Innovative Legal Leadership

Creating a legal department your CEO would brag about doesn't happen by accident. It takes intention and care to hire the best lawyers and create an environment that stimulates growth. Rankin Gasaway, the Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at 7-Eleven, has created an environment where lawyers are encouraged to be courageous and trust their intuition.   We discuss: The anxiety Gasaway felt early on in his career. The right way to build relationships. How to empower your legal team. Creating a diverse legal department.  More information about Rankin Gasaway and today’s topics: LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rankin-gasaway-853b501 Company Website: https://www.7-eleven.com  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 by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Richard Crabb was listed in the Legal 500 as an expert in Sports Law in 2011 and as an expert in Charity Law in 2012. But he didn’t always have a desire to work in the Legal industry. Richard’s route into law came from a career in marketing where he had to have a comprehensive understanding of the way the law operated in order to be great at his Brand Manager role in the retail industry. His early career in marketing and would raise a few eyebrows but his knowledge of psychology has helped him grow in his career from marketing professional to becoming the Head of Commercial, Tech & Innovation, Global Legal at HSBC We discuss: Untapped Growth Opportunities For Law Firms. Solutions that Lawyers are looking for. Revenue Streams For Law Firms.  More information about Richard Crabb and today’s topics: LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-crabb-6b75a311  Company Website: https://www.hsbc.com  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 by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

German-born Christoph Feddersen would not be where he is today, the Vice President & General Counsel at Collins Aerospace in Charlotte, North Carolina, were it not for the tremendous opportunities he was given to stretch himself.  Early opportunities came at international law firms Cleary Gottlieb and Morgan Lewis, and they continued to pop up in later roles as executive assistant to the chairman and CEO at United Technologies and vice president and general counsel for UTC Aerospace.   In his current role, he looks to pay it forward by empowering a global network of legal, trade, and contracts professionals, and providing opportunities for them to prove their mettle and grow.   It’s all part of the culture he has fostered, one built on a steady foundation of support and improvement.  We discuss: Integrating legal departments and balancing subject matter expertise across the organization Why culture is a key tool in talent retention How in-house departments and outside counsel can collaborate on DEI The value of employee resource groups  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 by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

The career of Jay Rosenblum, much like a stage play, has three acts. Act 1: Government Service, first as a clerk for an appellate judge, followed by a role in the Clinton Administration. Act 2: In-house government affairs roles at highly regulated financial institutions during a time of historic regulatory change. Act 3: Senior roles in corporate leadership, first as Chief HR Officer with Guardian Life, and today, as the EVP & Chief Legal Officer at Assurant. Take that as evidence that Jay believes in trying new things and taking risks. He talks about his wide-ranging career, the lessons he learned along the way, and the challenges that GCs face today. We discuss: Lessons from his time at the White House Structuring the legal department to best serve business priorities A purposeful approach to talent retention Assurant’s DEI initiatives 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 by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

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 by 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 by 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 by 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 by 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 by 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 by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.