Be a smarter legal leader

As Big Oil is coming off one of its most profitable years in history, it still faces the existential crisis of Climate Change. To this end, environmental law firm ClientEarth is suing 11 of Shell's directors, personally, for "mismanaging climate risk, breaching company law by failing to implement an energy transition strategy that aligns with the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement," says NBC News. The suit is the first of its kind, and ups the ante for Big Oil and its boards of directors who may now be personally at risk if they fail to act on climate change.

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• “The shift to a low-carbon economy is not just inevitable, it’s already happening," Paul Benson, a senior attorney with ClientEarth, stated. "Yet the Board is persisting with a transition strategy that is fundamentally flawed, leaving the company seriously exposed to the risks that climate change poses to Shell’s future success — despite the Board’s legal duty to manage those risks."

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• A Shell spokesperson released a statement opposing the claim, noting " “Our directors have complied with their legal duties and have, at all times, acted in the best interests of the company. […]ClientEarth’s attempt, by means of a derivative claim, to overturn the board’s policy as approved by our shareholders has no merit. We will oppose their application to obtain the court’s permission to pursue this claim."

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A Record Year

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While 2022 was a banner year for Shell, Exxon, BP, and the other Big Oil players, it was also one of the hottest years on record. So how do you get some of the most profitable companies on Earth to stop profiting off, well, the destruction of the earth? “There has really only ever been one way to get the world off oil and gas and that is not to expect the companies who benefit most from that industry to lead the way,” Adrienne Buller, research director at the UK think tank Common Wealth, told the Financial Times. “These companies are set up to maximize returns to their shareholders and they’re doing exactly that.”

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The Verdict

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While Shell has plans to be carbon neutral by 2050, ClientEarth and other environmental groups clearly think Earth’s habitability may be permanently ruined by then unless things change. So, the question is, who will push Shell (and others in Big Oil) towards change? Seems like it may have to be external forces.

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While litigation is likely not the first thing that comes to mind when you think about a corporate in-house legal role, it's incredibly common. Depending on the industry, size, and market your company operates within, you may frequently see demand letters and other legal requests come across your desk. So what do you do?

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Let's start with what a demand letter is. Simply put, demand letter is a letter sent by a potential claimant or plaintiff demanding either some form of compensation or action. Effectively, the precursor to a lawsuit.

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Demand's come in all shapes and sizes. Some provide incredibly detailed information about the purported claim or action (with included exhibits and supporting documentation). Others are much more bare bone. Regardless, the first move should be to evaluate the information provided.

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Whether you think the claim is credible or not, if there is a policy of insurance that could provide coverage, it is probably wise to at least consider sending the demand to the appropriate carrier.

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If insurance coverage is not potentially available, the next step would be to determine whether to retain outside counsel or handle the matter internally. In either scenario, next steps would be to contact the relevant business units and employees involved with the subject matter of the demand. While engaging in this fact finding activity, you should likely compile any documents that relates to the demand and set out a litigation hold to all relevant parties.

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Once a clear pictures has been formed regarding the subject matter of the demand (or within the time limit is specified), a response should likely be sent.

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Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before: In 2021, GitHub and OpenAI (two companies either owned by or largely invested in by Microsoft), launched a coding tool named Copilot. The tool, much like OpenAI's ChatGPT, scraped vast sources of existing code to create its own database which then enabled it to suggest code to programers that it had generated.

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Well, not everyone is happy with this process. In November, a class action lawsuit was filed against Microsoft, Github, and OpenAI alleging “software piracy on an unprecedented scale," notes The Verge. Now, the tech firms are firing back asking for the federal court hearing the case to dismiss it, based on grounds that the piracy claims do not hold up.

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• In Github's dismissal filing, the company claims the suit “fails on two intrinsic defects: lack of injury and lack of an otherwise viable claim." Meanwhile, OpenAI's filing raises a similar argument that the suit relies on “hypothetical events” to “allege a grab bag of claims that fail to plead violations of cognizable legal rights.”

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What Is Scraping?

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OpenAI's tools (including Dall•E and ChatGPT) rely on scraping, which is training its AI on enormous data sets that are publicly available. That is to say, for Dall•E, it is potentially Getty Images, Flickr, and other image sets. Then, from all the data it scraped, the AI can create "new" images/text/code based on the scraped data. But is it copyright infringement?

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This month, notes CNN, Getty Images filed suit against Stability AI (who makes an art generating AI called Stable Diffusion), claiming: "Getty Images believes artificial intelligence has the potential to stimulate creative endeavors. Accordingly, Getty Images provided licenses to leading technology innovators for purposes related to training artificial intelligence systems in a manner that respects personal and intellectual property rights. …Stability AI did not seek any such license from Getty Images and instead, we believe, chose to ignore viable licensing options and long standing legal protections in pursuit of their stand-alone commercial interests.”

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The Verdict

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As we’ve noted before, generative AI is creating a new frontier in IP law by relying so heavily on data scraping to train the technology. That being said, the entrance of large companies like Getty Images to the mix will step up pressure to regulate this new industry.

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The Biden Administration has taken aim at Google's far-reaching online advertising business. In a new antitrust lawsuit the Justice Department and eight states have filed against the tech titan, Google is accused of corrupting "legitimate competition in the ad tech industry by engaging in a systematic campaign to seize control of the wide swath of high-tech tools used by publishers, advertisers, and brokers, to facilitate digital advertising." In doing so, Google is knowingly engaging in anti-competitive behavior and " unlawful means to eliminate or severely diminish" present or future rivals.

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‍In a response to the suit, Dan Taylor, Google's Vice President of Global Ads, wrote that "DOJ is doubling down on a flawed argument that would slow innovation, raise advertising fees and make it harder for thousands of small businesses and publishers to grow." He added that "we will vigorously contest attempts to break tools that are working for publishers, advertisers, and people across America."

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Second Pass

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While this is the Biden Administration's first suit against Google, it is the second antitrust case against brought against the tech giant since 2020, reports the New York Times. That suit alleged "Google [had] used anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in the markets for general search services, search advertising and general search text advertising — the cornerstones of its empire.”

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The Verdict

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Going after Big Tech seems to be one of the only bipartisan issues left in the country. That being said, for a handful of companies to control so much of our lives and so much of the economy makes it clear that the government had to step in at some point.

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If it struck you a bit odd that one of the largest and most profitable corporations in the world (valued at $400 billion) was suddenly filing for bankruptcy, well, you're not alone. A three-judge panel for the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Johnson and Johnson's Chapter 11 petition for one of its newly created subsidiaries, LTL Management, arguing the move was done in bad faith.

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The pharmaceutical giant is facing $3.5 billion in verdicts and settlements from 38,000 lawsuits claiming that the company's talc products caused cancer. To shield itself from these costs, J & J used the so-called Texas Two-Step to create a subsidiary that absorbs the litigation and then declares the subsidiary bankrupt. The plan was internally named "Project Plato".

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• According to CNBC, Jon Ruckdeschel, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, applauded the bankruptcy dismissal, saying: "“Bankruptcy courts are for honest companies in financial distress, not billionaire mega-corporations like J&J."
• The Appeals Court's 56-page opinion recognizes that Johnson and Johnson created the subsidiary "solely to access the bankruptcy system and not because it faced financial distress," notes CNBC. Furthermore, the opinion states that “Good intentions - such as to protect the J&J brand or comprehensively resolve litigation - do not suffice alone."

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The Verdict

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The Texas Two-Step is a fairly common legal tool for shouldering large settlements and verdicts—especially in toxic torts. So, for this tool to be shot down by the 3rd Circuit Court is major. Of course, this could still be reversed by the Supreme Court, but companies may think twice before using this tactic again in the future.

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When you’re an in-house attorney, the name of the game is efficiency. To that end, it’s crucial to have a contract playbook in place.

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So, what’s a contract playbook? Simply put, it’s a collection of standardized contract templates, clauses, and negotiation tactics that can be easily accessed and used by the legal team. Instead of starting from scratch, pre-approved templates/provisions and risk thresholds are at your team’s fingertips. This streamlines the contract drafting process and ensures that all contracts are consistent with the company’s standards.

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Let’s talk about this practically. A member of your legal team is negotiating a commercial agreement with vendor or customer. Language relating to indemnification obligations is marked up or deleted. Instead of multiple conversations and time spent trying to figure out what version of this provision works for the company, the contract playbook comes into play. A more neutral provision which has been approved by the company is utilized and the contract is pushed to be executed.

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In the same vein, by having a set of pre-approved negotiation tactics, the legal team can be more strategic in their negotiations and better protect the company’s interests. For example, if the contract playbook includes a tactic for requesting a “most favored nation” clause, counsel will be prepared to advocate for this protection if it is in the company’s best interests.

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Overall, having a contract playbook in a corporate in-house legal department is extremely valuable. It saves time and resources, minimizes risk, and improves the negotiating process.

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A judge is ordering 5 defendants in a class-action lawsuit against Twitter by former employees alleging the company did not follow through with their severance package to be dropped and be taken up in private arbitrage.

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‍As Reuters clarifies, US District Judge James Donato ordered 5 of claimants to drop the suit in favor of private arbitrage, as specified in their employment contracts, but left open whether the entire suit would be dismissed "though, as he noted three other former Twitter employees who alleged they had opted out of the company's arbitration agreement have joined the lawsuit after it was first filed." Twitter did not immediately comment on the ruling, but has noted that it has already filed 500 arbitrage demands, and would likely file hundreds more.

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• Since Elon Musk bought Twitter in late October 2022, Reuters says some 3,700 employees were laid off, and hundreds more have quit or were subsequently fired.

• Twitter also faces separate lawsuits by women and others who claim they were target of layoffs for discriminatory reasons.

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Bill Pay

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In addition to its severance pay discrepancies, Axios reports that Twitter isn't paying other financial obligations, like rents on offices. One theory believes that senior managers tasked with maintaining these landlord contracts have all been fired or quit, leaving the task with junior staff. Beyond rents, as the New York Times notes, "Twitter has also refused to pay a $197,725 bill for private charter flights made the week of Mr. Musk’s takeover."

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The Verdict

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The jury is still out (literally and figuratively) on Musk’s takeover of the legacy social media platform. That being said, from angry creditors to angry ex-employees to news that he’s looking for an heir, things right now are more mess that success. But hey, if you’re a lawyer looking for work, the Twitter orbit seems to be ripe.

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Turns out JP Morgan Chase isn't immune to scams (big banks, they're just like us!). A lawsuit filed in December alleges that the mega-bank was duped by Frank, a college financial aid start-up acquired by the firm in 2021 for $175 million. Accordingly to JP Morgan Chase, Frank fabricated some 4.25 million student accounts to appear larger than it was. “Frank offers a unique opportunity for deeper engagement with students," the financial titan said at the time of the acquisition, notes The Street. "Together, we’ll be able to expand our capabilities for students and their families, helping them financially prepare for college and other major moments in their future."

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Yet, in its December suit, the bank was singing a much different tune, says CBS News: "[T]o cash in, [founder Charlie Javice] decided to lie, including lying about Frank's success, Frank's size and the depth of Frank's market penetration in order to induce [JPMorgan] to purchase Frank for $175 million. As the suit continues, when JPMorgan asked for proof of the 4.25 million accounts, Javice deflected over alleged privacy concerns that actually masked Frank's real size (only about 300,000 accounts). JPMorgan is seeking an unspecified amount in damages.

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• Javice, a UPenn grad, allegedly paid a data science professor $18,000 to fabricate the fake accounts.

• In a 2016 interview with Popsugar, Javice touted Frank's goals as the "Amazon for higher education."

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30 Under 30

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In addition to her pending lawsuit by JPMorgan, Javice has a second unique distinction—she was part of Forbes's 2019 list of 30 under 30. The list has included such notorious luminaries in recent years as Elizabeth Holmes, Sam Bankman-Fried, and Caroline Ellison. As Jezebel jokes, Javice is now "on another, more exclusive list: Forbes Prodigies Who’ve (Allegedly) Committed Fraud Before 35."

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The Verdict

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While we can’t say whether the allegations here are true or not, we can say that if you’re looking to invest in someone who is a Forbes 30 under 30…maybe do double due diligence.

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The Winklevoss twins are back in the news again for something the probably wish didn't happen. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who initially rose to fame after suing Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly stealing their idea when he started Facebook, are now embroiled in a nearly $1 billion mess that includes an investigation by the SEC and mudslinging between the Winklevosses and Barry Silbert's Digital Currency Group.

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The story begins when the Winklevi (thanks, Social Network), created a Bitcoin exchange called Gemini, and then introduced a product called Gemini Earn, which pays interest to customers for their deposits. The SEC took issue with this, and is now charging Gemini with "offering unregistered securities", says the New York Times.

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Gemini was able to offer interest payments because it was using those customer deposits to loan to Digital Currency Group's subsidiary crypto lender Genesis, which in turn allowed Gemini to take advantage of an arbitrage opportunity. However, as Bitcoin has tumbled in value over the last few months, "Genesis later froze withdrawals," continues the Times. "About 340,000 Earn customers are out about $900 million in crypto assets, the SEC said."

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• Barry Silbert, who runs Digital Currency Group, made his name creating SecondMarket, which allowed shareholders of private companies (like a pre-IPO Facebook) to sell their shares.

• “For the past six weeks, we have done everything we can to engage with you in a good faith and collaborative manner in order to reach a consensual resolution for you to pay back the $900 million that you owe, while helping you preserve your business,” Cameron Winklevoss wrote in an open letter to Silbert, reports CNBC.

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Spreading Contagion

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The collapse of FTX and other crypto firms is no doubt at play in this Genesis-Gemini mess. Silbert's Digital Currency Group "took substantial losses in the summer from our bankruptcy" and the collapse of FTX, Zhu Su, co-founder of Three Arrows Capital, tweeted recently. Su claims that FTX repaid DCG a $2.5 billion loan entirely in FTT coin—which, of course, is now worthless. To wit, however, Bitcoin has regained all its losses since the FTX collapse.

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‍The Verdict

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It’s clear that regulation is coming to the crypto market. However, until it does, it seems like contagion from the collapse of FTX will just continue to spread as more investors get hurt, and more companies face SEC investigation.

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Beginning New Year's Day, job postings in California and Washington are now required to include salary ranges in the ad. The move mirrors laws already in place in Colorado and New York City, which require such pay transparency.

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"More and more employers are looking for ways to ease their administrative burden, especially large employers where they also have PR-related concerns, optics-related concerns," Christopher T. Patrick, an employment attorney with Jackson Lewis PC, told Bloomberg Law. "Leaning into transparency can be good for business and reduce the burden related to compliance with a national strategy."

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• According to CalMatters, the law requires" employers with at least 15 workers will have to include pay ranges in job postings. Employees will also be able to ask for the pay range for their own position, and larger companies will have to provide more detailed pay data to California’s Civil Rights Department than previously required."

• For employee rights' groups, the hope is that the sheer size of California's workforce and economy mean this law will affect employers nationwide.

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The Labor Push

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Washington and California's new laws dovetail a year full of unionization efforts and wage increases. As NPR writes, "only about 10% of U.S. workers belong to a union, but 68% of Americans approve of unions, according to Gallup. That's a level of support not seen since 1965." Yet, as the clouds of recession gather on the horizon, many wonder if the labor movement's hard-fought gains over the last year or two will be shed if not outright lost.

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The Verdict

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As workers push to make more gains, the headwinds of a possible recession along with the Fed's own actions may curtail the movement's growing strength.

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The 4 million employees of the US government will no longer be allowed to download TikTok onto a device owned by a federal agency. The new rule is part of the 4100-plus page spending bill signed into law at the end of last month, reports NBC News.

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It’s a new salvo in the US’s fight against the Chinese social media platform, and a proxy for the broader US-China political tensions. But not everyone agrees that banning only TikTok is a logical step if data privacy and national security are the concern. "Unless we’re also [going to] ban Twitter and Facebook and YouTube and Uber and Grubhub, this is pointless," Evan Greer, director of Fight for the Future, told The Guardian. "Yes, it’s possibly a bit easier for the Chinese government to gain access to data through TikTok than other apps, but there’s just so many ways governments can get data from apps."

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• In a statement on the ban, TikTok said: “We’re disappointed that Congress has moved to ban TikTok on government devices — a political gesture that will do nothing to advance national security interests — rather than encouraging the Administration to conclude its national security review.”

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The October Incident

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Late last year, TikTok confirmed to Forbes that it had improperly tracked the locations of 3 of the publication's journalists in October. As a result, a ByteDance (TikTok's parent company) executive was fired and one resigned. The report "gives additional leverage to DOJ to say, ‘Look, the record is not positive,’” Megan Stifel,  a former Department of Justice national security official turned security analyst, told NBC News.

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The Verdict

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As the power of social media apps in Silicon Valley wane, and a fractured global order intensifies, TikTok is a useful boogeyman for more than one group to point at and say "here is the cause of our problems." Will this ban lead to anything more? That is yet to see.

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FTX had secured billions in funding the very day it signed its Chapter 11 bankruptcy back in November. Or, at least that's what Sam Bankman-Fried, the now-notorious founder of the crypto exchange and its sibling company Alameda Research, a private hedge fund, was set to say to Congress in testimony.

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"Starting on November 8th, I was put under extreme pressure to file for Chapter 11," Bankman-Fried writes in the prepared testimony acquired by Forbes. "Most of that pressure came from Ryne Miller, the General Counsel of FTX US and a former partner of Sullivan & Cromwell (S&C), and Sullivan and Cromwell itself." Bankman-Fried goes on to detail a series of events in which S&C allegedly pressured the former CEO to rescind his duties and nominate John Ray as the new CEO. Bankman-Fried even claims a "potential funding offer for billions of dollars" was received within 10 minutes of filing for bankruptcy.

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• Of the tactics S&C allegedly used to pressure Bankman-Fried to file for Chapter 11, "they range from adamant to mentally unbalanced," he writes in the testimony statement. "They also called many of my friends, coworkers, and family members, pressuring them to pressure me to file, some of whom were emotionally damaged by the pressure. Some of them came to me, crying."

• Bankman-Fried never delivered these remarks as he was arrested in the Bahamas the day before he was set to testify before the US Congress.

• Sullivan & Cromwell has not commented on the planned testimony, according to Law.com.

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Not Guilty Plea

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Bankman-Fried is expected to plead not guilty on Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan, reports Reuters. Yet, FTX co-founder Gary Wang, and Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison have both plead guilty and are expected to cooperate with federal officials in charging Bankman-Fried. So why is he pleading not guilty? “It’s clear that the government is not going to be using him to cooperate against them, so he’s clearly working on something else,” defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman told The Guardian. “Why else would the government consent to a bail package for public enemy No 1?”

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The Verdict

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Just as SBF played victim during his media blitz in November (“this was all an honest mistake”; “I didn’t know any of this was happening either”), he seems to be using a similar legal strategy still: claiming his previous lawyers pressured him into bankruptcy, and that he remains not guilty.

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Ashley Herd: How does parental leave foster a strong workplace culture, what was your experience?

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Meyling Ly Ortiz: While I was in private practice, I tried to hide my pregnancy as far as a could.

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Comparing that experience in-house, I certainly felt it was a lot easier in-house. When I brought it up to my manager I was almost instantly apologetic and began talking about creating a plan of the best next steps. My manager really set the tone by congratulating me, she didn't want to talk logistics and I felt a sigh of relief.

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I have a colleague who interviewed pregnant and she's still got the job. It comes down to company culture and Im lucky to work for a company like Toyota. One of my BFFs,  my old firm work wife interviewed pregnant at PepsiCo and got the job. So I think, I think the movement is there that it is no longer stigmatized, but it does start with leadership.

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Ashley Herd: I've done videos on parental leave and it's so interesting discussing the topic of announcing pregnancy because it's a real fear.

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Going back to what Deanna said about living that culture, it's so important for in-house teams to think about how they're reacting because so many people out there will never disclose their pregnancy until the absolutely have no choice because of the fear of getting their job taken away or not being hired.

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A question we just got that I think really plays into this is: How is parental leave navigated in a startup?

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When someone works for a startup, that consists of a small legal team a lot of the time there is no parental leave policy in place. So how does someone bring that up to the C-suite?

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Meredith Smith: It just needs to be brought up. At a startup there are many things that you just do not put in place until there is a circumstance that requires you to put it in place. This doesn't mean the company or the leadership team doesn't think they need one, It just hasn't been necessary yet.

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There's always going to be a first person and I remember the first person at Stash. We were in person and could all see she was pregnant so we all decided it was time for a parental leave policy. We researched what other company's did, hit up our network and came up with a policy. It has to be done and someone has to speak up.

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Ashley Herd: How do you prepare your whole legal team before taking leave and what was your experience?

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Meyling Ly Ortiz: Parental leave on our legal team at Toyota started with me. Based on the work and projects I still needed to get done, I accessed whether they should be paused or continued and then I proposed a plan to my manager.

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This was helpful in determining the workload and whether or not we needed to bring someone in, pause some of the work or have it be delegated amongst the team and because of our 12 week policy, it was very manageable.

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Ashley Herd: Deanna, how you fill in and support the rest of the team so that they're not feeling overburdened when that person's out on parental leave?

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Deanna K: In general it's a testament to the close collaboration of our teams on a normal everyday basis. When a team member does indicate that they will be taking time off for the birth or adoption of a child, we do try to divide up the work of the person who will be out in a way that it doesn't put a burden on any one particular colleague while that person is out.

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We try to establish a very open line of communication, throughout the chain of reporting.

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That's been successful for us and particularly if you look at the litigation side of legal, sometimes it's a little bit easier to anticipate what the upcoming deadlines are with the litigation schedule in place. We just try to be very agile and able to pivot when necessary. So far we've found it's worked as long as we  have open conversation and communication. If we have a very strong collaborative culture where people are open to talking about if they need help, then it helps to make parental leave situations go more smoothly as well.

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Ashley Herd: Meredith, when you are bringing someone in during that period of time what does that look like from a preparation standpoint and how have you made that successful in your work at Stash?

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Meredith Smith: I have a small legal team at Stash so we can't just add on to people who are already really close to a hundred percent capacity. So for me, it was really important to make sure that the people who were not taking leave on the team, weren't just picking up the extra work.

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‍It takes a lot of looking into each team member's role and trying to estimate what the scope of the workload looks like and what we can deprioritize.

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Then we started to determine what can the people at Stash who are non-lawyers do? Is there a workflow or a process we can put in place to assign HR do some of these things without us for a little bit? There's a lot of ways you can get creative but for me, at some point I really just needed people to do the work so I hired some temporary help from a couple folks at Lawtrades.

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We’re proud to report that we've added a new team member to Lawtrades! Meet Sadaf, our Senior Product Designer!

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Check out our interview of Sadaf and this edition of Meet the Team:

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Can you share two interesting facts about yourself?

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I have lived in two countries and four different cities.

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How do you like to spend your weekends?

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Hanging out with friends, if it's nice out going for a hike, if not reading a book under a blanket.

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What is the most unconventional job you ever had?

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Once our third grade teacher was sick and I was assigned to run the class the whole day. It was fun!

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Why did you choose to join Lawtrades?

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I was looking to join a smaller company, to come out of my comfort zone and to challenge myself in a more fast paced environment. After talking to the people here, I felt this is a great place to grow and learn.

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What are your primary responsibilities?

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Design the user interface and the user experience of both our web and mobile applications.

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What are you most looking forward to in this position?

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Collaborating with the team to come up with the best experience for our users.

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Where do you think you help the most in this position?

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Improving the user experience and hopefully helping both talents and clients use the app in a more efficient way.

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Community @ Lawtrades

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How Do Customized Talking Points For Each Contract Template Help You Win Better Deals?

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Hayley Gonzalez: In terms of what talking points you should use, it depends on the contract. We have customized talking points for each type of our templates.

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For Example if were signing a DPA separately are you the controller, processor or the business? This will determine how you can argue for using your paper.

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I would recommend working with the business and with your different counterparts. I'm on the revenue generating side, but I work very closely with our vendor side and commercial legal team.

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We share ideas all the time about how to argue against different counterparty arguments because we're hearing the opposing side's point of view and it really helps. Listen to the business and what they're hearing out in the field. They're on the front lines, so work with them to develop the talking points.

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What Is The Value Of Deal Thresholds In Commercial Contracting?

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Jasmine Singh: At Binti we built in conditional logic workflows that would trigger certain approvals based on answers that were given. We also built those workflows based on the legal review threshold, which when pressure tested changed.

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When suddenly budgets are being cut, you get less lawyers or can't afford to continue to add lawyers when scale happens.

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So those are the moments you make strategic decisions about what you will or will not review anymore. Then, you have to communicate that to the stakeholders and make it easy for them to make sure that those contracts are well done and well executed.

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Laura Frederick: Did you do that in advance of those ups and down, Is that something you did at a strategic level or was it more reactive as needed?

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Jasmine Singh: I would argue both. Going into any role, I sort of set a threshold to say, these are the contracts based on my current team that we're going to review, this is the reality of sort of the situation and this is the diligence.

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As frankly the economy changes and as the business changes, those are the triggers for changing those thresholds.

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Those are the moments you say, we're not looking at these contracts anymore. Business, you're so good at doing this yourself I've built you a workflow and all you have do is answer these questions, click to accept and send it to your counterpart. Now there's a lot less back and forth involved. So on the process side, I think there's opportunities.  

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We can leverage technology to really empower the business to do as much without legal as possible, which then reduces our need for overhead.

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On the people side especially when I was junior in house, I thought I had to do everything no matter how little I had. So I figured I'll do it all with nothing , and that will be my value proposition. That was not a great approach to doing more with less because that sets bad precedent. It also creates a dynamic where you're actually not empowering people in the business to do more.

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The reality of tech startups in particular is your counterpart teams are always going to scale and grow faster than legal is. It is in legal's best interest to make sure that those scaling teams are able to take on some of the responsibilities that rightfully should be with them in terms of how to do contracts and how to continue to scale.

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In today's fast-paced and increasingly digital world, more and more businesses are turning to digital platforms to find and hire lawyers. These platforms offer a range of benefits for businesses, from cost savings to increased efficiency and convenience.

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Here are The Top Five Reasons to Use a Digital Platform for Hiring Lawyers:

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1. Cost Savings

Hiring a lawyer can be a significant expense for any business. Digital platforms can help to reduce these costs by providing access to a wide range of lawyers at different price points. This can make it easier for businesses to find a lawyer who fits their budget and legal needs.

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2. ‍ Increased efficiency

Digital platforms can make the process of finding and hiring a lawyer much more efficient. Instead of spending hours or even days searching for a lawyer, businesses can use a digital platform to quickly and easily find a lawyer who meets their specific needs. This can save businesses valuable time and resources.

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3. ‍Convenience

Digital platforms offer the convenience of being able to search for and hire lawyers from any location, at any time. This can be especially useful for businesses that are located in remote areas or have employees who work remotely.

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4. ‍Access to a wider range of lawyers

Digital platforms provide access to a much wider range of lawyers than businesses would typically be able to find on their own. This can make it easier for businesses to find a lawyer with the right expertise and experience to handle their specific legal needs.

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5. ‍Improved communication

Digital platforms often include tools and features that can help to improve communication between businesses and their lawyers. This can include things like secure messaging systems, online document sharing, and real-time updates on the status of a case. This can help to make the legal process more efficient and transparent for both businesses and their lawyers.

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Overall, hiring lawyers through a digital platform can provide a range of benefits for businesses. From cost savings to increased efficiency and convenience, digital platforms can make it easier for businesses to find and hire the legal help they need.

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LawTrades is a digital platform that makes it easy for legal departments to find and hire lawyers. With Lawtrades, you can quickly and easily search for lawyers with the right expertise and experience to handle your specific legal needs. Plus, with a range of lawyers at different price points, you can find a lawyer who fits your budget.

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Sign up for Lawtrades today and start finding and hiring the legal help you need: https://app.lawtrades.com/join/client

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Charlotte Smith: Jacqueline what does leadership mean to you?

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Jacqueline Lee: I heard a great quote about leadership just recently when I was in New York at the American Lawyer Industry Awards, listening to one of the recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

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The quote he shared was "Your title is what makes you a manager, It's your people that make you a leader" and I thought that was such a great quote because it's so true. A leadership mindset is really all about your people and how you are going to bring the best out of them. Making sure that they're in the right positions and that they have the tools they need to succeed.

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Even when im not at my desk I spend hours and hours thinking about my team. How I can support them, making sure they're in the right roles and have everything they need to accomplish all the goals that they have set out.

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It's one of the things that has made us successful in building a team, from two lawyers to 10 lawyers, and developing a reputation with our client of being a great team together.

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Charlotte Smith: Laura, I'm curious to hear your perspective on this.

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Laura Jeffords Greenberg: I see leadership as two different forms. First is leading the legal team by setting either a vision or mission for your team and ensuring that team members understand how their position rolls up into that greater mission, so they have a purpose.

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The second piece would really be about leading the legal function within the company. I look at that as branding the legal department. How are you interacting with the rest of the organization, how are you leading the vision and setting goals for certain topics that are within your purview?

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Charlotte Smith: John, what are your thoughts?

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John Pingel: When we talk about lawyers being leaders, it's a transition.

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As a lawyer, especially moving in-house the first thing that you find is there's a lot of "firefighting". There's issues that come up, How do you put out those fires on a day-to-day basis? Being a leader is being able to take a step back from that and seeing what you're actually trying to achieve.

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Longer term, how do you move beyond the day-to-day? I love the way Jacqueline phrased it of being all about your team because that's really where you find the space to do that.

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One of the key things especially working in-house, is to really understand the business and what the company priorities are.

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That's the baseline to being competent as an in-house lawyer. Being a leader is analyzing, establishing priorities, goals and then communicating them in a way that you're influencing other people to carry out their jobs.

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Laura Frederick: How do you manage workflow with your stakeholders at Flock Safety?

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Mike Molina: My stakeholders are the sales and marketing team, the people that are out on the streets selling the product and engaging with the community.

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Since this is doing more with less, let me tell you how it was when we were at the hundred people mark and considerably low tech.

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We started off as a small legal team just trying to make do and one of the secrets that we found was Slack has a workflow build out tool that is ingrained into their system. From that we were able to create a channel, add all the salespeople and they would receive a pop up dialogue box.

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Then they would be able to click a button where 5 choices would come up:

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1. Link me to the sales force
2. Link to the contract
3. What is the contract value
4. When do you need this by
5. What do we need to know

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We found this to be incredibly successful, incredibly free, very low tech in a way that the sales team was able to do more with less.

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As the global economy continues to navigate the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic recession, many businesses are looking for ways to cut costs and optimize their spending.

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For legal departments, one way to do this is by utilizing labor marketplaces to find qualified legal professionals at a lower cost. Traditionally, legal departments have relied on in-house counsel or law firms to handle their legal needs.

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However, during a recession, these options can become cost-prohibitive, as businesses may not have the budget to hire full-time in-house counsel or pay the high hourly rates of law firms. Labor marketplaces, on the other hand, offer a more cost-effective solution.

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These platforms connect businesses with qualified legal professionals who are available on a freelance or contract basis. This allows legal departments to find the legal support they need at a lower cost, as they only pay for the hours worked and do not have to pay for benefits or other overhead costs associated with full-time employees. In addition to cost savings, labor marketplaces also offer flexibility and access to a wider pool of legal talent.

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Legal departments can quickly and easily find legal professionals with the specific skills and experience they need, and can easily scale their legal team up or down as needed.

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This can be especially beneficial during a recession, when legal needs may fluctuate due to changes in the business environment. Additionally, labor marketplaces provide legal departments with a greater level of control over their legal spend.

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Legal departments can set budgets and track spending in real-time, allowing them to monitor and adjust their legal spend as needed. This can help legal departments avoid overspending and ensure they are getting the most value for their money.

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In conclusion, utilizing labor marketplaces can be an effective way for legal departments to optimize their legal spend during a recession. By leveraging the cost savings, flexibility, and control offered by these platforms, legal departments can find the legal support they need without breaking the bank.

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Lawtrades is the all-in-one platform to help you find, hire, and manage flexible legal talent.

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Fill key legal roles, monitor work activity, and manage spend.

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Data privacy lawyers are attorneys who specialize in helping individuals and organizations protect the privacy of their personal and sensitive information. They are experts in the complex legal landscape surrounding data privacy, and can provide valuable guidance on a wide range of issues related to this important topic.

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One of the key roles of a data privacy lawyer is to help clients comply with various laws and regulations that govern how personal and sensitive information is collected, used, and shared. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union, and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States, are two of the most significant pieces of data privacy legislation in the world. These laws place strict requirements on businesses and organizations that collect, use, or share personal data, and non-compliance can result in significant fines and penalties.

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Data privacy lawyers can help organizations navigate these complex legal requirements by providing advice on best practices for data collection, storage, and sharing, as well as by developing comprehensive privacy policies and terms of service. They can also represent clients in legal proceedings related to data privacy, such as disputes with regulators or lawsuits brought by individuals who feel their privacy rights have been violated.

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In addition to helping organizations comply with data privacy laws, data privacy lawyers also play a key role in advising individuals on how to protect their own personal information. This can include providing advice on how to manage privacy settings on social media platforms, how to avoid scams and identity theft, and how to deal with data breaches and other privacy-related incidents.

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Overall, data privacy lawyers are an important resource for anyone who is concerned about protecting the privacy of their personal and sensitive information. Whether you are an individual looking to safeguard your own privacy, or a business or organization looking to comply with data privacy laws, a data privacy lawyer can provide valuable guidance and support.

When it comes to hiring your first in-house commercial contracts lawyer, there are a few key things to look for in order to ensure that you find the right person for the job.

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First and foremost, you want to find someone who has experience in commercial contracts law. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s important to find someone who has a deep understanding of the legal complexities involved in drafting and negotiating commercial contracts.

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In addition to experience, you should also look for someone who is a good fit for your company’s culture and values. A good in-house lawyer will be able to work closely with your team and understand the goals and objectives of your business.It’s also important to find someone who is proactive and able to anticipate potential legal issues before they arise. A good in-house commercial contracts lawyer will be able to identify potential problems and offer solutions before they become major issues.

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Finally, you want to find someone who is a strong communicator. A good in-house lawyer will be able to clearly and concisely explain complex legal issues to both legal and non-legal audiences, and will be able to effectively negotiate on your company’s behalf.

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In conclusion, when hiring your first in-house commercial contracts lawyer, be sure to look for someone with experience, a good fit for your company’s culture, proactive, and a strong communicator. With the right person in place, you can be confident that your company’s legal interests are well-protected.

Speed and accuracy make strange bedfellows but, when it comes to commercial contracting, you have to find a way to do both. This is especially difficult when every department but legal is scaling fast (sigh). If you don’t have an army of contract lawyers, you can still stay speedy without letting anything fall through the cracks. How you ask? We got all the answers to that question and more at our latest event which was moderated by the Founder and CEO of How to Contract, Laura Frederick.

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Contracting wizards Jasmine Singh, General Counsel at Binti, Jonathan Franz, Associate General Counsel (Head of Legal) at Crunchbase, Hayley Gonzales, Director, Commercial Counsel at Affirm, and Mike Molina, Vice President, Legal and Deputy General Counsel at Flock Safety, shared their hacks for doing more with less.

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ICYMI, here are our top 5 takeaways.

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🏋️ Set the bar high

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In an ideal, super-risk-resistant world, every contract would be reviewed by the legal department, but that’s not always an option. Luckily, it’s also not necessary. Doing more with less is all about prioritization. Step one is to set a legal review threshold. Figure out which contracts score high on both riskiness and the likelihood of that risk actually happening. These are the contracts that legal needs eyes on. Or you could choose only to review contracts that are above a certain monetary value.

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Everything else? You have to empower your business stakeholders (e.g. sales, marketing, procurement) to take care of as many contracts as possible on their own. If letting things go unchecked makes you feel a little queasy, remember that you can use training, automation, and well-crafted templates to create guardrails that keep stakeholders on the straight and narrow.

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The review threshold shouldn’t be set in stone. If sales are booming and contracts are pouring in but legal’s budget hasn’t changed, the bar will have to get a little higher. If there’s money for a few extra contractors, maybe it drops.

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Lastly, you can’t sweat the small stuff. Rumor has it there are a few A-type personalities in the legal profession. But, in the contracting game, a minor font size discrepancy definitely does not make the cut for things that need your attention.

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🍰Make life crazy-easy for your stakeholders

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If you’re going to trust other teams to deal with contracts you need to make it super easy for them to a) get it done on their own and b) escalate where necessary.

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Here’s how our panelists create freedom within a framework for their stakeholders:

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• Prepare top-notch documents.
  
  From templates, customizable statements of work, and MSAs to negotiation guidelines, make your docs watertight and easy to find.

• Automate what you can.
  
  If you have access to a tool that offers conditional logic, you can set up “if x then y” rules that spit out the right output when your stakeholders enter the details of the deal. It’s a guardrail and a timesaver in one.

• Streamline the review request process.
  
  Create a system that guides stakeholders to provide as much info as possible upfront so that there is less back-and-forth once their contract gets to legal. It could be as simple as a Google form that asks “When do you need this by?” and “What is the contract value?”
  
• Make it less lawyery.
  
  Ditch long, hard-to-read training docs in favor of FAQs, an internal wiki, office hours, and quick videos. Use storytelling, analogies, and plain language to make things digestible.

• Get design involved.
  
  If it’s pretty, people are more likely to read it. And it’s more digestible.

🖥️ Get a CLM (or make do)

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We’d love to say that you can create a hyper-efficient contracting production line with just a pen, an abacus, and a twinkle in your eye but the reality is that great (expensive) tech makes a huge difference. If you can afford it, get a CLM. A tool like Ironclad offers, among other features:

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• Conditional logic
• Integrated redlining
• Minimal touchpoints

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If you don’t have the resources for a CLM, you can make do with more budget-friendly solutions. You could use Slack to build out a channel where sales can request contract reviews or utilize Monday.com as a makeshift CLM. Get creative with Google Sheets and Forms.

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🤖 Be a human

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Just because you’ve created a world-class contracting process with the perfect balance of risk and speed doesn’t mean sales are going to be onboard. There will probably be at least one person who doesn’t give a fig about your protocols if they stand in the way of a sale or take time to learn.

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Here are 4 techniques for getting buy-in from your internal stakeholders:

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1. Be visible.
   
   Make sure legal is seen as a group of humans who are active in the business, not some mystery department sending down commands from an ivory tower. Delivering training via video call instead of email is one good example.
   
2. Get change management right.
   
   If you’re introducing new tech or processes, do loads of cross-functional engagement before (and during) your launch. Get the heads of sales and procurement on board. Get their sign-off. Show them the training in advance. Let them be advocates for your plan.

3. Highlight the benefits.
   
   Salespeople care about time. Because time is money. If you can show how a new system will ultimately speed up the journey to signatures on the dotted line, sales will be all over it. More transparency in the contract pipeline is another thing that helps everybody out. Push the message that legal is there to facilitate other departments’ needs.
   
4. Try the carrot.
   
   There is one thing that is tried and tested when it comes to motivating salespeople: incentives. If speed, efficiency, and safeguarding aren’t incentives enough, then cash-based incentives might do the trick. Just make sure you think through any possible unintended consequences first.

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📃 Get ‘em on your paper

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So you’ve spent ages crafting templates that meet the business’ needs and shelter it from risk. And you’ve got a tech stack built out that means the whole thing is signed, sealed, and delivered in a matter of clicks. Job done, right? Well, not necessarily. The counterparty may come along and say that they want to use their own darn contract. That means more work for legal and a slower deal. So how do you persuade the other side to use your paper?

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Here are our panelist’s suggestions:

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• Emphasize how your contract is custom-made for your product.
• Create talking points to help your business folks do some sweet-talking.
• Make redlining a breeze.
• Leverage the power dynamic (if it's in your favor).
• Get tips from business folks in your company who are usually on the other end of the deal.

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