Required Reading

Too busy to read it all? Try these books, blogs, webcasts, websites and other info resources curated by CCBJ especially for corporate counsel and legal ops professionals.

AMICUS BRIEF: Association of Corporate Counsel / Sidley Austin

The SEC opened a can of worms when it took aim at DC’s Covington & Burling to enforce an administrative subpoena seeking the names of clients who were victims of a data breach. Covington rebuffed the feds. We’re not going to in violate professional conduct rules by disclosing client secrets, the firm responded, prompting the ACC to jump into the fracas with a brief, prepared with the help of Sidley, arguing that the SEC’s position would have wide-ranging negative ramifications for in-house counsel. “Corporations rely on the trust and confidence of the attorney-client relationship with their own lawyers and their outside lawyers,” says the brief. “In that way, in-house counsel functions in essence as both lawyer and client—often at the same time. That makes them doubly exposed to the Commission’s proposed degradation of attorney-client confidences and secrets.”

ARTICLE: BLOOMBERG LAW

It started with a breakthrough in removing skin blemishes several years ago. Chris Marlett, CEO of investment bank MDB Capital Holdings, seized the opportunity he saw to invest in nano-pulse technology that could make the treatment commercially available. He and others established a new company called Pulse Biosciences, which he eventually took public, and they were (kind of) off to the races. The process, particularly navigating patent protection, was a nightmare. And with that Marlett tried to turn lemons into lemonade by starting one of Arizona’s newest law firms: MDB Capital-owned PatentVest, an end-to-end firm to help startups hone their tech, capture it in strong patents, and, possibly, go public. Such an all-in-one legal and business service profiting nonlawyers is banned by ethics rules in virtually every other state, but Marlett is undaunted thanks to Arizona’s ongoing experiment in who can practice law. “Now,” he says, “we’ll have one unified process to do it.”

OPINION: MLA Global

Historically, in-house corporate legal teams have been viewed as the “department of no” – “a cost center and bureaucratic roadblock that stifles creativity and jams up the sales and marketing pipeline,” writes Allison Rosner, a director on the in-house counsel recruiting team of Major, Lindsey & Africa. However, she says, the pandemic gave rise to an opportunity to turn the tide. In order to make this happen, the business and legal departments need to be nimble and adapt together as aligned partners to facilitate success for the organization as a whole. Accomplishing this, however, requires a seismic shift in how most legal departments are perceived by other stakeholders across the organization. How do you accomplish this? In this piece, Rosner lays out 8 helpful steps to set the wheels of transformation in motion.

Contributors

Thanks to the law firms, technology companies, alternative legal service providers, management consultants and other supporters of corporate law departments who share their insights and expertise through the CCBJ network. Your participation is appreciated.

Jared Applegate is the Chief Legal Operations Officer for Barnes & Thornburg. Jared continuously works to provide market insight, competitive intelligence and innovative thinking to attorneys and clients on pricing strategies and related matter management solutions. Jared is responsible for managing the law firm’s portfolio of alternative fees, creating innovative and practical pricing solutions and improving firm economics.

Alexandra Guajardo is a Legal Operations industry expert with over 20 years of experience driving operational excellence on both the firm and corporate side. She continues to drive, advance and enhance the Outside Counsel Program at Shell USA, while providing strategic support to all legal departments globally.

Brenda Hansen is the Senior Legal Operations Consultant for Epiq’s legal business advisory practice. Brenda has more than 20 years of experience in the legal industry with both in-house and law firm administration experience. She is known for her ability to partner with business leaders to identify gaps and produce solutions that generate new levels of efficiency and productivity.

David McVeigh, Chief Executive Officer at Axiom, has more than 30 years of experience in business leadership, management consulting, and private equity portfolio company management. Prior to Axiom, he served as Gartner, Inc.’s Executive Vice President, Global Business Sales, and as a member of its operating committee.

Olivera Medenica CIPP/CIPM is an equity partner at Dunnington Bartholow & Miller LLP, and is a member of its intellectual property, privacy, advertising, art and fashion law, international, litigation and arbitration and France desk practice groups. Olivera is also a member of Dunnington’s Executive Committee, chairs its Trademark Practice Group, Privacy Practice Group as well as its Diversity Committee.

Karen Meyer is the CEO of Contract Logix. Karen leads strategy for the company and oversees all aspects of the business. Karen brings more than 20 years of SaaS experience building organizations to scale and drive growth. Prior to becoming Contract Logix’s CEO, Karen led Upland Software’s Global Customer Success organization.

Sterling Miller is a three-time General Counsel who spent almost 25 years in house. He has published four books and writes the award-winning legal blog, Ten Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel. Sterling is a frequent paid contributor to Thomson Reuters as well as a sought-after speaker. He regularly consults with legal departments and coaches in-house lawyers.

Mark Nastasi is the Executive VP and founder of CobbleStone Software with more than 20 years of professional experience in the industry. He launched the first commercial contract software in 1995 named CMTS (Contract Management Tracking System). He has worked extensively with general counsel, paralegals, lawyers and legal professionals to help manage contracts better.

Anthony Pacilio is an expert in neurodiverse employment and currently serves as the vice president of CAI Neurodiverse Solutions. There, he helps neurodiverse candidates find roles, as well as helps businesses maintain best practices when working with neurodiverse employees. In the past, Anthony has worked in the finance and healthcare industries with similar missions.

Melanie Shafer is the Vice President of Customer Success and Professional Services of Onit’s portfolio of simple legal tech solutions which include SimpleLegal, ContractWorks, SecureDocs, and ReadySign. Melanie’s passion for managing people, developing employees, and building teams and processes is critical for scaling service operations through significant organic growth.

Keith Vallely has started numerous businesses with varying degrees of success, culminating with a multitime award winning Entrepreneur Magazine HOT 100 business in the technology sector. In 2011, Keith joined Epona USA, as the Director of US Sales, and as their first employee in the United States, to open the USA office and begin the process of spreading the power of SharePoint as a DMS platform for the Dutch-based Epona Legal BV.

Bruce White has more than 35 years of experience in the litigation, arbitration and mediation of environmental disputes and administrative permitting and enforcement proceedings. The majority of Bruce’s practice involves litigating and negotiating settlements for various complex environmental issues.

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