The Legal Navigator - Summer 2020

2020: Issue No. 6

Insight into leading legal talent and issues affecting the legal market

Brett Pletcher Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Gilead Sciences Leading Through a Global Pandemic

MOME NTU M Career Insights from Legal Mavericks

360 Navigating COVID-19 & A Look at the Virtual Hiring Process from All Angles

5 THINGS YO U D IDN’T K N OW Khiara M. Bridges, Professor of Law at UC Berkeley Law School

ADV ICE TO YOUN G LAWYERS ASK A R ECRUITER TO L EA D John Cashman, President

Major, Lindsey & Africa is the world’s leading legal search firm. The firm, founded in 1982, offers a range of specialized legal recruiting and advisory services to meet the ever-changing needs of law firms and legal departments and to support the career aspirations of talented lawyers and legal and compliance professionals. With more than 25 offices and 200-plus search consultants around the world, Major, Lindsey & Africa uses its market knowledge and experience to partner with organizations to fulfill their legal talent needs and provide solutions to increase team efficiency and effectiveness. Major, Lindsey & Africa is an Allegis Group company, the global leader in talent solutions.

To learn more about Major, Lindsey & Africa, visit www.mlaglobal.com.

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Cover Story 04 Brett Pletcher

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Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Gilead Sciences Leading Through a Global Pandemic

Standards 09 Momentum Career Insights from Legal Mavericks 9 I SS UE 6

13 360 Navigating COVID-19 & A Look at the Virtual Hiring Process from All Angles

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21 5 Things You Didn’t Know Khiara M. Bridges Professor of Law at UC Berkeley Law School

22 Advice to Young Lawyers 22

23 Ask a Recruiter 24 To Lead John Cashman President, Major, Lindsey & Africa

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For reprints and permission, contact htravaglini@mlaglobal.com.

I N TE RV IE W WITH

B R E TT P LETCH ER

Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Gilead Sciences

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hen Brett Pletcher joined Gilead Sciences over 15 years ago, he saw a challenge worth accepting. Now as the head of legal and corporate affairs, he is faced with the greatest challenge of his career to date: a global pandemic.

What has kept you at Gilead for 15 years?

The mission.

If you look at Gilead and the diseases that we treat, there are more people who suffer from them outside the developed world then are inside the developed world—by multiples. So when you have lifesaving drugs and you can get them out into the world, you feel a responsibility to focus on access as much as possible.

Our leadership has been very focused on that. We’ve gone from having 60,000 patients taking our HIV drugs in 2005 to approximately 14 million people taking them in the developing world today, which is amazing.

For people living with HIV, having access to antiviral medicines is the difference between life and death.

Communities thrive when you’re not losing people, when you’re keeping moms and dads around.

As part of our work, we often hear from the people who take our medicines. They share stories of their lives and what their disease was like before and after taking one of our drugs. And when you hear that, you’re just inspired to keep going.

It’s amazing to be in a company where you can help like that. Even now, with remdesivir, we’re not fully understanding it yet, but it looks like a drug that is going to make it possible for people to get back to their lives and feel more confident that if they get COVID-19, they have a better shot of beating it. That’s motivating.

Before Gilead you were at Gunderson Dettmer. How did your law firm experience prepare you to become a GC? My law firm experience was fantastic. I learned so much. I joined Gunderson Dettmer when the firm was started. At the time, the firm was understaffed, and so as a junior associate, I was right in the middle of negotiating deals that at other firms I would have had to be much more senior to do. These companies had no money because they were literally in someone’s garage and being funded by venture capitalists, so I got to do everything from a legal perspective.

I wasn’t just a private equity guy, or I wasn’t just licensing. I was going to their board meetings; I was advising the board, the CEO, senior management. I was doing their dayto-day work from a legal perspective until they brought somebody in to help them. So, I just had a very, very broad view of things that go on in a company. As general counsel, that’s why it’s called general counsel—we have to be generalists and be able to tackle anything. I feel like the firm really gave me a great foundation.

What made you just go in-house in 2005?

I had just made partner at the end of 2004, and I had been talking to recruiters for a long time because I didn’t think I was going to stay in a law firm forever. At some point, I felt I was just going to be doing the same thing over and over again and I wanted to be closer to the business.

I didn’t know exactly what I wanted, but I sensed I would probably go be

general COVER STORY counsel for one of the very small companies that Gunderson represented or that our venture capital clients were investing in.

A recruiter called me one day and said, “Hey, you want to come to Gilead?” My first question was, “What’s Gilead?” So, I did a bunch of research. Gilead wanted me to come and set up the company’s transactional practice. At the time, Gilead had just launched a major breakthrough in HIV treatment and the stock and cash balance were rising. That’s the fuel that runs deals, and for a deals guy, which is what I was at Gunderson, this sounded like a great company that was going to do a lot of interesting things.

In your time at Gilead, the company and the legal department have grown exponentially. How has your role evolved over time?

It’s changed a lot. I came in to do a very narrow job. I didn’t have governance and SEC reporting—the typical stuff corporate guys have.

But by the time I took the general counsel role in 2009, I had taken on all the corporate work—governance, stockholders, SEC reporting, etc.

My boss at the time, who had been general counsel, took on a broader business role, but the legal team remained under him. Then, over time, I moved to report directly to the CEO. Then the company got bigger.

We have many more people in many more places. And our legal work got more complicated. For example, when I took the job, we didn’t have any IP litigation. Now we have significant litigation.

Late last year, I took on the government affairs and public affairs organizations in addition to legal.

So, my role on the leadership team has expanded because my role itself has expanded. I’m not just looking at legal; I’m now looking at how we The Legal Navigator

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position the company and protect the company’s brand, and how we make sure policymakers understand what we’re doing. This has been incredibly important through the remdesivir development process.

When you’re building your team, are there particular qualities and characteristics you’re looking for in the people on your legal team?

My style is to hire people and let them do their thing. I want somebody to whom I can say, “This is your job. Go do it. Tell me how I can help.” And then I largely let that person go. I’m looking for people who are ambitious, creative, self-starting, and willing to make decisions and take risks. People who communicate and who are going to communicate back with me.

Are there mentors who have guided you along the way? Is there anyone in particular you could not have gotten this far in your career without?

There are people who have mentored me along the way, but the person I couldn’t have gotten this far without is my wife. She made it possible for me to do what I’m doing.

We’ve divided and conquered responsibilities to make that happen. We got married literally weeks after we graduated from college.

She started law school within two months after we graduated, so I put her through law school and then she put me through law school. She’s been very supportive all the way along, and she has been someone with whom I can bounce around my ideas and thoughts. She has a great legal mind.

In terms of mentors, I’ve had different mentors at different times in my career whom I have looked to for help understanding how to develop and grow. The best mentorship I got in the law firm was from Dan O’Connor.

Chris Dillon at Gibson Dunn has also been a mentor to me over the years. Then I’ve had various mentors in-house over the years as well.

How would you describe your leadership style?

My job is to make sure you can do your job. If you’re stuck because there’s a risk decision you need to make and you don’t feel comfortable making it, then you call me. If you’re stuck because somewhere in the system something’s not working and you need me to get that fixed, let me know.

If you need resources, let me know. That’s how I view my leadership style. Hiring good people and then making sure that they can get their jobs done.

When you have a senior title, particularly in a company as large as Gilead, it makes you feel distant. People don’t always approach you. So, I spend a lot of time trying to break through that and getting people to know me as a 6

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person—the normal guy who does the same things they do. I want them to feel comfortable bringing problems to me, asking me questions and telling me things that I need to know. I want them to understand how I am going to react when they tell me things I may not want to hear.

I don’t want people to tell me what they think I want to hear.

I want them to tell me what they think because it’s very easy for senior leaders to only hear what they want to hear and not hear what they need to hear. So, I spend an enormous amount of time trying to get people comfortable, either through lunches or just personal drop-ins.

Have you noticed a change in your leadership style at all with everyone working remotely due to COVID-19?

It’s different. I like to drop in on people and catch up with them in the hallway and chat with them at lunch. You don’t run into people in the hallways over Zoom. So, I miss that.

I feel like I have lost my personal touch and having my arms around how the organization is doing. I have to get that through my leadership team. I have done a couple of meetings where I just check in with people. For example, I set up a meeting with all the administrative assistants just to see how they’re doing. Back when Italy was in the depths of the pandemic, I convened all the people who work as part of my team in Italy and had a chat to see how they were doing. I have been trying to keep the personal touch that you can lose when you can’t fly around to see people and you can’t walk down the hall and run into them.

Do you think working from home is going to become the way of the future for your team?

I was one of the pioneers at Gilead in letting people be flexible and work at home. The rest of the company followed me by a couple of years. I got tired of waiting, so I just started doing it and saying, “OK, if you need to, go ahead and work at home.” In some cases, that was the difference between retaining and losing an employee. It also made some people more productive because they no longer had long commutes. Even before COVID-19, it was working well.

After COVID-19, I think working from home will become much more common. We’ve proven people can do it and remain productive. And we’re going to have a lot more practice doing it. It’s going to be a while before we have herd immunity or a vaccine, so we’re going to be required to stay separated from each other. Having people sitting in open seating plans where you’re sitting pretty close to somebody else isn’t going to work in the near or medium term.

Allowing people to work from home will make it easier for us to recruit and be comfortable having people not live close to the office. It is very difficult to recruit people to

the San Francisco Bay Area because it’s so expensive. This COVID-19 experience with people working from home has taught us that we can be much more flexible about where people live. I think you’ll see a lot more of that over time.

And I’m certainly more comfortable since I’ve seen it work.

We have people starting now whom we’ve never met in person—people who are living in Boston, where we have no one else, and it’s working fine.

Allowing people to work from home will make it easier for us to recruit and be comfortable having people not live close to the office.

earlier. When COVID-19 came COVER STORY along, I basically abandoned legal for a few weeks to work on the government and public affairs aspects of remdesivir development.

Just as an example, the world was anticipating remdesivir would work long before we had any clinical data. And if it worked, everyone was going to want it immediately.

But we didn’t have very much remdesivir. We weren’t manufacturing it in January. So, how do we communicate to the world that, “Hey guys, even if this works, it’s going to take a while

And I’m certainly more comfortable since I’ve seen it work.

How are you keeping morale up with your team right now?

We’re trying to communicate openly. We have Yammer internally, so we’ll ask something like who’s got the cutest pet or who’s got the nicest desk setup— just different things. We’ve been talking about having a jack-o-lantern carving contest in October. We used to have a baking contest—it’s a highly competitive baking contest—but we can’t this year, so we’re moving from baking skills to artistic skills. Things that are visual just to try to have little indications of personalities and talents or to put some friendly competition into something.

We’re also thinking about having a food truck come to Gilead so people can come by, get their lunch and drive back home.

I can be there to wave and say hello.

How has your role changed during this time?

It’s changed a lot during this time.

I recently took on public affairs and government affairs, as I mentioned

before we have enough to treat everybody.” We didn’t want people to be surprised.

The world has never seen a drug developed in real time, but here we are. People are seeing that sometimes you get studies that tell you a lot, but sometimes they don’t tell you much. Sometimes you have placebos and sometimes you don’t. And people are confused about that. We’re trying to clearly communicate to people about what we’re doing, why we’re doing it and why this makes sense. So that’s very public affairs oriented.

On the government affairs side, you’ve got governments with economies that are shut down. These governments desperately need to find ways and tools to open up. So, we have governments contacting us and wanting to know how they can help in the manufacturing and how they can get their hands on the drug. When you’re in a pandemic you have to move quickly, and various governments don’t always move quickly. So, our legal and government affairs teams are working with governments to allow us to move more quickly than we normally could.

You have been one of the public faces of Gilead throughout this crisis. What has your role been within the media?

We’ve been dividing and conquering on who’s talking about what. Our CEO has been the face of the company in discussing the drug’s approval, when it will be available and how much of it will be available. He’s the one meeting with U.S. government officials, and he has used a series of open letters to help us communicate about our supply and describe our clinical programs.

We’ve had our chief scientific officer speaking about what the clinical trial results mean. I’ve been speaking about how we provide access in the developing world.

The world is afraid that Gilead is going to price this drug at a price where the developing world won’t be able to use it.

We have tried to show the world that, yes, we have patents on remdesivir, but you don’t need to break our patents to get access. We’re going to be responsible. We licensed the drug to a number of generic drugmakers so that they can make it and sell it at whatever price they want to in the developing world. This has been a very successful strategy for achieving broad access in the past.

Is there anything that you’ve done previously in your career, with Gilead or the law firm, that prepared you for something like COVID-19?

No, not at all. The only preparation is experience—with a company, with the law and as a leader. Everyone thinks that when you’re a senior leader, you have all the answers.

Right now, we’re all figuring it out as we go, so we’re using our experience from other situations and applying it here.

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What advice would you give other leaders who are managing through a crisis?

Trust your instincts. Reach out and talk to others about their ideas. Diversity of thought is really important in a crisis situation because no one has been here before and hearing everybody’s ideas is critical.

How are you managing your mental health during this time?

The first month was really hard when we all got sent home.

It was easy to just roll out of bed, look at your email and get to work. Then you would realize it was nine o’clock at night and you were still working, so you would just move from your chair into your bed. I would hear from a lot of people saying that they couldn’t separate work from home.

For me, I had to get very purposeful about it. I decided I was going to carve out this specific time of the day and go take a walk outside for an hour to just clear my head. Even if I have to do phone calls while I’m doing that, I’m getting out of the house, or I’d work out at home. My goal was to step away for that next hour.

What advice would you give other leaders who are managing through a crisis?

Trust your instincts. Reach out and talk to others about their ideas. Diversity of thought is really important in a crisis situation because no one has been here before and hearing everybody’s ideas is critical.

Don’t get stuck. It might be that you can only see your next step and you can’t see the step after that. You’re going to have to take that step and then see what happens after that. Analysis paralysis isn’t going to solve this situation.

So, trust your instincts, take one step at a time and keep an open mind by talking to lots of people about their ideas.

What is the best career advice you’ve ever received?

Be patient. The world will not let you achieve your goals at the pace you want to achieve them. If you walk away from things because opportunities are not coming as quickly as you think they should, you’re always going to be walking away from opportunities because you’re not around long enough to be there when one comes along. So, be patient.

Have your goal in mind. Always be working toward your goal, but know that good things will happen if you’re doing the right things, being patient and being purposeful.

MOMENTUM

Career insights from legal mavericks

L I LL IA N S . HARDY Partner, Hogan Lovells As I have practiced law, I have come to recognize which things within the law are most complimentary of my personality. It was clear early on that I had always been used to speaking up about difficult issues, but just as well, I’ve always been willing to solve difficult issues. And that’s really what my job is from day to day.

Some days, people kind of forget that corporations have issues that are beyond their balance sheet.

They know that if someone rapes an employee on the grounds or if someone tries to overdose on a company product or if there’s a ‘me too’ incident with a very high-level employee, all those things require specific analysis, both from a legal perspective and a human perspective.

And that’s really my sweet spot— when those kinds of human and people considerations are made at the same time as the legal strategy.

In law school, I had decided that I would like to be a federal public defender. I wanted to help with the issues that no one wanted to sort out and represent the people who no one wanted to represent. However, when I entered the law firm world, I found that sort of feeling and that sort of skill set can be built in a corporate law firm; it’s just a different audience and a different set of issues.

So, almost two years ago, I designed and launched an independent practice area at Hogan Lovells dedicated to crisis management. I decided to do that, apart from the investigations and litigation and government relations practices that we already had, because I saw an increase in the use of various technologies and widespread reliance on social media leading to rapid-fire incidents that required a particular legal strategy. It was different than what had been traditionally required.

So, while I can’t say I I HAD DECIDED THAT I WOULD LIKE TO BE A predicted FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER TO HELP WITH THE we’d be in a ISSUES THAT NO ONE WANTED TO SORT OUT global health AND REPRESENT THE PEOPLE WHO NO ONE WANTED TO REPRESENT. [THAT CAN BE DONE] IN pandemic, A CORPORATE LAW FIRM; IT’S JUST A DIFFERENT I knew at AUDIENCE AND A DIFFERENT SET OF ISSUES. the bottom of my heart that we would be increasingly confronting issues as a profession—as lawyers—that were more and more intense. Those issues would require a certain instinct and rapid cadence, which I call the ‘crisis cadence.’

During the pandemic, people on the crisis leadership team who were already used to high-intensity legal engagements are seeing even more incidents that are crisis level today than they were five months ago.

The clients are making decisions that they’ll have to stick with and be remembered for positively or negatively forever. We have to be comfortable in making those judgements very quickly. I never could have imagined that it would be something this big, but we’ve become accustomed to that crisis cadence and really going all out for your client in whatever capacity, regardless of what happens.

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WIL LY FERRE R, Chair of Holland & Knight’s Global Compliance and Investigations Team and the Executive Partner of the firm’s Miami office

I was very much influenced as a child from my parents and how they lived their lives. They fled Cuba in search of freedom, wanting a better future and life for me and my brother. My parents always taught me that even though they were not from this country, that we were not going to sit on the sidelines.

They were very much about giving back to the community that welcomed them.

I always felt this incredible pride about being an American, because to me being an American was about opening your doors to others and helping them. So, I had a heartfelt moral obligation to give back to my country and to the community that gave my family and me so much. I was very involved in community service projects growing up. Then when I went to law school, I was very interested in how the legal profession could help those who are in need. Public service was ingrained in me because of everything I saw my parents do and their belief that what matters is the kind of person you are—that’s going to define you.

After I graduated, I clerked for a federal judge, went to a law firm and then I applied for the White House Fellowship, which is a one-year fellowship in Washington, D.C., where you get to be an assistant to a cabinet member or someone at the White House.

That changed my life. I became an assistant to HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, and then I got a chance to be the deputy chief of staff to Janet Reno when she was the attorney general of the United States. When that public interest bug bit me at that point, there was no looking back. I was able to see at a macro level what public service and a legal career in the government can do to try to help people’s lives be a little bit better.

WHEN THAT PUBLIC INTEREST BUG BIT ME, I WAS ABLE TO SEE AT A MACRO LEVEL WHAT PUBLIC SERVICE AND A LEGAL CAREER IN THE GOVERNMENT CAN DO TO TRY TO HELP PEOPLE’S LIVES BE A LITTLE BIT BETTER.

Then I went back to Miami as a federal prosecutor to do trial work.

I did that as an assistant U.S. attorney and then under the Obama administration as the U.S. attorney for South Florida. When you’re the U.S. attorney, your primary job is to enforce the law, but you also have to be a part of the solution. During the whole experience, the biggest lesson I learned was that you have to take a holistic approach in trying to break the cycle of violence and crime. I learned that only happens when a prosecutor builds a very close relationship with their community.

You can’t solve every problem, but you’ve got to do whatever you can within your authority and your responsibilities.

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D EBO RA H RAS I N , Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, Hillrom

My role here at Hillrom is definitely the highlight of my professional career. I’ve had great experiences throughout my career, all over the world, and have gained valuable perspective on people and problemLEADERSHIP solving with each IS ABOUT opportunity. Leading STEPPING the legal function UP IN ANY at Hillrom feels like SITUATION AND USING the culmination of YOUR everything that I’ve INFLUENCE worked toward.

TO CREATE Every experience A POSITIVE has been great in OUTCOME. terms of growth and development—and I believe that we’re always growing and learning.

Here, I love that there are constant opportunities to do new things and to solve new problems.

Culture is so important, and Hillrom has a wonderful culture that is supportive, empowering, inclusive and collaborative. I have a team of peers whom I respect, and we all work together. My own team is incredibly engaged, professional, smart and hardworking.

I take a lot of pride in my team. I am a big supporter of the people who work for me, and I’m fortunate to lead this group of legal and compliance professionals. I try to empower them to apply their own experiences and judgment to solve the challenges that they’re dealing with in their roles. I try not to micromanage—these are talented, highly capable professionals; instead, I try to help guide rather than get into the details of their work. I want them to be leaders themselves because leadership is not just about managing a team of people. Leadership is about stepping up in any situation and using your influence to create a positive outcome.

For me, Hillrom is the whole package. It’s the culture, the nature of the professional challenges we have to solve and the people I get to work with every day.

M A R CIA VALENTE ,

MOME N T U M

Associate, Arnold & Porter

My family played a large role in shaping my interest in law and business. My parents are immigrants from Mexico. Growing up there were always conversations with my parents and siblings about current events and social justice. These stories captivated me, and I knew from an early age that, armed with a legal education, I could have power to effect change.

When I was in grade school, my father obtained his contractor’s license and started his own business in construction and real estate. After attending Stanford for my undergraduate education, I joined my older brothers and helped manage the growing family business.

Ultimately, my work experience for my family business confirmed my interest in business law and litigation. Not only was it familiar to me, but I also knew that working at a global law firm as a commercial litigator would provide a platform to work on a variety of interesting cases for both commercial and pro bono clients.

After starting my legal career at Morrison & Foerster in New York City, I took time off to raise my three daughters. I always knew that I wanted to continue practicing law but was uncertain of the options available to me in light of my time away. But in 2017, two key events laid the groundwork for my return.

First, I received an email from the I KNEW FROM AN EARLY AGE Stanford Alumni Association about THAT, ARMED WITH A LEGAL the iRelaunch Return to Work EDUCATION, I COULD HAVE Conference. iRelaunch works with POWER TO EFFECT CHANGE. companies to build and expand return-to-work programs and provides individuals who are looking to return to work after a career break with tools and resources to make the transition effectively. This conference introduced me to many other well-educated women and showed me that employers were interested in helping women relaunch their careers.

Second, during this same time, I met Caren Stacy, CEO of Diversity Lab. Caren and I serendipitously met in our neighborhood’s downtown. She explained that her company’s mission was to increase the representation of women in law, and one of her signature projects—the OnRamp Fellowship—was the first “Returnship” ever launched for women in law firms. Caren made me realize that it was possible for women like me to relaunch their legal careers.

In 2018, I was hired as a litigation associate in the San Francisco office of Arnold & Porter. Although I worked in various leadership positions for nonprofit organizations during my time away from law, transitioning back into practicing was overwhelming in the beginning. The biggest challenge was admittedly on my end. I needed to remind myself that I still had the ability and drive to excel as a litigator. Fortunately, my transition back into practicing was facilitated by colleagues who believed in me and provided me the resources to excel.

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M A R K SCHWARZ,

VP & Associate General Counsel, Global Operations & International, Vontier I always aspired to be in business in some way, shape or form.

After five years in a litigation firm and a year in London, I realized I wasn’t going to work in a law firm forever. I started to think about the next step, and I went for a few purely commercial roles outside the law. But I realized that without any additional qualifications, I would always be the candidate who was hopefully impressive but they would go with someone else with experience. So, two years on, I resolved to pursue an MBA. That, at the time, was my exit from the law at age 31.

After getting my MBA, I banged on the door of Virgin and got a role supporting one of their startups, which carried me through for a very exciting couple of years. And then I left to start a GPS tracking company that was funded by an old client of mine in the UK. The startup ticked a lot of boxes, and over the next nine years, it was quite a ride.

We literally started it from scratch with some seed funding, and we had operations across UK/Norway. There were times when we almost ran out of money. There were times when we did big deals and the world was a great place. It was a very broad experience in so many ways, and it included managing people and dealing with investors to effectively being HR director, finance director, legal director and COO. I did that for nine years, and then we ultimately sold to a UK public company that was looking to expand. They didn’t have a lawyer on staff, so they asked me if I would take a broader role within the group to effectively be GC. So, I then found myself in a hybrid legal role, where I was able to utilize my commercial skills and my business skills, as well as my legal skills.

It wasn’t long before I realized that this was actually a neat combination where I was part businessman, part lawyer, part of the management team and part of the inner circle. It worked really well.

[BEING GC] WAS A NEAT COMBINATION WHERE I WAS PART BUSINESSMAN, PART LAWYER, PART OF THE MANAGEMENT TEAM AND PART OF THE INNER CIRCLE.

So, for the past 12 years, in parallel with a series of M&A transactions (we took the UK public company private and then sold it to a U.S. public company in 2013, in addition to a number of M&A transactions since), I’ve been in this hybrid role, now as VP and associate general counsel of Vontier—an $8 billion in revenue company that is currently in the process of separation from Fortive Corp. I see my career almost in three thirds: it was traditional private practice, then business and then the GC role I’m in now.

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360 PA R T 1

Navigating C VID-19

In-House Perspective Chris Fawzy Corporate Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary & Chief Compliance Officer of Woodward Inc. Woodward is an independent designer, manufacturer and service provider of control solutions for the aerospace and industrial markets.

Chris joined Woodward as vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary in June 2007, and was appointed corporate vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer in October 2009. He directs Woodward’s global legal and compliance affairs, including commercial and strategic agreements, litigation, intellectual property, and corporate governance, and the company’s global compliance program.

environments. Our components and systems are sold to original equipment manufacturers, as well as to end users and service providers in the aftermarket for maintenance, repair and overhaul.

With COVID-19, airlines were almost completely shut down as commercial air traffic demand dropped by about 80%. This impacted new builds of airplanes, as well as the aftermarket, as maintenance cycles slowed down with decreased aircraft utilization. The decrease in the aftermarket has put considerable pressure on our profitability. If you think about when you take your car in to replace a part, the price of replacing a part is much greater than when you bought the part as one of thousands of parts in your car. So, the aftermarket is more profitable for us as a company.

Two things have impacted us: COVID-19 and oil prices.

COVID-19 has affected both supply and demand for our aerospace and industrial segments. And as oil prices have dropped, it’s also affected our industrial business.

Looking at all the impacts of the macroeconomic challenges, we took multiple measures to reduce costs and preserve cash as we navigate through this crisis, which unfortunately, involved layoffs, furloughs and some plant shutdowns. Our initiatives also included salary reductions for all company officers and directors, implementation of a company-wide wage freeze, elimination of annual bonuses for 2020, a decrease in our quarterly dividend, and an overall focus on reducing costs, working capital and capital expenditures.

We design and manufacture fuel systems and controls that must operate safely and consistently in harsh

Now the focus has become even greater on working capital utilization such as accounts receivable and inventory, and

How has COVID-19 impacted Woodward and its operations?

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so we’re doing daily reviews of our customer forecasts, making sure they’re in line with our market intelligence.

What are some of the creative ways you’ve navigated through this?

We’ve had to prioritize what we are going to produce and source to make sure that we can continue to meet our customer demands. But as this COVID-19 crisis has unfolded, we’ve looked for other ways we can help our key stakeholders, which includes our community. One thing that our engineering team in Colorado got involved with and supported was an initiative by Colorado State University (CSU) to work on lifesaving ventilators.

Obviously, there’s a significant need there, and the U.S. government is looking at producing tens of thousands of these ventilators. Our engineering team came up with a really creative, effective and practical solution for a ventilator. It’s rather intricate yet very transportable and cost-effective. We worked with CSU on initial – CHRIS prototypes and designs, and now we’re engaging directly with the U.S. government and the Department of Defense. Development projects like this go through a detailed phase gate product life cycle process.

From idea conception to the development of prototypes typically takes several months, if not years.

In this case, our engineering team took this from idea conception to prototypes in a matter of just weeks. It’s something that we’re very proud of and it highlights the problem-solving mentality that is part of our DNA. These are the types of projects that do more than help our communities—they also have really boosted morale in an otherwise challenging environment.

It’s very gratifying to see how engaged everyone in our facilities has been to help keep our operations productive while maintaining a safe and healthy work environment.

How has all this affected your role as general counsel and chief compliance officer?

Having to monitor not just U.S. but worldwide governmental orders has been quite an undertaking. Fortunately, I have a really good team. The first month there was a barrage of executive orders coming out daily in areas that affected our facilities, sales, suppliers and distribution channels. We’ve also had to review guidance from the CDC, WHO and the like to ensure we’re keeping up with the best-known health and safety protocols.

Separately, we were in constant communications with our customers and suppliers regarding our operations, the challenges we’ve faced and our responsive measures, including shutdowns and furloughs. We’ve also had to address similar communications from our customers and suppliers.

FAWZY

[W]e need to be careful about managing our business—the balance between short-term and long-term objectives.

Because I do think once we come out of this, we have a lot of opportunity for growth.

We’ve also had to be a little creative in our operations.

As you might imagine, as with any manufacturing facility pre-COVID-19, there wasn’t really much need for social distancing. So, we’ve had to reset our mindset and modify our manufacturing facilities to ensure that we’re able to effectively reduce our member density and promote social distancing. And while we’ve always had really clean facilities, we’ve enhanced our focus on sanitization.

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It’s required a lot of engagement and involvement from me and my entire team. Every single person in the legal and compliance organization has been very engaged in addressing the COVID-19 crisis.

Have there been any silver linings within the organization during this pandemic?

It’s been really heartwarming to see how everyone pulls together in times like this. I think people are much less focused on themselves and more focused on supporting each other. That’s been our culture generally, but even more so now. People are jumping at the chance to help someone else either personally or from a workload standpoint, even if it means broadening beyond what they’d ordinarily be doing.

Another significant silver lining is everyone has been extremely productive, focused and fully available at any time. It’s been very nice to see that and to see people learning, adapting and working under new and challenging conditions.

Where do you think we go from here?

My prediction—and this is just my opinion—is that it’s going to be largely dependent on what happens in the disease control world. The optimistic side of me hopes that we may have a vaccine by the end of the calendar year that’s widely distributed and available. If that’s the case, I think the airline industry could show good signs of recovery over the next year or so. If it prolongs for another even six months beyond that, I think we could be looking at an extended recovery period. You can’t just turn on the spigot immediately after turning it off.

During this challenging period of macroeconomic decline, we need to be careful about managing our business—the balance between short-term and long-term objectives.

Preserving cash on the one hand while positioning ourselves for growth on the other as we come out of this. Because I do think once we come out of this we have a lot of opportunity for growth. I expect our R&D and engineering teams are going to further focus on expansion into both our current markets and adjacent markets. I believe we’re going to be able to leverage our technologies, operations and strong financial position so that when this COVID-19 crisis is behind us, we will be even more responsive to our customers, generate greater customer satisfaction and ultimately create greater shareholder value. I believe we’re going to exit this period a stronger company than we were going in.

Law Firm Perspective Trey Muldrow Partner in Charge of the New York office of Akin Gump Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading global law firm providing innovative legal services and business solutions to clients worldwide.

Trey Muldrow draws on more than two decades of legal experience when sharing legal advice with clients in facilitating complex domestic and international commercial transactions. He is recognized as a leading lawyer advising on restructurings of private equity and other investment vehicles and has led a number of high-profile and precedent-setting transactions.

How has COVID-19 impacted Akin Gump?

A couple of years ago, our senior management had been focused on helping the attorney and business services team develop more of an agile work environment.

There was a focus at the time in terms of making sure you understood what you had at home and whether you could work from home as easily as you could in the office. When that was being discussed and rolled out,

people participated, but it 360 was not a primary concern for many people. It turned out that foresight was fantastic. As COVID-19 evolved, people were set up with systems in place to facilitate working from home, and as a result, it was much easier to leave the office than any of us ever expected.

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But on the personal side, we have been trying to make sure that people understand their roles and responsibilities.

People felt isolated at first—some still do. So while the structural and kind of hardware and software components were not an issue, we’ve had to work to keep the culture and interpersonal dynamic alive, which is much harder.

Now, for the partners, I think it has been less of an issue than for the associates. The partners at many firms, including our own, tend to be a little bit more flexible in their daily approach. There was a sense that they were already set up and engaging with people on a remote basis as it was.

But as you go younger and younger in the ranks, they’re still learning the craft. They’re still understanding the organization. And a lot of that growth comes through inperson engagement—going to lunch together, stopping by someone’s office, bouncing an idea off a person, etc.

You can create some sense of bonding when we’re all in the office together. So that has been impacted severely.

What are some of the creative ways you’ve navigated through this?

There have been a number of office-wide efforts in terms of engagement. The practice groups are having their own individual get-togethers and check-in sessions.

The biggest challenge we had was with the younger parents. They’re trying to care for a kid or maybe an elderly parent while doing their day job—and that was bone crushing. We had some conversations amongst the partners to really focus on being sensitive to that, asking questions around that, and taking people’s needs and timing into account.

Then the other part where people were struggling has been around scheduling and timing. Where before you would have a commute home and a set timing to your day, now there’s no commuting or going somewhere to pick something up. So we’re trying to adjust people’s minds around that because otherwise this will be all-consuming in a way that it wasn’t before.

How has COVID-19 affected your role directly?

As a practice manager, you think within the vertical of your practice. This, however, is a situation where you The Legal Navigator

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really get a horizontal view of the workplace and see all the layers—from the partners to the senior associates to the associates to the alumni affiliated with your office. So, you’re trying to figure out ways in which you can create some engagement.

Now, the practice group leaders meet and talk about what their groups are doing and what the engagement is. We also have meetings with all the assistants to talk to them about how they are doing, how they are engaging and how they are handling work. We’re doing the same thing with all the associates. We want to get a sense of what they’re feeling but also share information on a regular basis.

We’re also in the midst of kicking off the renovation of our office space. Now it’s a matter of trying to figure out if some of the assumptions that we were making about the build-outs still hold today and whether they will hold when people come back with a different understanding of the workplace and the necessity of being in the workplace every day. It is just more to think about. It’s still exciting, nonetheless, because you can build bonds with people in a way that you probably wouldn’t have in the near term.

What have the silver linings of the pandemic been to your organization?

I definitely think, on the partner level, there’s been more cross-practice engagement. I find that if you’re forced to be on a call with someone, you have a bit more engagement when that’s your only means of communication.

I also think that people are understanding the culture of their workplace probably more than they ever had before.

People really are trying to engage with one another and check on each other. I think, from a cultural standpoint, people feel that if they have some connectivity, they still feel connected.

One of the other silver linings is the concept of face time: Some law firms say that they really subscribe to face time and still require it. On some level, the model has been totally deconstructed because you can see that people can be very productive without being in their office. Cases are moving at the same pace; we’re moving at the same pace.

So that is a silver lining for people who need to have a little bit more flexibility in their work.

Where do you think we go from here?

Sadly, my grandmother passed away during the pandemic.

I had to leave New York and travel to Florida to take care of the arrangements and have the funeral. Because I was one of the few people I know who’s traveled between regions in the United States, I was really able to see the different ways people are addressing COVID-19.

I recognized in my trip to Florida that being socially or physically isolated for a period of time was a bit of a challenge for re-entry and seeing people whom you don’t know. I was able to travel everywhere by car, really controlling my entry—and there still weren’t a lot of people. So, the concept of getting on the subway, of being engaged around a lot of people whom you don’t know, that is going to be psychological and emotional to deal with for a period of time.

That’s not going to snap back overnight. It’s going to take some time. So, what I have a better appreciation of, and most of the law firms are already saying this, is the need to slowly open sites and allow people to come at their own pace. Some people are just not going to feel comfortable for a long period of time and that’s got to be okay.

So, what comes next? It’s coming back to reality. It’ll be slow going for an extended period of time. And we still have to keep up the engagement level even if half of the people are in the office and the other half are at home.

Some law firms say that they really subscribe to face time and still require it. On some level, the model has been totally deconstructed because you can see that people can be very productive without being in their office. Cases are moving at the same pace; we’re moving at the same pace. – TREY MULDROW 16

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A Look at the Virtual Hiring Process from All Angles Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited: The Team

H I R I NG MANAGE R Giuseppe “Pino” Falbo Head, Global Investigations, Global Ethics & Compliance, Dubai, UAE

TA L ENT ACQ UI S I TI ON Aleli Estrada Scerba Head of Executive Recruitment, Global Talent Acquisition, Chicago, IL USA

PL ACE ME NT MAY 20 20 Drew Meyer Global Investigator, Global Ethics & Compliance, Atlanta, GA USA

Takeda, a patient-focused, values-based, R&D-driven global biopharmaceutical company, was focused on building a truly global ethics and compliance function. This team, which is committed to enabling the company to make ethical decisions that are in line with their priorities of patient, trust, reputation and business, needed a Bostonbased global investigator with technical expertise in ethics and compliance, experience in the life sciences or pharmaceutical industry, extensive international exposure, and a solutions-oriented but highly collaborative approach.

The search began before the COVID-19 pandemic reached the U.S. but continued virtually as U.S. businesses and travel came to a halt. Drew Meyer was scheduled to travel to Cambridge, Massachusetts, for a full day of interviews the day the global travel ban commenced. While Drew had interviewed virtually with the hiring manager (Pino) and Takeda’s head of talent acquisition (Aleli) earlier in the search process, the Cambridge interviews were intended as an opportunity to engage with Drew in person and for Drew to meet important colleagues and explore his potential new home.

Here’s how Takeda made a hire while on lockdown and with a globally dispersed hiring team: What was the impact of relying on an entirely virtual hiring process?

Aleli and Pino: For this role, our global hiring team hailed from Dubai, Chicago and Zurich along with interviewers The Legal Navigator

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based in Boston and Singapore. Generally speaking, this is already a very challenging talent pool. While we initially focused on Boston-based candidates, given the integration and unique skill set requirements, we focused our search nationally because we were looking for the best fit for Takeda.

Virtual meetings and the first round of interviews via WebEx had already been part of our practice. Our challenges spanned time-zone differences as well as the travel restrictions and office closures presented by COVID-19.

Working remotely to attend virtual meetings from dawn to dusk also presented a new type of fatigue. In response, our Global Talent Acquisition Operations colleagues proactively hosted remote sessions and sent frequent updates to promote new solutions and “workarounds” for every adjustment in the search process.

It was one thing to manage time zones, with Dubai ahead of Boston by eight hours and Singapore by 12. It was another to manage interviews with limited weekdays, as the workweek in United Arab Emirates is Sunday through Thursday and weekends are on Friday and Saturday. We did our best to accommodate reasonable slots based on our Dubaibased hiring manager’s flexibility to conduct interviews on weeknights and Fridays. On the flip side, we appreciated our candidates’ flexibility with early-morning or late-evening interviews. We were pleasantly surprised with the opportunity to truly gauge their interest, resilience, perseverance, commitment and ability to navigate a truly global role.

We also committed to gathering immediate interview feedback so that the next interviewer(s) could probe deeper on specific areas.

Why did you ultimately feel comfortable with hiring your top-choice candidate without meeting in person?

Aleli and Pino: A strong network always helps the interview process, but more so in this virtual setting. Pino had already heard of Drew Meyer and his work in China and broader international experience for pharmaceutical multinationals. We did not meet until MLA presented him. Their objective insights on his accomplishments and motivation to explore Takeda supported his candidacy.

Gathering timely interview feedback was critical to validating candidates’ expertise and overall fit for the role and the organization. Hearing Drew’s sincere interest in the role and about his ability to relate to the leaders and team firsthand also led us to place him as our finalist.

How did you navigate onboarding?

Aleli and Pino: We implemented virtual New Employee Orientations by the end of March. To ensure new employees could access the network, enroll for benefits and participate in team calls and meetings, we shipped laptops and accessories a week before they started and held remote IT sessions with new hires on the following Monday. The actual virtual orientations now take place on Tuesdays.

These remote group sessions resulted in unique camaraderie as we all flexed our newfound, technical muscles.

It was one thing to manage time zones, with Dubai ahead of Boston by eight hours and Singapore by 12. We were pleasantly surprised with the opportunity to truly gauge [candidates’] interest, resilience, perseverance, commitment and ability to navigate a truly global role. – ALELI AND PINO Did you have concerns about never meeting your final candidate face-to-face before extending an offer?

Aleli and Pino: There were some reservations at the beginning, but that was short-lived. Once we accepted that on-site interviews were being replaced with virtual options, we committed to a different approach to building rapport and providing candidates an engaging interview process and overall experience. Our executive coordinator was instrumental with providing all interviewers and candidates clear instructions, WebEx links, Facetime and other backup options should anyone encounter technical issues.

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We also built a solid onboarding program, based on many video calls with all the relevant stakeholders and quite a bit of self-study. Drew had frequent interactions via WebEx with all the members of the team.

Was working with a search firm a benefit to this type of process?

Aleli and Pino: Yes, having a search partner like MLA boosted our sourcing capabilities, as Amy Katz and Bob Mannino became an extension of Takeda. They provided us with competitive market intelligence and insights to complement our knowledge of the candidate pool.

They were also strong partners listening to our feedback and swiftly course correcting. More importantly, they represented all candidates well and helped them remain engaged. This resulted in a targeted candidate slate and ultimately a solid hire.

What attracted you to this role?

Drew: There were a lot of factors that attracted me to this role, but the most impactful ones for me were how much everyone at Takeda wanted me there and how this clearly was an important role for them to fill. Their enthusiasm for my background, experience and me personally convinced me that this was the right place for me.

Also, Takeda was evolving. Recent acquisitions had raised its profile and geographic footprint, boosted the R&D pipeline, and launched more medicines. The opportunity to be part of the rebuild became very intriguing.

From your perspective, what was the impact of relying on an entirely virtual hiring process for the role?

Drew: This was admittedly tough. One of the key members of my new team was a client of mine in a previous life, so I had some familiarity with Takeda and its people already. But the majority of people I interviewed with I was meeting for the first time virtually. That made it even more important than it normally is for Takeda and MLA to generate enthusiasm in me for the role, which they were very able to do.

What were the challenges?

Drew: Normally, I would get to interact with my new colleagues face-to-face, see the office I would work in and even visit the city I would be asked to relocate to. I didn’t get to do any of that. Taking the leap into the unknown with less information than I would normally have about a new company, team and home city was a big challenge.

What were the benefits?

Drew: From my perspective, I looked at this unusual hiring process as an opportunity to show Takeda my resilience in an uncertain and challenging time. Remote work will be normal going forward, at least in the short to mid term, and because of that, it is critical that we are all able to communicate effectively outside of in-person interactions.

And I was hoping that going through an entirely remote hiring process would demonstrate that I could take a curve ball thrown at me and still manage to be successful.

What was the impact of a virtual hiring process for a role based in a city that you had not lived in and that required relocation?

Drew: This was the biggest hurdle to get over when considering this role. I have never been to Boston before (still haven’t actually). And with a young family, this is also not a decision I was able to make on my own. But the benefits of the job were so weighty that it was just an opportunity we couldn’t pass up. Boston is also an

attractive city to live in, in general, 360 | PA RT so that helped a lot in our decision. If the destination were different, the outcome might have been different also.

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It also helped that I am used to moving to a new location sight unseen, as I have had to do that several times in my career now. I think, as a candidate, that experience made it easier to “take the plunge.”

How did you feel about never meeting your future boss or colleagues in person prior to accepting the offer?

Drew: In my previous company, my boss and most of my key stakeholders were located in Europe, so I had experience working in a remote environment. The key I find is having a plan and making a concerted effort to establish and maintain those crucial connections and internal network. When you do not have a coffee machine or lunchroom to bump into colleagues and start a spontaneous conversation, you have to be more deliberate about establishing and maintaining that internal network. And I find that if you do that, you can still be quite successful working remotely.

How did this completely remote hiring process compare with your past interviewing experiences for other roles?

Drew: It was an adjustment for sure. But I found that if both sides remain flexible and open to new ways of working and connecting with others, the challenge is far from insurmountable. It helped quite a bit to have the Takeda recruitment team and MLA helping guide the process. The regular communication was really key here, as without it, going through this process completely virtually would have left many more grey areas about the company and the role than would otherwise have been there.

Recruiter Perspective Amy Katz Managing Director

Bob Mannino Director

How did the entirely virtual nature of this search make it challenging?

Amy and Bob: In a typical search, in-person interviews are often one of the most decisive factors in determining the successful candidate. Searches often proceed with a pool of candidates, who on paper all have the qualifications, experience and education to fill the role.

Clients use interviews to get to know the candidates on

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a more personal level and ascertain whether they will fit into their team. Likewise, candidates use interviews to assess the fit with a potential employer, manager and work environment. In a virtual process, this is harder, as video interviews sometimes do not allow for the same level of comfort and at times the conversation can feel more stilted.

Here, our main obstacle was overcoming the inability to have an in-person interview. Drew had never been to Boston or Cambridge, and ideally would have visited Cambridge with his family before considering whether to accept the job, and there was uncertainty as to whether travel would open back up quickly.

What were the keys to making this search successful?

Amy and Bob: Open and ongoing communication with Takeda and Drew was the main factor in reaching a successful conclusion to the search. Initially, from news reports, it seemed possible that the shutdown would be lifting quickly and that Drew would have the opportunity to go to Cambridge to interview and get to know the city.

However, as the situation changed, we were able to adapt quickly because of the high level of communication with Drew and Takeda.

Having a flexible candidate and client was also a key factor. Both Drew and Takeda were flexible on timing and process, and this allowed the search to evolve and proceed in a way that ultimately led to success. For example, while Takeda’s offer to Drew included relocation benefits, Takeda was particularly thoughtful and flexible when designing the terms and timing of the relocation package for Drew.

Likewise, greater Boston is a well-known and highly valued market for biotech opportunities, which may have provided Drew with additional comfort to accept a role based in Cambridge without first visiting.

Finally, in our initial screening of Drew, we discovered that he had done work for Takeda in the past as an outside contractor and knew some of Pino’s colleagues. We believe this network information gave Takeda an additional comfort level with Drew.

We were able to overcome the lack of an in-person interview through this flexibility and heightened communication. We believe that it was through the dialogue about the process and the pandemic more generally that both Drew and Takeda were able to reach a mutual comfort level.

What lessons learned would you take away and apply toward your next virtual search?

Amy and Bob: The main lesson we learned was to be flexible and keep the lines of communication open as the situation evolves. In a virtual search, it is important to think of novel approaches and for everyone to think outside the box.

In this situation, letting the process evolve over time and at its own pace, while maintaining an even higher level of communication with both Takeda and Drew, allowed everyone to reach a point where they were comfortable proceeding to an offer and acceptance without Drew ever visiting Cambridge or interviewing in person.

The main lesson we learned was to be flexible and keep the lines of communication open as the situation evolves.

In a virtual search, it is important to think of novel approaches and for everyone to think outside the box.

– AMY AND BOB

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THINGS

YOU DIDN’T KNOW

1

Khiara discovered her love for the law in her second year of law school.

“In my second year of law school, I took critical race theory with Professor Kendall Thomas at Columbia and all the lights started turning on. He was introducing me to concepts about life and society that were bigger than law. I knew this was what I wanted to do. I wanted to stay in the classroom and teach this subject.”

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She always wanted to write a book—and has now written three.

“I feel like a lot of my adult life has been determined by my childhood dreams. When I was seven, I decided that I wanted to be a lawyer. So, I went to law school several decades later. Also, when I was a kid, I was like, ‘I’m going to write a book.’ I just wanted that to be something that I accomplished in my adult life. That may be what was attractive to me about a Ph.D. path; I knew that a lot of people produce books out of their dissertations. So, my first book is a revised version of my dissertation.

It’s an ethnography of an obstetrics clinic in a public hospital in New York City. It was an incredibly rewarding experience all around from the research that I conducted for it to writing and revising it. That was fun.”

Khiara M. Bridges Professor of Law at UC Berkeley Law School Khiara M. Bridges is not your average law professor; she’s also a professional ballet dancer. Spending the past decade of her career commuting between Boston and New York City before moving to the West Coast, Khiara balanced teaching various first-year and upper-level law school courses and performing all over New York City. Here are five things you may not know about Khiara and the intersection of ballet and the law:

3

Contemporary ballet is her preferred style of dance.

“I definitely appreciate story ballets, like Swan Lake. But when I talk about heart-racing, tears-in-my-eyes watching, it’s usually contemporary ballet. I would say that the piece that has resonated most with me is a piece called ‘The Statement.’ It was choreographed by Crystal Pite, who is based in Canada. I saw it in 2016 in New York City, and it was being danced by the Nederlands Dans Theater. It just blew me away. I now describe my life as ‘before I saw that piece’ and ‘after I saw that piece.’ It’s breathtaking and amazing.”

4

Dance is the reason Khiara can do all the academic things she does.

“Dance makes me healthy enough to have the ridiculous schedule that law professors have. I usually go to yoga after I wake up because I am now an older dancer, which means that I have to get ready to dance. So, I take an hour-long yoga class that warms me up and then I go take an hour-and-ahalf ballet class. When I’m preparing for a performance, my weekends are filled with eight-hour rehearsals. The physical activity that I do enables me to be focused enough to prepare for class, to have clarity of mind to write my articles and books, to be patient enough to engage with students in office hours. The dancing grounds me; it puts me in the space mentally and emotionally so that I can do all the academic things I do.”

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Surprisingly, she takes a day off from academia every week and lets herself be silly.

“I reserve Saturdays for nonacademic pursuits. So, I don’t respond to emails, I don’t do any work and I just disengage from academia. I also give myself permission to not dance—but I usually end up dancing on Saturdays because I love it. But on Saturdays, I let myself do whatever it is that I want to do. I usually spend many, many hours watching the worst reality TV. I think people would be surprised to know that I actually very much enjoy mindless TV. It’s like cotton candy for the brain.”

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Ask a Recruiter:

Your Questions Answered Q: A:

How do I develop business from an existing client without offending the relationship partner?

Ron Wood >>> When you think there’s an opportunity—you’ve been talking to your in-house counterpart or become aware of something that would be valuable to the client—go to the relationship partner. If you don’t know who the relationship partner is, do a conflicts check. Run the client’s name, find out who at your firm has that relationship, then talk to them about your ideas and ask if they’d like to be part of the outreach to the client.

When you show deference and respect to those who have the relationship, they will often say you can go ahead, but be sure to fill them in afterward or have the partner do the call with you and then let you run with it. You just don’t want to be forming relationships and getting new matters from an existing client without approaching the relationship partner first.

Q: A:

How do I get invited onto industry or conference panels as a speaker?

Ron Wood >>> Once you become aware of an event or program, reach out to the organizer. Say, “I see you have a panel on this topic. I’d love to be considered,” and give them a couple of reasons explaining what your knowledge and expertise with the issue are. They will often call you if there is a cancelation or if they don’t have anybody in mind for that topic. And they’re likely looking at content. So, anybody who comes up with something that seems like it would be of interest to the audience gets considered. Even if they pass on you the first time, they most likely will keep you in mind for the next time.

Q: A:

How is the interview process inherently different between associates and partners?

Nathan Peart >>> For associates, the interview process is a bit like speed dating. There needs to be chemistry there for anything good to happen.

Interviewing is transactional and to the point, resting largely on the candidate having a stellar resume and cover letter that stand out from the pack. Hiring decisions with associates tend to be made more quickly too, as there are often fewer people in the mix and sometimes firms can make multiple hires. At the interview stage, it’s really about personality fit, as your resume has done all the work to get you there. Skill fit is also essential, and in the current

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climate is being leaned on more during virtual processes— these can be technical questions, tests or dialogue on your views on a commercial issue. A recruiter can assist in preparing you to give real examples of these attributions.

Your dialogue is very important, as associates can overthink the process. A proven track record is important, but so are soft skills like integrity, teamwork and a good work ethic.

Jackie Knight >>> Partner deals are less about speed and more about strategizing how to move the partner through the process in an efficient manner. The process is also much more data-driven. Firms use lateral partner questionnaires to obtain the raw intelligence they need to make a strategic hiring decision. Experienced partner recruiters know that only half of the process is preparing the partner candidate— they must prep the firm interviewing the candidate as well.

Strong client access and communication usually come from years of doing repeat work for these firms. While many associate deals are based upon lockstep compensation, partner deals can have creative compensation packages.

Firms have varied fiscal years, guarantee policies and policies on make-whole payments. Recruiters can be your advocate on your compensation package, understanding the economics of your practice, economics of the hiring firm and timing of payments. A recruiter with the best market intelligence knows what searches are priorities and those individuals who are running those searches.

Q:

How is the GCC Gulf corporate in-house counsel market outlook for the future after COVID-19? What are the challenges and opportunities?

A:

Naveen Tuli >>> There is no doubt that the economic impact of COVID-19 on the GCC will be significant. Depressed oil prices, a severe drop in tourism and reduced capital markets make for a perfect storm.

Additionally, with the cancellation or delay of EXPO 2020 in the UAE and the annual Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, future opportunities to generate much-needed tourism revenue have been thwarted. Whilst the UAE and Saudi Arabia in particular were able to stay ahead of the curve somewhat with speedy and aggressive lockdowns, the ongoing nature of the pandemic cannot be avoided and some industries have been severely impacted, such as energy, travel, leisure and property. However, as with other locations around the world, other businesses have prospered, such as home delivery, e-commerce and mobile banking.

Advice to Young Lawyers Our legal mavericks featured throughout this magazine share advice that they either found beneficial as a young lawyer or wish they had known back then.

BRE T T P L E TC H E R Have a sense of where you want to go and what you want to do, and keep your eye on that. It doesn’t mean that you always have to take big steps toward it, but know what your goal is and head in that general direction.

Also, don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for help and get people’s perspectives.

Attorneys tend to be very busy and may forget to talk to people and mentor.

But if you stop them, they’re often very willing to give you their advice, thoughts and counsel. Don’t wait for people to come to you and tell you how and what you should be doing. Ask them—and don’t worry about how busy they are.

K HI A R A B R I D G E S You can do everything. Often, young lawyers think they have to choose and everything is a fork in the road. If you reconcile the two paths in the road and create one path that enables you to pursue both destinies at the same time, you’ll have a more fulfilling experience.

You hear no so many times—what if you approached your career as if everything is possible?

C HR I S FAWZ Y Two pieces of advice: Don’t fall in love with a case or position in a way that skews your judgment. It’s easy as an attorney to become entrenched in a view and think we know more than our clients.

We have to listen to our clients to gain other perspectives, not offer feedback until we’ve taken everything in, ask all the right questions and do so openly. When we do that, we’re generally able to help achieve an optimal outcome.

The other piece: Don’t care about how you’re perceived or how you look. Don’t get distracted by trying to make sure people know what you’ve accomplished.

Focus only on your client’s objectives and the end product. People are looking for results, and if you contribute consistently as a team player and help achieve results, in the end you, will be viewed as the person who helps get them there. You will be sought after as a trusted partner for both your internal and external clients.

WI LLY FE RRE R My parents taught me three lessons as a child: 1) There is no substitute for hard work. 2) Never say no to yourself and aspire to every opportunity. 3) Do good. Doing good for your colleagues and your community—and treating everybody with respect—will catapult your career in ways that you would never have imagined.

Also remember that your opposition is not your enemy; he or she is doing their job. The justice system requires a balanced approach—that all arguments get aired out and all issues get assessed by the judge. As lawyers, we’re taught that we’re measured by how many cases we win. But when people are driven just by winning and not making sure that justice is done, they sometimes do things that could affect their credibility.

Remember that your reputation, integrity and credibility are your most prized possessions and you cannot ever do anything that will compromise them.

LI LLI A N HA RDY Be open, be true to yourself and be bold.

T R EY MUL DROW What we’re going through now is unique and no one has meaningful experiences on how to handle it. Young lawyers can see how more senior attorneys operate during an unsettled period, and more importantly, can contribute in ways they

may not have been able to a few months ago. We’re completing transactions in different ways with new technologies, allowing young attorneys to have a voice.

Right now, I believe that there is so much to learn about one’s practice, firm, colleagues and the challenges confronting the legal profession.

Therefore, I encourage young lawyers to keep their eyes open and pay attention to the rapidly changing world around them.

DE BORA H RAS IN Opportunities come in ways you didn’t necessarily plan. I’ve signed up for many paths that were not the most attractive or coveted by others, but every time I took a chance, it led to something bigger and better. You have to recognize the opportunity when it comes to you, say yes and do the best you can with it even if it’s not what you want to do. Recognize it, grab it and take it.

MA RK S CHWA RZ There are many routes to becoming the lawyer you want to be—which might mean moving to a different country, changing roles, etc. I’ve had many changes in direction. Try to end up in a company or area of law you are passionate about, because there is nothing like enjoying what you do. If you thrive, it shows in so many ways.

MA RCIA VA L E NTE Most legal careers will have many chapters with unexpected twists and turns. Your ability to adapt is the key to managing a successful career. For me, that meant taking time away from practicing law to raise my daughters. But I continued believing in myself, and with the support of family and colleagues, I realized that I can meaningfully contribute as a commercial litigator who also happens to be a mother and woman of color.

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Major, Lindsey & Africa

By John Cashman President, Major, Lindsey & Africa

My personal approach to leading during this crisis—or any crisis—is “to be about it, not talk about it.” I borrowed that phrase from a leader I admire, but I have found this approach to be a helpful guide when it comes to leadership and problem-solving.

The irony is that working from home means that talking is in some sense our only option. The inability to spend time with each other in an office setting has created a need for more frequent and deeper conversations because in many cases “talk” is the only tool in our toolbox. Our focus at MLA has been on creating opportunities for connection and upholding the culture we have built internally despite being physically apart.

Major, Lindsey & Africa is fortunate to be a global organization with professionals spread across 30 offices.

We have years of experience with remote communications and are fortunate to have excellent technology. But like most companies, we were used to coming into the office on a regular basis. Our people consistently tell me that our people are the reason they come to work and our people are the best thing about working here. Being apart has challenged our culture accordingly.

I believe humans need to regularly connect with others.

Without genuine relationships, at work or at home, we suffer in heart and mind. Every study in happiness ever completed concludes that relationships are what matter in life. But how can we maintain those relationships while working from home? How do you maintain community when everyone is exhausted by video meetings?

How do we fight the loneliness we all are starting to feel after months of working from home? Answering these questions is a challenge for every leader during this crisis.

Although I spend time every day trying to solve this riddle, I confess I don’t have many answers yet. But I am working on it and constantly experimenting.

TO LEA D

As Brett Pletcher, GC of Gilead Sciences, says in our cover feature, “The only preparation is experience—with a company, with the law and as a leader. Everyone thinks that when you’re a senior leader, you have all the answers.

Right now, we’re all figuring it out as we go, so we’re using our experience from other situations and applying it here.” That describes my approach as well.

My advice is to stay the course when it comes to communication and connection, even if it feels futile at times from your home office. For example, continue your regular schedule of video and phone meetings; keep text conversations going across your teams; keep participating in virtual social events; keep a regular email schedule for communicating to your company. These small efforts can cause you to think of the movie “Groundhog Day,” but I believe these small efforts are meaningful in maintaining the culture that you had before the crisis. People value the effort and the connection these efforts provide, even if they don’t tell you. Ultimately, leaders must continually remind their people why we work together and that our work has meaning beyond simply paying the bills. And leaders need to talk frequently to achieve that goal.

Trey Muldrow at Akin Gump shared in 360 that he is following this advice. Akin Gump’s practice group leaders regularly meet (virtually) to talk about what everyone is working on. They also have meetings with each assistant to check in on how they are navigating the crisis. These meetings allow leadership to stay connected and share information across the firm.

Brett shared how Gilead has increased its usage of Yammer internally, asking conversation starters like whose got the cutest pet or whose got the nicest desk setup things—small icebreakers to increase the opportunity to engage. They are even planning a jack-o-lantern carving contest in October. He finds visual connection provides the opportunity to demonstrate personalities and unique talents and to reinforce personal connection in the absence of physical proximity.

I encourage each of you to experiment with unique methods for building personal connections across your teams despite the physical distance. These efforts will help your people fight the solitude that comes from remote work. These efforts will help maintain the culture you had worked so hard to build before the crisis. These efforts might even cause your people to value working at your company even more when the world returns to its “new normal,” whenever and whatever that might be.

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Thank you to our consultants for connecting us with our outstanding interviewees!

Barrett Avigdor

Joshua Dull

Kimberly Hulsey

Kate Reder Sheikh

Pooja Mahbubani

Janet Markoff

Brian Burlant

Richard Hsu

Amy Katz

Carol Simon

Bob Mannino

Maggie Tassi

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