Career Development

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By Karen Rubin, Thompson Hine

Introduction: Karen E. Rubin, Counsel in the Cleveland office of Thompson Hine LLP, has been co-editing the firm’s ethics blog, The Law for Lawyers Today, since it began in 2014. The blog publishes extensively about legal ethics and professional responsibility and was most recently named one of the ABA Journal’s top 100 law blogs of 2016. Ms. Rubin is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association’s Ethics Committee and teaches legal ethics at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. As part of a continuing series of interviews focused on top bloggers on the LexBlog Network, MCC spoke with Ms. Rubin about the focus and relevancy of her blog to an in-house readership, touching on ethical pitfalls and traps the in-house community can safeguard against.Continue Reading Blogging About The Law of Lawyering: A look into murky ethics issues and risk management territory

By Lloyd M. Johnson Jr., Chief Legal Executive LLC

For in-house counsel, convincing colleagues in the C-suite —or in the rest of the company, for that matter —is rarely a simple matter of saying, “Do it. I’m the lawyer.” Influence and persuasion require strategic thinking, a deep understanding of a company’s objectives and culture, credibility in the organization, and a keen sense of timing.
Continue Reading Influencing the C-Suite: Advice for in-house counsel on the fine arts of influence and persuasion

By Bernadette Bulacan, Thomson Reuters

Multiple factors, from emerging technologies to the use of legal process outsourcing, are transforming the practice of law. But few factors directly influence the changing face of the profession as much as the unprecedented generational shift that is occurring as baby boomers retire and more millennials join the ranks of corporate counsel.
Continue Reading Before the Millennial Deluge: Corporate law departments are overwhelmingly unprepared for a seismic generational shift

By: Thomas J. Sabatino Jr., Aetna

The Sabatino Advocate Award, created by the Women’s In-House Counsel Leadership Institute, goes to a male general counsel who champions women throughout his career. Below, the man for whom the award is named, Thomas J. Sabatino Jr., executive vice president and general counsel of Aetna Inc., discusses the award, his passion for promoting women to senior in-house roles, and the inaugural recipient, Craig Glidden, executive vice president and general counsel of General Motors, who was honored last month at the Horizon Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C. His remarks have been edited for length and style.
Continue Reading A Seat – and Voice – at the Table: Leaders make sure women’s voices do not fall on deaf male ears

By: Alan S. Kaplinsky

One of the ABA’s Top 100 Blawgs for four straight years, Ballard Spahr’sCFPB Monitor sets itself apart with its laser focus on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In the first of a continuing series of interviews focused on top bloggers in the top legal blogging network, LexBlog, Alan S. Kaplinsky, head of Ballard’s Consumer Financial Services Group, discusses the genesis and evolution of CFPB Monitor and the latest goings on in and around one of the federal government’s most active and controversial agencies. His remarks have been edited for length and style.
Continue Reading A Hot Blawg for a Hot Area: CFPB Monitor has emerged as the must-read blog in the consumer finance world

By: Angela H. Zimmern

Every firm these days seems to be talking the legal project management talk. McGuireWoods, however, walks the walk – and does so in a manner that clients embrace. The firm eschews a one-size-fits-all approach for a more nuanced, attorney-driven LPM program that is winning fans inside the firm and out. Below, Angela H. Zimmern, one of the architects of the effort, discusses how to win over transactional lawyers and ever-skeptical litigators alike. Her remarks have been edited for length and style.
Continue Reading One LPM Size Does Not Fit All: A nuanced approach that begins and ends with the client’s goals is the surest path to success

By: Anthony Faugno, EisnerAmper LLP

Doing business with the government can be a winning strategy. It is not, however, easy. Below, Anthony Faugno, an authority on government contracting with EisnerAmper, discusses the promise and the peril of working with the government in remarks that have been edited for length and style. 
Continue Reading Doing Business with the Government – Importance of Accounting Compliance: Be well-prepared to meet all compliance requirements

By: Meredith Moore, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

Workplace diversity has become an increasingly important topic over the past several years. With more organizations recognizing the need and importance of investing in diversity and inclusion, some are launching new programs and initiatives. For example, within the past few months, Starbucks launched its Upstanders campaign, which is its first original content series, aiming to inspire people to engage in acts of compassion, citizenship and civility. In order to explore the important topic of workplace inclusion, we sat down with Weil Global Diversity and Social Responsibility Director Meredith Moore to discuss Weil’s own Upstander program, which the firm launched in November 2015. Her remarks have been edited for length and style.
Continue Reading Upstanding Allies in Diversity: Taking its inclusive approach to new heights, Weil actively engages employees – and clients – in its program’s efforts

By: Oliver Campbell & Bas Boris Visser, Clifford Chance US LLP

The world’s premier law firms are now more than purveyors of legal services. In the past decade, they have become multibillion-dollar global businesses and face many of the same challenges and issues as the clients they serve.

Successfully running a large firm today requires not only a cadre of great legal minds but a team of professionals focused on continually improving both operational and process excellence. During the past five years, we’ve worked directly with clients and shared our best legal project management (LPM) ideas to help them reduce cost, risk and time in executing everything from routine to mission-critical work.
Continue Reading Sharing Operation Insights with Clients: A commitment to innovation sparks new ways of working

By: Bonnie Hill & Richard Koppes, National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD)

Every year, the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) prepares a major report by a Blue Ribbon Commission composed of leaders from the corporate governance community. The NACD board debates three possible topics and picks one. This year it was unanimous: “Building a the Strategic-Asset Board.” Below, the leaders of the effort, Bonnie Hill and Richard Koppes, discuss the commission’s watershed report, which tackles a series of fraught topics with a heavy dose of tough love aimed at boards too sluggish or passive to change to meet changing times. Their remarks have been edited for length and style.
Continue Reading Change in the Boardroom: Evolution or Revolution?: Commission seeks to transform boards into high-impact strategic assets