The Abstract

Why build a big tent community of in-house lawyers without restrictions on who can join? How do you manage the transition from in-house lawyer to founder? And can you keep space for your religious faith during the process?Join Shai Mehani, co-founder and CEO of In-House Connect, as he shares why he left his career as a corporate counsel behind to lead a thriving community of more than fifty thousand in-house lawyers that offers connection, education, professional advancement and more.Listen as Shai discusses his journey from matrimonial law to corporate counsel, transforming a regular meetup for lawyers into an extraordinary organization, finding unexpected benefits in fractional work, the best way to quit a job, and the importance of prioritizing personal faith and family over your career.Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-86TopicsIntroduction: 0:00Why Shai went to law school: 2:46Starting his legal career in matrimonial law: 5:34The beginnings of In-House Connect: 12:49Expanding beyond NYC and online: 19:45Taking an inclusive big tent approach: 23:47Taking on fractional work: 30:15Going all-in on In-House Connect: 36:52The best way to quit job: 42:47Finding guidance in your faith: 46:00What’s next for In-House Connect: 50:09How to contact Shai and get involved: 55:29Rapid-fire questions: 56:17Connect with us:Shai Mehani - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaimehani/Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinnSpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraftSpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

What if you never really wanted or expected to become a lawyer? How do you navigate imposter syndrome? And where do you find meaning in your work?Join Ryan Nier, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Head of People at Nova Credit, as he shares his career path from being a self-taught computer programmer who founded his own start-up to a decade as a litigation associate at a global law firm, eventually landing as a general counsel at companies with a positive impact on the world.Listen as Ryan discusses his struggles with imposter syndrome, feeling like the only person in the room with a unique background, hiring great people for roles you’ve never done before, and his side project of creating a documentary podcast about the time he and his brother dug up some (literal) buried gold.Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-85TopicsIntroduction 0:00Starting as a software engineer: 2:17Enrolling in law school: 5:34Managing imposter syndrome: 9:58Hiring diverse talent: 16:44Why representation matters: 23:42Transitioning to in-house legal: 27:08Making the leap to general counsel: 32:22Expanding beyond legal into the people function: 39:52Creating and hosting a podcast about your family: 45:18Rapid-fire questions: 53:30Connect with us:Ryan Nier - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryannier/Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinnSpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraftSpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

Is it possible to carve out a meaningful career in law by following your passions? What's harder: building a non-profit or a business? What do lawyers have to learn from animators?Join Adam Stofsky, CEO of Briefly and founder of the New Media Advocacy Project, as he shares how he used high-production documentary video to advocate for human rights across the globe and started a company to help lawyers better communicate with their clients.Listen as Adam discusses the challenges of non-litigation career paths, founding nonprofit and for-profit companies, the trauma of human rights work, working with creative professionals like animators and voice actors, the importance of bearing witness to human rights abuses, and much more.Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-84Topics:Introduction: 0:00Why Adam wanted to become a lawyer: 2:29Starting your career at Debevoise & Plimpton: 5:48Transitioning into human rights work: 7:20Founding the non-profit New Media Advocacy Project: 10:48Dealing with the challenges of human rights advocacy: 17:52Adam’s biggest accomplishments at NMAP: 23:18Living on a farm in Upstate New York: 26:20Founding Briefly: 33:38Helping lawyers communicate better: 43:46Lessons from creative professionals: 47:26Expanding Briefly’s customer base: 50:27Rapid-fire questions: 56:33Book recommendations: 59:20Connect with us:Adam Stofsky - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamstofsky/Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinnSpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraftSpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

What does 2025 hold for legal tech and the legal ops profession? Will legal ops ever become a standard part of every in-house legal team?Join us in this very special episode as Tyler invites Kevin Cohn, Chief Customer Officer at Brightflag, and Matt Wheatley, VP of Client Strategy at Priori, for a very special, no-holds-barred discussion about  legal operations in an ever-changing industry.Listen as Matt and Kevin share their thoughts on legal ops conferences, gender and wage disparities, whether legal ops is more of a legal role or an operational role, 2025’s uncomfortably tight labor market, AI disrupting the legal ops field, and much more.Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-83Topics: Introduction: 0:00Working with customer advisory boards: 3:11Are there too many legal ops conferences?: 12:34Connecting GCs and legal ops professionals: 20:10Analyzing survey data: 34:52Do you need a JD?: 40:28Thoughts on hiring: 46:57AI in the legal landscape: 53:04Market consolidation: 57:19Rapid-fire questions 1:04:44Connect with us:Kevin Cohn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinacohn/Matt Wheatley - https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-wheatley-288146a2/Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinnSpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraftSpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How do you build a fintech juggernaut and redefine how employees think about ownership in businesses, navigate regulatory roadblocks along the way, and build a global team to make it happen?Join April Lindauer, General Counsel at Carta, as she discusses her start-up’s tremendous journey from 200 employees to more than 2000, as the software platform that allows users to manage equity, build businesses, and invest in the companies of tomorrow as they expand into an ever-growing list of international markets.Listen as April offers tips for working with regulators, navigating several financing rounds, building out legal operations, working with great outside partners, and hiring the perfect team, and much more.Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-82Topics:Introduction: 0:00Joining Carta and overseeing tremendous growth: 1:58Cultivating a career in financial services: 4:10Carta’s growth from 200 employees to 2000: 6:26Transitioning from deputy general counsel to general counsel: 8:23Hiring for a global legal team: 12:30Navigating the GC role during the COVID-19 pandemic: 14:34Working with the executive team to make tough decisions: 16:57Working with financial regulators: 18:22Leading legal through multiple financing rounds: 22:21Leveraging Carta’s wealth of data: 24:21Rapid-fire questions: 27:48Book recommendations: 29:00What you wish you’d known as a young lawyer: 30:36Connect with us:April Lindauer - https://www.linkedin.com/in/april-lindauer-2174104/Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinnSpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraftSpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How do you advise founders and learn to speak their language? Build a thriving legal community in Europe? And navigate the ups and downs of starting your own business?Join Sarah Irwin, CEO and Founder of Irish Tech GC, as she discusses her career as a consultant for tech founders, adviser for GCs looking to build better relationships with their fellow executives, angel investor, and global legal influencer.Listen as Sarah shares how she founded the Irish Tech GC community, why she decided it was time to leave her GC role behind and go all-in on her own company, how she leveraged LinkedIn to create enormous reach, and offers tips to GCs on how they can position themselves as business leaders.Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-81Topics:Introduction: 0:00What inspired Sarah to be a lawyer: 2:19Assessing Dublin’s start-up landscape: 7:47Working with founders at Tines: 9:44Founding the Irish Tech GC community: 12:17Seeing yourself as a founder: 15:12Deciding to go all-in on your own company: 18:31Operating a start-up and legal consulting practice: 20:01Common mistakes that GCs make when working with founders: 21:51Documenting the ups and downs of your founder journey on LinkedIn: 26:39The best and most challenging parts of being a founder: 29:07The future of Irish Tech GC: 33:01Getting in touch with Sarah: 34:31Rapid-fire questions: 35:15Connect with us:Sarah Irwin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-irwin-aa273064/Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinnSpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraftSpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How do you become a leader in the privacy space? Use video and content to make privacy and the profession more accessible? And define a whole new type of privacy role?Join Ron De Jesus, Field Chief Privacy Officer at Transcend, as he shares what it’s like to be the first in the compliance industry to take on his innovative new role leading dialogues and creating spaces for discussion about the future of privacy. Pulling from his experience leading privacy at dating app companies like Grindr and Tinder and fashion houses like Tapestry and Coach, Ron leads with his extensive domain knowledge and first-hand understanding of privacy-related issues.Listen as Ron discusses how he conducts interviews with privacy regulators, politicians, and activists in his video series “Field Notes,” the future of the CPO role in the age of AI, managing corporate reputations after privacy complaints, how to break into privacy without a law degree, and much more.Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-80Topics: Introduction: 0:00What is a Field Chief Privacy Officer?: 1:50Producing a creative video webseries at Transcend: 6:54Experimenting with video content as a freelance privacy consultant: 12:05Coming into a role at a company dealing with privacy complaints: 15:50Managing privacy-related communications issues: 19:01Navigating a career break after alleging wrongful termination: 21:53Thinking about new consent frameworks in the privacy industry: 24:40How did you get your start in privacy?: 27:57What is the future of the CPO role?: 33:56Advice to young people who want to work in privacy: 36:19How to find Ron: 39:34Rapid-fire questions: 40:01Book Recommendations: 41:28What you wish you’d known as a young privacy professional: 42:42Connect with us:Ron De Jesus - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rondejesus/Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinnSpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraftSpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How is the rise of AI going to affect the intellectual property field and patents? What are some common mistakes that GCs make when setting up a patent strategy? Or tips that our guest has learned from years as a patent examiner?Join Matt Veale, European Patent Attorney and UPC at PatSnap, as he leads us into this podcast’s first-ever deep dive into all things patents and IP, sharing expert advice on the best way to work with examiners to bring your innovations to the world.Listen as Matt discusses why he thinks IP is the most important thing in the world, the importance of data analytics, bridging the gap between lawyers and R&D, building a strong patent strategy, the future of IP law, and much more.Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-79Topics:Introduction: 0:00What inspired Matt to be a lawyer: 1:48What does intellectual property law mean?: 3:40Starting your legal career at the UK Intellectual Property Office: 5:11Tips for people filing their first patent: 6:42Interesting patent applications Matt has seen: 8:47Tips for GCs who inherit corporate patents: 9:39Looking for outside patent counsel: 11:55Patent analytics at PatSnap: 13:44The future of IP law: 16:38AI as a tool for patent lawyers: 20:55Contacting Matt: 25:23Rapid-fire questions: 25:37Book recommendations: 26:46What Matt wishes he knew as a young lawyer: 27:17Connect with us:Matt Veale - https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-veale-ip/Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinnSpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraftSpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How can general counsels and legal operations leaders work better together? How do you cultivate a high-performance culture across your legal team? And what makes for a thriving community of legal ops professionals?Join Steph Corey, CEO and Co-founder of UpLevel Ops and Link, the Legal Innovators Network, as she unpacks her career leading legal operations, starting at HP in the 90s, leading operations at Flex and VMware, co-founding the game-changing CLOC and Link conferences, and launching her own consultancy.Listen as Steph discusses how she built community in an isolating legal role, whether or not you need a law degree to work in legal ops, how to hire the best talent for your team, and merging with The L Suite to bring general counsels into the legal operations conversation.Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-78Topics:Introduction: 0:00Switching to legal ops from finance: 2:50Building trust with HP’s general counsel: 5:33Co-founding CLOC, the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium: 11:21Do you need a JD to break into legal operations?: 15:47Tips for finding the right talent: 18:55How can legal operations professionals and general counsels work better together?: 23:03Co-founding Link: 28:44Merging Link with The L Suite: 31:54The future of her consultancy: 38:23Connecting with Steph and LINK: 40:27Rapid-fire questions: 41:11Book Recommendations: 45:46What you wish you’d known as a young legal ops professional: 49:30Connect with us:Steph Corey - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephcorey-ulo/Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinnSpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraftSpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How do you help one of Silicon Valley's most iconic companies, Yahoo!, navigate years of change, stay engaged over almost two decades there, and make the move to health tech when you're ready for something new?Join Ron Bell, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer at Collective Health, as he shares his journey from Chicago litigator and software programming hobbyist to in-house lawyer at some of the hottest tech companies in the world during the dotcom renaissance.Listen as Ron offers his insights on how to navigate the constant and radical changes he’s seen in the tech industry over three decades, the importance of creating spaces of trust and transparency, establishing legal operations in legacy businesses, and why people are so afraid of lawyers.Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-77Topics:Introduction: 0:00Charting a career course after law school: 2:04Leaving Illinois for the Bay Area: 3:44Working in legal at Apple as a former programmer: 6:45Leaving Apple for Yahoo!: 10:17Growing and changing at the same company for 18 years: 13:22Setting up legal operations at Yahoo!: 17:25Becoming the second Chief Legal Officer at Collective Health: 21:30Building a strong relationship with Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer: 23:04Navigating constant change: 29:45Coaching your staff to be more accessible: 35:00Paying attention to stock fluctuations: 39:13Reflections on the maturing tech industry: 42:59Deciding to move into healthcare: 46:50Being open and candid with your colleagues: 48:45Rapid-fire questions: 54:57Connect with us:Ron Bell - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronsbell/Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinnSpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraftSpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.