Team Size: Five

Major legal advisers: BakerHostetler, Cole Schotz P.C., Esbrook P.C., Lowenstein Sandler, LLP

What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?  

The number one challenge that has impacted me professionally over the last year is navigating the unexpected impact of macroeconomic factors (for example, low unemployment, inflation, supply chain constraints, and the war in Ukraine) on our industry generally and on our family of brands specifically. On nearly a daily basis, I have had to coordinate constantly shifting priorities and tighter than expected budgets while still supporting key business and legal needs such as workforce management and privacy compliance. In retrospect, by making it through the pressure test that was the prior year, I have emerged as a better business partner as well as lawyer.
 

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?  

One example of an innovation that improved my legal team and did not come at a large expense was a survey that I developed that was designed to solicit feedback from stakeholders concerning the legal team and its performance, including what we should change and what should stay the same. Once the results came in and were digested, the legal team worked on executing the recommendations where appropriate. One such recommendation was holding a quarterly “legal hot topics” session that would help stakeholders become familiar with recent legal developments. Another such recommendation was providing tailored training on our relatively new automated contract management system (which also did not come at a large expense while lowering friction in the contracting process). The release of this survey, and subsequent implementation of recommendations where appropriate, resulted in a better connection with stakeholders and better service overall.  

What would you say are the unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in your industry?  

The unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in the consumer products industry are that you have to stay on top of legal and regulatory developments, particularly in the area of labour and employment, and be ready to change worker policies and processes on short notice. In addition, you have to be flexible and open to quick pivots. On one day, you might be expanding your footprint and workforce and on the next day you have to shrink both due to various challenges arising sometimes overnight. Being able to swiftly and competently manage such changes is key to being a successful in-house attorney in this space.