What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?   Geopolitical risk. The conflicts that are popping up on different corners of the world affect people, supply chains, pricing, and, ultimately, a company’s strategy, and perhaps its survival. Global companies such as ours have needed to be alert on a daily basis, monitoring risk resulting from such conflicts, trying to understand the new dynamics of the marketplace, and react accordingly. So, the challenge for us has been to adapt, become more agile than we previously were, while, at the same time, taking care of our people, who are caught in the middle of this transformative process.

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?

I was a solo GC for four years, before hiring two lawyers. During those four years, the work kept pouring in, and I was expected to not only perform it, but also to reduce legal spend, simultaneously. That is when I had an idea: reach out to my alma mater. I developed a partnership with Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, whereby our North American legal department offers its law students an externship opportunity in exchange for credit (“semester-in-practice” program developed by the school). WashULaw encourages students to participate in such a program, as students gain valuable experience by putting their hands on substantive legal work before they graduate from law school. I, therefore, took the initiative to participate in such a program of WashULaw, the result of which is that a law student comes to work in our department every semester for free in exchange for law school credits and my mentoring. The student externs have exposure to what in-house counsel does in a corporate setting on a daily basis, and are provided with opportunities to work in various areas of the law, including but not limited to, corporate, real estate, contract, or litigation. In addition, I spend time supervising and mentoring them, leaning on my 18 years of experience practicing law. On the other hand, student externs do high-quality legal work that significantly relieve our department’s workload. A win-win. We have, to date, brought in 15 students externs. More are coming. All the students have come from diverse backgrounds. By teaming up with WashULaw, I have saved the company over $1.5m in legal fees (number of hours students have worked on legal matters, times $250/hour – a number that represents about the lowest rate in the marketplace for a first-year associate in the Chicago metro area).

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

Knowing the business; being nimble, pragmatic, an effective communicator, and business-oriented; in possession of emotional intelligence; and displaying an authentic leadership style.