The Abstract

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-46Topics: Introduction: 0:00Deanna Papedis on adopting a strategic mindset and keeping your eye on the big picture: 1:05Hardeep Singh on congratulating yourself when you reach a career milestone: 2:10Vineet Shahani on dealing with career lows and leaning on your communication skills: 3:50Nguyễn Vu on establishing strong relationships with people who can move the needle on your career: 6:09Sagi Eliyahu on knowing when the world is ready for your idea: 8:49Connect with us: Deanna Papedis - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanna-papedis/ Hardeep Singh - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardeep-singh-863b1617/ Vineet Shahani - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vineetshahani Nguyen Vu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nguyentvu/  Sagi Eliyahu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliyahusagi/  Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft  SpotDraft is a leading CLM platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues.  Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

What does a former GC-turned-executive recruiter wish she'd known about creating a personal brand, working with search firms, and negotiating the offer? How do executive recruiters help take careers where they need to go—not just to the next level? And when is the right time to start building a meaningful relationship with executive recruiters?Joelle Khoury, consultant at Egon Zehnder, built a towering career as an in-house counsel at private equity giants like Saban Capital Group and Fifth Wall and at law firms including Cooley LLP and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. But when the time came to make a change, she pivoted from leading to legal to helping other lawyers find the career paths that best suit their interests.Listen as Joelle shares insider tips on how to reach out to executive recruiters, navigate the interview and offer processes, the wrong way to approach a negotiation, and when to reassess whether the profession you’ve chosen is still the right one for you.Read detailed summary: https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-45Topics:Introduction: 0:00Building a legal career at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Cooley LLP: 3:09Comparing Saban Capital Group with Fifth Wall: 5:55Advice to lawyers raising capital for the first time: 8:16Leaving Fifth Wall and reassessing your career plan: 9:55Taking time off before joining Egon Zehnder: 11:22Transitioning from a legal career to executive recruiting at Egon Zehnder: 16:07Advice to executives looking to executive recruiters for new opportunities: 21:43Tips for nailing the interview process: 26:10Tips for negotiating after receiving an offer: 29:40Lessons you learned as a recruiter that you wish you’d known as a GC: 33:33What you wish you’d known as a young lawyer: 35:27Connect with us:Joelle Khoury - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelle-khoury-21959814Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinnSpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraftSpotDraft is a leading CLM platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How can training to be a professional opera singer translate into the legal operations profession? How do you build a career in legal ops without any formal training? And what role should technology play–if any–in a strong legal ops program?Cory Clines, Legal Operations Manager at Campari Group, was able to transfer valuable lessons from his life as a conservatory-trained opera singer into his fifteen-year-long career in legal ops, like the importance of collaboration and the need for a shared vision among teams. In his current role and at former companies like Advance Publications and Lloyd’s, Cory was able to leverage his love of technology into managerial roles that revolutionized legal processes with efficiency-maximizing software.Listen as Cory discusses how to develop strong relationships with tech vendors, building legal ops teams from scratch, earning the trust of your GC, the best ways to run an RFP, and more.Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-44Topics:Introduction: 0:00Training as an opera singer: 4:01Considering skill transfer from opera to legal operations: 12:12Moving forward by earning the trust of your GC: 14:46Deciding to leverage technology in legal ops: 16:34Running RFPs from an in-house perspective: 18:59Identifying new opportunities to advance your legal ops career: 22:05Advice to legal ops professionals who feel pigeonholed in one aspect of the role: 24:27Considering how curiosity affects your work: 27:23Questioning the need for tech expertise as a legal operations manager: 28:47Looking back at tech implementations that went wrong: 31:20Building a legal ops team from scratch at Campari: 38:14Using tech to drive legal ops process: 41:15Book recommendations: 46:01What you wish you had known when you started in legal ops: 47:58Connect with us:Cory Clines - https://www.linkedin.com/in/corywilliamclines/Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinnSpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraftSpotDraft is a leading CLM platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

If you're a foreign-trained lawyer who wants to move to the U.S., how do you find a job? Why should companies look to foreign-trained lawyers in an increasingly globalized world? And how should you navigate moments of big career transitions?Flavia Naves, former general counsel at Circle, relocated to the United States after studying law in her native country of Brazil, and went on to become an authority on law and regulation related to crypto, fintech, digital payments, and much more. In addition to her long lost of leading legal roles, she is also a board member, of counsel at Kunz and Hathaway, and commissioner of the State of Wyoming’s Stable Token Commission.Listen as Flavia shares the challenges she faced as a foreign-trained lawyer, why she advocates for mentorship and specialized training, what it’s like facing unexpected career transitions, and how she came to realize that her biggest differences are her biggest strengths.Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-43Topics:Introduction: 0:00Moving to the United States after growing up and studying law in Brazil: 2:44Entering the legal job market as a foreign-trained attorney: 3:51Seeking mentorship from other foreign-trained lawyers: 8:18Why companies should consider more foreign-trained attorneys: 11:23Considering LLMs: 14:36Navigating moments of career transition: 18:24Deciding to leave your GC role at Circle: 20:36Life after Circle: 25:38Book recommendations: 31:15What you wish you’d known as a young lawyer: 32:42Connect with us:Flavia Naves - https://www.linkedin.com/in/fnavesTyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinnSpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraftSpotDraft is a leading CLM platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How does the nature of an organization change the design of its legal operations program? How can leaders of all types embrace innovations that legal ops professionals are bringing to legal ops departments? What are the most important things legal ops leaders need to know about the business?Susan Packal, Head of Global Legal Operations at Atlassian, learned the most important aspects of legal ops leadership serving in director and chief of staff positions at dynamic start-ups and legacy brands like Hilton, eBay, Uber, and Twilio, in addition to running her own legal ops consultancy. Along the way, she’s developed methods for building legal ops teams that leverage their proficiency to serve the needs of the core business.Hear from Susan as she sits down with Tyler at CLOC to discuss ways to establish a strong culture in your legal team, elevating the GC role, and recognizing the importance of tough feedback to help guide your career.Read detailed summary: https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-42Topics: Introduction: 0:00 Building the first legal ops teams at Hilton: 3:06 Contemplating the chief of staff role in legal departments: 9:51 Running legal operations as director and chief of staff at Twilio: 12:49 Setting a strong culture in the legal department at Atlassian: 15:58 Comparing and contrasting Hilton, Uber, and Atlassian: 19:36 Considering past career missteps: 22:10 Book Recommendations: 29:00 What you wish you had known as a young lawyer: 32:07Connect with us: Susan Packal - https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanpackal/ Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraftSpotDraft is a leading CLM platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How has the legal ops profession evolved over the years? What was it like to be there at the birth of legal ops? And how can you break into the field now?  DeAnna Papedis, head of legal contract & product program management & operations at Google, has been with the tech giant for eighteen years, building up their massive legal ops departments from a team of legal assistants. Stepping into legal operations from a contract management role before the field even had a name, DeAnna has watched legal ops grow into an indispensable part of the organization.  Hear DeAnna as she takes a break from CLOC to discuss building and leading one of tech’s biggest and most venerable legal ops teams, expanding the legal ops community, and predicting the future of legal ops.  Read detailed summary: https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-41     Topics: Introduction: 0:00Transitioning from contracts manager into legal ops: 4:55Growing legal ops within Google: 8:56Managing a legal ops team: 11:44Attending CLOC from the beginning: 13:40Imagining the future of legal ops: 16:24Book recommendations: 19:11What you wish you’d known as a young lawyer: 20:00Connect with us: DeAnna Papedis - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanna-papedis/  Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft  SpotDraft is a leading CLM platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

Can you leverage a joke-filled social media brand to build your own business? How will the practice of law evolve in the age of AI? Is the billable hour going away?Matt Margolis, Partner at Margolis PLLC, went from a single funny and relatable LinkedIn post about frustrations at work to growing a massive brand as @ItsMattsLaw across platforms like TikTok, X, and Instagram. Beyond expanding his network, it aided him as he made the leap from in-house to partner at his own law firm, Margolis PLLC.Hear Matt discuss how he balances social content creation with legal work, starting his own law firm, serving as legal advisor to multiple companies, and how he thinks AI is shaping the future of legal work.Read detailed summary: https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-40Topics:Introduction: 0:00Building a major social media presence: 3:01Managing the demands of content production: 8:59Leveraging your persona profile to build brand awareness at LawTrades: 12:48Starting your own legal firm: 14:45Tracking the evolution of in-house legal roles: 18:17Leveraging AI at your law firm: 20:47Advising on community and partnerships at Justice HQ and Attorney Share: 24:11Recommendations: 26:14What you wish you had known as a young lawyer: 29:02Connect with us:Matt Margolis - https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsmattslaw/Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinnSpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraftSpotDraft is a leading CLM platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

What is the role of tech in making legal and business teams work better together? How can process orchestration improve your intake process and seamlessly connect silos in your organization? And what is it like to build a tech company that serves legal professionals?  Sagi Eliyahu, CEO and co-founder of Tonkean, didn’t set out to make a platform that automates and streamlines processes for lawyers. But focusing his startup’s point of view on elevating people over data allowed him to identify the issues that legal teams—some of the most people-centric and complex teams in an organization—need to resolve to do their work better, faster, and with more time to focus on solving problems.  Hear Sagi discuss the meaning of process orchestration, his experience immigrating to the US and starting a tech-company, and where he thinks AI and machine learning are headed. And for the first time ever, Spotdraft COO Akshay Verma joins Tyler as co-host and draws upon his background in legal ops at Coinbase and Meta to contribute keen insights into the conversation.  Read detailed summary: https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-39   Topics: Introduction: 0:00Understanding how the immigrant experience shapes your business acumen: 6:16Founding Tonkean and focusing your sales efforts on legal: 15:13Defining process orchestration and contrasting it with automation: 21:13Working with customers to orchestrate processes: 26:26Taking a pragmatic approach to using AI and machine learning: 36:44Contemplating when data sets will be strong enough to give AI reliable judgment: 45:15Book recommendations: 58:12What you wish you had known as a young founder: 1:00:55 Connect with us: Sagi Eliyahu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliyahusagi/  Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn Akshay Verma - https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshay-verma-esq/  SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft  SpotDraft is a leading CLM platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How do you step into and thrive in the role of product counselor? How does the work of a product counselor change from organization to organization? And how can you recalibrate your legal career to focus on environmental issues and climate change?  Vineet Shahani, General Counsel, Policy and Corporate Development at Mill, gained his product knowledge working on the iPhone at Apple and guiding the groundbreaking internet-of-things product Nest through acquisition and integration at Google. Now he applies those learnings to his legal leadership at Mill, a mission-based environmental product that combats a major climate issue.  Hear Vineet explain the challenges and rewards of jumping from a big organizations to an adaptable startup, lending your legal skills to a political campaign, breaking into environmental work, and more.  Read detailed summary: https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-38  Annual Compensation Report: https://salary-report.spotdraft.com/Topics: Introduction: 0:00Explaining Mill and its environmentalist mission-oriented concept: 2:22Considering work in an ESG (environmental social governance)-related company: 8:01Advice for lawyers who want to work on climate issues: 10:18Beginning your path to a full-time counsel role as an outside advisor: 14:41Unpacking the phrase “hitting a single:” 18:16Defining the responsibilities of a product counselor: 22:25Lessons about product counseling from Apple: 25:39Transitioning from Apple to Nest: 27:36Leading legal at Nest through an acquisition by Google: 31:37Assisting on a political campaign: 37:42What you wish you’d known as a young lawyer: 41:28   Connect with us: Vineet Shahani - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vineetshahani  Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft  SpotDraft is a leading CLM platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How can legal leaders thrive while navigating major M&A and capital market transactions? How do you expand the GC or CLO title and take on broader executive roles? And how do you leverage your experience into a board seat?Nithya Das, Chief Legal and Chief Administrative Officer at Diligent, has taken on each of these challenges and used the lessons she gained from them to advance her career exactly where she wants it to go. Formerly the chief legal and people officer of the so-called “AppNexus mafia” during the startup’s historic sale to AT&T, Nithya has led counsel, operations, and more in the ad tech, food tech, and reg tech spaces. She also brings her expertise to her seat on the board of directors at Outbrain.Hear Nithya as she shares tips about leading in-house counsel through IPO and acquisitions, serving on a board of directors, dealing with personal tragedy during career triumphs, the importance of transparency for establishing trust and loyalty with your team, and more.Diligent is the leading GRC SaaS company, empowering more than 1 million users and 700,000 board members and leaders to make better decisions, faster. The Diligent One Platform helps organizations connect their entire GRC practice — including governance, risk, compliance, audit and ESG — to bring clarity to complex risk, stay ahead of regulatory changes and deliver impactful insights, in one consolidated view.Diligent will be at CLOC global institute next month! Be sure to catch their speaking session 'Elevating Entity Management' on the 7th and stop by booth 104 to discuss the ways Diligent can help streamline and automate your entity management at scale.Read detailed summary: https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-37Annual Compensation Report: https://salary-report.spotdraft.com/Topics:Introduction: 0:00Planting the seeds of your legal career: 3:36Moving into your first in-house role at AppNexus: 4:47Running the IPO and acquisition process as GC at AppNexus: 8:29Choosing to move on from AT&T after acquisition: 10:43Taking time off before joining Olo as COO and CLO: 16:02Running operations at Olo: 20:12Offering practical advice to lawyers trying to take on business roles: 25:10Working with private equity versus working in a public company: 27:47Leading legal at Diligent: 29:58Finding your way onto the board at Outbrain: 31:53What you wish you had known as a young lawyer: 35:52Connect with us:Nithya Das - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nithyadas/Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinnSpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraftSpotDraft is a leading CLM platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.