This month the LeftFoot Podcast features Michele DeStefano; her recent book Legal Upheaval provides the backdrop for a conversation focused on innovation in today’s legal environment. Through her work and research for her book, Michele confirmed that clients are looking for a new type of collaborative service disguised in their request for innovati…

Capitalizing on Incremental Improvements On Episode 121 we talk with LexisNexis, VP and Chief Product Officer, Jeff Pfeifer. Jeff is responsible for product strategy having established his organization as a leader in legal analytics and data-driven law. Jeff begins our discussion by noting that access to big data and incremental tech development is…

Diversity Embraced It’s 2019 and the Diversity Lab remains front and center in the conversation on Law Firm and In-house Legal department diversity. Late last summer we sat down with On-Ramp Fellowship Managing Director, Jennifer Winslow and the Mansfield Rule initiative leader, Director, Lisa Kirby. The Mansfield rule supports the diversification …

Enabling Collaboration Through Tools On episode 119 we talk with Mo Zain Ajaz, the 2018 Legal 500 Individual of the Year for Legal Operations. Mo is accountable for operational excellence across National Grid’s Global Legal Function. Having understood what is important to its business (including a 25% efficiency goal), the legal operations team at …

Move Beyond Being Risk-Averse As part of our Executing Change series, focusing on in-house legal award winners and the changes they’ve implemented within their departments, we welcome back Alan Bryan, Wal-Mart’s Senior Associate General Counsel. Alan was also a guest on LeftFoot Episode 68. Walmart had an opportunity to change; to centralize, to ch…

We chat with Matt Galvin of Anheuser-Busch Over the last three years, Matt Galvin has executed change and embraced the use of data in decision making as the Global Vice President for Ethics and Compliance at Anheuser-Busch InBev. Following a significant global acquisition, Matt talks with us about both the volume of compliance matters and the risk …

Creating an In-house Legal Department of Value Cameron Findlay is the SVP General Counsel and Secretary at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), the largest food processor in the world. The legal department Cam leads has been recognized as one of ‘Corporate Counsel’s 2018 Best’ for executing change; notably firm convergence, upgraded matter management and …

Adjectives that Describe You, Like You Describe You Today’s guest a deep understanding of nonverbal communication and the perception of leadership presence. She’s worked extensively with lawyers and legal professionals, as they look to project the image of how they’d like to be perceived while remaining authentic. Today’s guest Cara Hale Alter has …

Technology Investment Pressure Will Continue EVP, General Counsel and Secretary of DXC Technology, Bill Deckelman is one of the most innovative General Counsels in the market today, we’re excited to feature him as our first GC in our Executing Change Series. Bill Deckelman had a clear understanding of both the mission and execution that lead to the…

Newsjacking With Style Out of the gate, our conversation with Mitch Jackson focused on the use of social media to enhance human-to-human behavior. Connecting with 100s if not 1000s of people to create relationships and move your referral base beyond local to global. We’re all in media publishing, and how you use social media makes a difference. The…

And the Tools we Use Each Day In Episode 112 we talk with Ivy Grey, lawyer, Legal Tech Designer and Legal Tech author. For Ivy, the transition from lawyer to legal tech designer wasn’t difficult; growing up in Silicon Valley she naturally uses technology for efficiency. Similarly, she’s embraced writing about technology with the goal of making the …

In Today’s Legal Market On Episode 111 Brooks Brown of Goodwin Procter talks about the initiative and energy required for consistent business development success; that building relationships that lead to new clients and additional work with current clients should be part of each day. Reviewing a single page business development strategy document we…

A Mindset of Curiosity and Empathy Today’s guest is Cat Moon a practicing lawyer, educator and business leader with more than 20 years of experience in human-centered design, agile project management, strategic communication, and the practice of law. Human-centered design is a process, a set of tools, a mindset of curiosity and empathy. It’s puttin…

Building client Trust and Confidence A partner since 2007, Sarah Cave kicks off our conversation talking about digging in on tough problems, being highly organized, and listening to understand a client’s wants and concerns. She then shares her three-pronged growth strategy: Show Up: be thoughtful about determining events and situations to participa…

Today’s episode features Perkins Coie intellectual property practice leader, Judy Jennison, in addition to her time in private practice, she spent 8 years as an in-house lawyer with Microsoft in intellectual property, product development, and antitrust compliance roles. Judy Jennison Bio As a former in-house lawyer within a big organization, Judy u…

I’m a peer, not a ‘snowflake’ In this week’s episode, we talk with Lisa Konie, Senior Director of Legal Operations at Adobe Systems, and a CLOC board member. Legal Operations and Efficiency When defining legal operations it’s helpful to look at all the things that naturally fall on the shoulders of lawyers but don’t have anything to do with the del…

The Essence of Vision In this week’s episode, we talk with James Libson, Executive Partner at Mishcon de Reya, about his practice and setting up the Mishcon Academy to help lawyers develop the skills needed in today’s modern legal environment. Reflecting on his career; his success as a firm leader; and cultivating business, James talks about contin…

Delivering Solutions to Clients with Javier Fernandez-Samaniego The following highlights points from our discussion with Javier Fernandez-Samaniego, the Managing Director of Samaniego Law; an alternative Iberoamerican law firm. Firms as Aggregators Alternative firms offer a different structure for the delivery of legal solutions focusing on deliver…

Innovation By Press Release On episode 104 we talk with Travers Smith, Managing Partner, David Patient. David is clear on the approach he’s personally employed while growing Travers Smith in Europe. Noting the importance of being front-of-mind with clients, the tireless pursuit of targets, and thinking about clients even when they may not be thinki…

Let’s Not ‘Do’ Lunch In episode 103 we featured Lisa Howlett, General Counsel, SVP and Secretary of Hunter Roberts Construction Group. Lisa ensures her organization has effective advice and representation working on legal issues related to construction, contracts, corporate transactions, real estate, labor/employment law as well as strategic busine…

Law Firms Are Poised to Offer Broad Solutions Lucy Bassli’s new adventure allows her to have a broad impact on the legal industry. Through her work at LawGeex and the organization she founded, InnoLegal Services, she provides both the ‘what’ of legal advice and the ‘how’ of a consultancy; advising on the effective delivery and receipt of legal serv…

Expertise and Reputation A lawyer labeled as ‘commercial’ is a good thing. Commercial lawyers are interested in quickly and cheaply resolving the client’s business problems as emphasized in a recent interview with Kirkland Partner, Dale Cendali. Dale leads her firm’s Copyright, Trademark, Internet and Advertising practice group. It’s the age of com…

Think Dynamically About Your Clients In the 100th episode of LeftFoot our guest Katie DeBord, Chief Innovation Officer at Bryan Cave highlights the substantive changes taking place in today’s legal environment and how it’s changing the lawyer-client relationship at every level. That the firms, practices, lawyers and legal service providers who are …

Legal Tender Strategy Our guest on podcast episode 99, John de Forte has been advising law firms and other professional services organizations around proposals for over 30 years. He authored ‘Winning Proposals the Essential Guide for Law Firms and Legal Service Providers’ in 2017. Legal Purchasing We begin our conversation talking about the growth …

With David Pashman of Meetup For LeftFoot episode 98 we interviewed David Pashman, a former big law transaction lawyer turned startup general counsel and educator. David is currently the Head of Integration following the WeWork / Meetup transaction. Reality #1: Going In-House is a Transition A big part of David’s transition was learning to work eff…

Service is Personal Our discussion with Michael McGee, starts off with a point we can’t emphasize enough; it’s about the client. A client’s needs come first. Go beyond the legal deliverable and ease the concerns of the client. Get to know your clients, see them in person; get to know their businesses. Listen and continue to ask (and earn) their bus…

Legal Services Cost Money and that’s OK! We had the pleasure of interviewing Aliza Herzberg on LeftFoot. Aliza started her own employment law firm in 2017 after a successful 24-year career working for others. Aliza’s key to business development success is making sure she understands and meets the business objectives of her clients. She gets to know…

Strategies and Tactics for Today The CEO and Founder of AltaClaro, Abdi Shayesteh is a corporate, bank regulatory, and finance attorney. He worked for a global law firm – a boutique firm – a powerful central bank – and a groundbreaking fintech company before starting the company he now leads. Abdi Shayesteh Bio A proponent of experiential learning,…

The Business of Law with Mark Cohen of Legal Mosaic and Elevate Legal Services In Episode 94 we talk with Mark Cohen, former civil trial lawyer, big law Partner, national litigation boutique firm founder, and insurance industry outside general counsel. An early mover on Legal Tech and Legal process outsourcing, today Mark is the CEO of Legal Mosaic…

Skills You Can Learn to Grow Your Practice Paula Davis-Laack, is the Founder and CEO of Davis-Laack Stress and Resilience Institute. A former practicing lawyer, Paula is a stress and resilience expert and has taught stress and resiliency skills to thousands of professionals around the world. Paula Davis Laack Bio For those not excited about executi…

For our first episode of 2018 LeftFoot is featuring 4 women associates from the Goodwin Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions business. We share their perspective on business development and taking on business development responsibilities at the firm. First up was 2nd-year associate Serena Shi. Serena’s strategy for business development and cli…

A thank you to our audience and supporters… We’re sharing the 3rd of our 12 Business Development Challenges in this episode. This Challenge is the first of three challenges in our Business Development Grit category related to networking. The LeftFoot 12-SESSION Challenge is divided into 3 categories: Business Development Grit: Tactical habits that …

Data-Driven Outcomes Today’s guest is Brendan McInerney, Manager of Legal Project Management at Dorsey chats with LeftFoot about applying diligent matter planning practices understanding the necessity of transparency and clear communication with clients on legal matters. Brendan McInerney Bio More than software: Legal Project Management (LPM) is ab…

A Conversation with Olga Mack of Clearslide Olga Mack started her career as an IP litigator before going in-house and working for several start-ups. Today she is active in the startup world, is on the board of two early-stage starts and is the General Counsel and Assistant Secretary for the San Francisco headquartered, sales and marketing engagemen…

Steptoe & Johnson, Partner, Lucinda Low is a widely recognized authority in the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Her practice focuses on the US and international anti-corruption laws. She is a member of her firm’s management committee and head of the Compliance Investigations, Trade, and Enforcement Departments. Lucinda Low Bio Habits: Put yoursel…

Andrew Spielman is the Chair of Wilmer Hale’s Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Practice, and the ‘partner-in-charge’ of the Denver office. Prior to working at two top firms, he served in senior positions at the US Environmental Protection Agency. Andrew Spielman Bio Adopt a client service approach Be a team player Regularly evaluate your b…

David Douglass is the Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office of Sheppard Mullin and a partner in the Government Contracts, Investigations & International Trade Practice Group. He’s represented companies and individuals in criminal and civil, False Claims Act (whistleblower), investigations and litigation. He draws on this experience to str…

Steven Zager is a partner in the NY office of Akin Gump. He’s been recognized by Chambers; Best Lawyers in America – and as a Law 360 Trial Ace for his significant record of trial victories for clients nationwide. He serves as the global head of his firm’s intellectual property practice. Steve Zager Bio Clients look for lawyers who listen, who inte…

We talk with the Zenefits, GC, Joshua Stein Joshua Stein, is the General Counsel and VP of External Affairs at Zenefits. He leads his company’s legal, compliance, regulatory affairs and government relation’s efforts. He brings a variety of experience to his current role having served as a Sr. Associate at Quinn Emanuel; an Asst. US Attorney; a fede…

Andrew Sherman is a Partner and Chair of the Washington, D.C. Corporate Department of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. He focuses his practice on issues affecting business growth for companies at all stages, including licensing and leveraging intellectual property and technology assets. He has served as a legal and strategic advisor to dozens of Fortune 500 comp…

A conversation with Mark Smolik of DHL Mark Smolik, Vice President General Counsel & Secretary, Chief Compliance Officer, DHL Supply Chain Americas, leads his company’s legal, commercial contracts management, compliance, and economic development teams. He’s a proponent of establishing strong operational disciplines and working closely with the busi…

While Leaving the Hubris at Home David Yawman is the SVP & Deputy General Counsel of PepsiCo, and General Counsel North American Beverages and Quaker Foods NA. He has 18 years of in-house public company operating division and global markets experience. He works extensively with his organizations C-Suite executives and the audit committee of the com…

A Full-Service Approach Anjli Garg, is the Director, Associate General Counsel, Citibank, NA. She works with her organizations largest global institutional clients providing counsel on global B2B cash and card payment businesses. She practices in a variety of legal disciplines including privacy and data security, internet/e-commerce, IP, bank regul…

The Need for Blended Legal and Business Advice. Mackenzie Phillips is an Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Counsel at JLL. Prior to assuming this role formally, she was in the same role as a member of the Axiom Legal team. She also advised Orbitz Worldwide on governance and security matters while at Axiom. With additional experience at b…

Lawyer to Lawyer Selection and Fee Negotiation is History Ricardo Anzaldua served as EVP and General Counsel to MetLife until June 30th of this year. He is currently serving as special counsel to MetLife’s CEO. Prior to joining MetLife he was an SVP and Associate General Counsel at The Hartford Financial Services Group, following a partnership at C…

Bridging the Law Firm Generation Gap Professor, Scott Westfahl, is the Director of Harvard Law School Executive Education. He leads his organization in their mission to support and develop lawyers across the arc of their careers as they advance to new levels of leadership and responsibility. He teaches law firm leaders, partners, associates and gen…

Putting An End to the Mundane Today’s guests are not only leaders in the field of legal operations – but are on the forefront of transforming the legal ecosystem – through their leadership within CLOC – the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium. The first of two guests on Episode 76 is the Chief of Staff and Senior Director of Legal Operations at N…

And the Practice of Law COO of Goodwin, Michael Caplan manages his firm’s business, financial and administrative operations – focusing on growth strategy and execution. He’s worked with over 30 different General Counsel during his career – many while running a legal operations consulting business. Michael Caplan Bio Today’s law firm environment is …

Driving In-House Legal Strategic Decision Making The Head of Legal operations at The Gap, Mike Haven is on the cutting edge of legal department management, creating, implementing and developing some of the industries most innovative policies, procedures, and tools. He came to his role from NetApp where he managed legal operations and litigation acr…

Both Offer Advantages for Litigators Geoff Frost is the Director of Client Development at Bondurant Mixson & Elmore. He’s responsible for directing his firms business and professional development activities including structuring and pricing alternative fee arrangements and managing the firm’s corporate recoveries program. Geoff Frost Bio Instead of…