For a company facing allegations of internal misconduct, whether from government regulators or prosecutors, whistleblowers, or the plaintiffs’ bar, an independent internal investigation performed by outside counsel may be an obvious next step. Often in these scenarios, outside counsel’s “independence” is conflated with “absolutely no prior work done for the subject company.” Indeed, some companies and boards categorically refuse to hire outside counsel to handle internal investigations if the firm has previously performed work for the company, out of concern that the government will assume such counsel cannot conduct an “independent” investigation.

John Suh, CEO of LegalZoom, presides over a business that has evolved from providing self-help software to offering a full range small business and personal products.

In the wake of the Equifax security breach, it’s hard to find any in-house counsel who isn’t reviewing their respective company’s data security breach management response plan.

Like us, we’re sure that many in-house counsel are fully engrossed in the subject matter of data security, cybersecurity, and incidence response.

As outspoken advocates for diverse boards, we get many questions about these services. Here’s our list of questions to ask any board placement or board readiness services.

It has been over a decade since the New Hampshire Supreme Court set the stage for the enforceability of electronic signature (e-signature) solutions.

awyers, as professionals, are risk-averse and dislike change.

The practice of law is changing rapidly. Lawyers are going in-house faster, in-house legal departments are impacting the business more than ever, and lawyers are constantly adapting to shifts in the way companies conduct business. Here are the five trends we believe are going to disrupt the practice of law, and what we can do to embrace them.

Claire Huffstetler, lieutenant commander in the US Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG), had an unlikely beginning to her military service.

As with any other part of the company, technology is only going to become a bigger and more substantial part of an in-house counsel’s job. In this article is a brief overview of what legal operations is, how it’s useful, and the types of technologies we rely on all of the time.

Jobe Danganan is general counsel and chief compliance officer of Sindeo, a modern mortgage marketplace.

Jill Hoffman, the co-founder, former general counsel, and CEO of Qorkz Wine, believes that more women should take the leap into local government.

As corporate sustainability and responsibility become increasingly important corporate issues, in-house legal departments are well poised to take charge of these initiatives.

The rewards of working at a fast-growth company are plentiful. At the same time, approaching these kind of in-house legal jobs comes with a specific list of daily challenges, including handling the daily tension between rapid business growth and legal risk management, knowing when to use outside counsel vs. expanding your in-house team, hiring specialists vs. generalists, onboarding new hires in a rapidly changing environment while preserving the company culture, and calibrating internal hiring, operational systems, and external resources to company growth.

Some people enjoy reading novels or self-help books. Others devour historic drama, mysteries, poetry, or magazines.

For every new technology, there’s a particular moment when something resembling a science fiction movie gadget becomes a part of our daily lives; whether it’s because the technology becomes accessible (e.g., the affordability of personal computers), the market is finally ready to embrace it (e.g., the success of Tesla’s electric cars), or myriad other reasons.

While many of us are enjoying the coming of spring, Susan Baker, vice president and member of the shareholder advocacy team at Trillium Asset Management, has had her head down for month.

SC Moatti has the soft smile and all-knowing gaze of a woman who has been there and done it all.

Monica Zent, the dynamic founder of Foxwordy Inc., Zentlaw, and other ventures, knows that collaboration is key.

Any lawyer knows the importance of language when it comes to contracts, patents, court briefs, and the rest of the hundreds of documents that cross our desks every week.

Right now, we’re applying AI to content on immigration and international travel, which is hosted on our enterprise legal portal. The goal is to provide an efficient and intuitive ‘finding’ experience for employees who need guidance on job-related legal questions, and to continually learn more about what they are trying to find so we can surface that content. Contracts and e-discovery are probably the next logical areas to explore.

Although Thompson is now general counsel and VP of human resources at Special Olympics Northern California and Nevada, she actually took the job after a long period as a full-time mother.

Over the course of Orta’s successful career as a business/law chameleon, he has gathered the following tips for anyone seeking to bridge the industry divide — both lawyers seeking to break into business, and business professionals seeking to break into law.

In Silicon Valley, we often acknowledge that we live in a “bubble.” Although everyone’s image of the bubble is different, most people would agree that Silicon Valley is kind of an optimistic technology paradise, with larger than life entrepreneurship, an abundance of capital, infinite opportunities, and a global meritocracy that rewards hard work and perseverance.

Olga Mack and Troy Foster, a partner in the emerging growth practice group at Perkins Coie, recently taught Financial Statement Analysis for Lawyers at the University of Berkeley School of Law. Their teaching experience was tremendously rewarding and a source of both personal and professional growth. They share several factors that practicing attorneys should consider before embarking on this journey.