moment, she has spent 18 years in roles that have straddled the worlds of law and HR. Today, as the Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, her focus is on people—her team members and the law firms they work with—and putting practices in place that enable growth, engagement, and fulfillment. We discuss: Growing a legal team and allocating resources to best support the business Managing cybersecurity and privacy risks for the enterprise Developing relationships with law firms Investing resources into DEI Hear more stories by subscribing to Innovative Legal Leadership on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast platform. Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Innovative Legal Leadership in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

The tables have turned, and the normal host of the show, Jim Delkousis, is the guest on this episode. After having spent most of his career with law firms, including most recently as a partner with DLA Piper, Jim had reached a crossroads. Approaching 50, he began to wonder, would the lessons of this upcoming decade be any different—or more of the same? At the same time, Jim was seeing digital innovation come to the fore in a panoply of industries, and he was beginning to dream up a vision for what that might look like in the legal world. So, he took a chance and founded PERSUIT, a software platform that helps in-house legal teams choose the right outside counsel for a particular scope of work. Special guest host Cynthia Lareine, Director of Community Development at PERSUIT, chats with Jim about the journey. They discuss: Transitioning from partner in a law firm to founder of a legal tech company Lessons from talking with the in-house community on this show His personal innovation heroes Why it’s valuable to learn how to be comfortable being uncomfortable Hear more stories by subscribing to Innovative Legal Leadership on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast platform. Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Innovative Legal Leadership in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

As her parents tell it, Kristin Sverchek, President of Business Affairs at Lyft, was a natural born advocate. As a child, she had a knack for clearly arguing her case. That ability to effectively advocate on behalf of herself and others has come in handy in her career which has included stints at Gunderson Dettmer, Silicon Legal Strategy, and Zimride, the company that launched Lyft. At Lyft, in particular, Kristin was instrumental in the early battles for survival and the establishment of a legal foundation for ride sharing that has enabled the company to grow to the transportation powerhouse it is today. We discuss: - The decision to become the first legal hire at Lyft - Early transportation regulatory battles - The “Super Bowl for General Counsels”—preparing to take the company public - Taking on broader responsibilities as President of Business Affairs Hear more stories by subscribing to Innovative Legal Leadership on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast platform. Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Innovative Legal Leadership in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Recently, Brandon Pace rediscovered a journal he penned when he was 5 or 6 years old. In it, he had written that he wanted to become either a doctor or a lawyer. When you come from a family of doctors and lawyers, those may seem like obvious choices. However, there was a deliberate intention behind it—a desire to focus on service and helping others. Brandon was also fascinated by technology. That’s what led him to pursue a position at one of the top tech firms in Silicon Valley out of law school. That same passion led him to eBay, and finally to LendingClub, where he serves as Chief Administrative Officer and Corporate Secretary today. We discuss: - His deliberate choice to work for technology-focused law firms and companies - The process of stabilizing an embattled company and rebuilding public trust - The challenge of finding key partners in outside law firms - How better outcomes can be achieved with a breadth of perspectives Hear more stories by subscribing to Innovative Legal Leadership on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast platform. Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Innovative Legal Leadership in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Challenges faced when we’re young inform our ability to handle pressure as adults. That was certainly the case for Anneliese Reinhold. When she was 13, her mother passed away from bowel cancer, and that tragedy kicked off a span of ten years that were rife with family turmoil. Yet, Anneliese believes that dealing with existential struggles at a young age is exactly what enabled her to succeed in challenging environments that crossed cultural boundaries throughout her career. The challenges she overcame gave her grit. They imbued her with determination and emotional resilience. Those qualities have enabled her to climb to where she is today: General Counsel & Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs at du located in the United Arab Emirates. We discuss: - How family turmoil lended her the fortitude to tough out challenging situations - Why learning the intricacies of new cultures is key to understanding how to work within them - The value of developing strong relationships with law firms - The ethics of combining the GC role with business functions Mentioned during the podcast: - Dubai Angel InvestorsAssociation of Corporate Counsel - The Institute of Directors Hear more stories by subscribing to Innovative Legal Leadership on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast platform. Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Innovative Legal Leadership in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Our guest today made a lot of big life decisions at a young age—a very young age. David Keim, SVP & General Counsel of Global Corporate Legal Affairs at SAS, decided to become a lawyer in the 4th grade after reading about Patrick Henry. Not only that, he met his future wife in Kindergarten (although he admits it took until the 10th grade before he realized she was the one). David knows a lot about contractual agreements—both marital and otherwise. His time at International Family Entertainment included involvement in drafting contracts for a veritable assembly line of acquisitions and divestitures. Today, he passes on that knowledge to the next generation of lawyers as an adjunct professor teaching the mechanics of drafting contracts. We discuss: - How an early fascination with Patrick Henry launched his journey into law - His path from entertainment law to general counsel at SAS - Strategies for attracting and retaining talent - The mechanics of contracts Hear more stories by subscribing to Innovative Legal Leadership on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast platform. Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Innovative Legal Leadership in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Benoit Balmary comes from a long line of lawyers dating back 200 years. So, you could argue that he was simply making the safe choice by going into law. He jokingly says as much. But there was a deeper pull as well: a basic belief in the nobility of law and the idea that it single-handedly separates us from chaos. Of course, as Group General Counsel at Michelin, Benoit is dealing with a far different environment than his ancestors did hundreds of years ago. Given the rapid rate of change, the challenge for today’s in-house legal teams is not to maintain the status quo, but to adapt to the rapid evolution of the legal environment. We discuss: - Transforming a siloed legal organization into a hyper collaborative global team - Creating an ambassador between the legal team and the business - Michelin’s framework for managing law firm relationships - Change management within a 130-year-old company Hear more stories by subscribing to Innovative Legal Leadership on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast platform. Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Innovative Legal Leadership in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Terry Theologides, Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at Fannie Mae, attributes much of his success to his youthful impatience. It was youthful impatience that led him to move in-house as a fourth year at Wynn International. It was also youthful impatience that gave him the confidence to go after his first GC role at New Century Financial Corporation after only two years on the job. Were there some gaps in knowledge and expertise early on? In retrospect, yes. But what he did have was a healthy respect for adhering to a good process and an uncanny ability to soak up new knowledge like a sponge. Today, this focus is on promoting affordable, equitable homeownership for Americans in areas that have been traditionally underserved and modernizing the legal function. We discuss: - The appeal and indispensable quality of in-house work - Strategies for leading a team through challenging periods - Bringing discipline to an organization without disrupting the existing quality of work - The exciting upcoming transformation in the way law is done Hear more stories by subscribing to Innovative Legal Leadership on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast platform. Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Innovative Legal Leadership in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

At an early age, Meredith Fuchs realized that if you understood the law, you could make a positive impact on society The roots of this view can be traced back to an enduring love for the book, To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s why she places so much emphasis on mission and people in her career. That drive to make a difference led her to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), where she was a part of the startup team, it led her to CapitalOne where she set out to change banking for good, and it’s what led her to her current position, as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Plaid, a company that aims to unlock financial freedom for everyone. We discuss:  - The process of building a legal team at the CFPB  - How to determine priorities at a new company  - The benefit of embedding lawyers in product groups  - Important attributes in new legal hires Hear more stories by subscribing to Innovative Legal Leadership on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast platform. Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Innovative Legal Leadership in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Karyn Polak views her career as a series of ever expanding circles. After starting out in corporate finance and capital markets, she progressively expanded her circle into other skill sets, other types of companies, and other challenges. This devotion to constant growth stems from a personal belief: Once you’ve been in a seat for a little while, that’s when it’s time to go outside your comfort zone. It’s that growth mindset that has enabled her to flourish as SVP, General Counsel and Secretary at Transamerica, and it’s the reason why she gives her team ongoing opportunities to expand beyond their circles as well. In this episode, we discuss: - The importance of stepping outside your comfort zone - Overcoming the challenges of a distributed workforce - Three ingredients for a collaborative, high-performing team - How diverse perspectives lead to deeper context Hear more stories by subscribing to Innovative Legal Leadership on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast platform. Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Innovative Legal Leadership in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.