Be a smarter legal leader

‍

As we start the new school year (and exhale because fall is finally coming), we wanted to share with you one final drop from the Lawtrades summer and give you the details on what happened here in August!

‍

📅 August was a month of growth

‍

Lawtraders logged 6,292 hours in August (up from 5,500 in July), and 71 new talented users joined us. That means our network now includes over 1,050 top legal professionals.

‍

The top 3 practice areas were:

‍

1. Contract management implementation
2. Corporate compliance
3. Securities

‍

One of our August highlights was an interactive and super educational workshop session about dealing with hypergrowth. Iris Chen (Airbnb) and Milana Homsi McCullagh (Coinbase) shared how they built world-class legal teams under time constraints and gave a few tips for legal professionals in the same situation. (One tip: Hire “good general athletes” capable of filling multiple roles as your business evolves.)

‍

You can check out the replay and notes featuring those tips and everything else they said here.

‍

🆕 The Lawtrades UX got better

‍

Our engineers have been working hard to bring in new product features to improve your experience with Lawtrades. Now, you can create new positions straight from your dashboard…

‍

…and if you’re in our talent network, you can apply to new roles with 1 click.

‍

Stay tuned for even more product updates over the coming months!

‍

👋 Join our community

‍

Do you want to join our community of in-house leaders and get access to exclusive events and networking opportunities? We created this space because we believe shared knowledge in the legal community has the power to change lives. With a growing membership base of over 100 in-house leaders from companies such as Coinbase, Patreon, and Yelp, it’s the perfect place to share your experiences, learn from others, read relevant legal news and celebrate your wins.  

‍

Request an invite

‍

🔊 RSVP to our next event

‍

Legal ops is truly one of the buzz phrases of the moment. Legal departments throughout the country are trying to be smarter, more productive and more efficient, and legal ops teams are helping power them into a new era.

And we’ve got something for you that will put this trend into perspective.

‍

​Whether you’re a GC who isn't sure how you could use a legal ops professional on your team, a legal ops specialist looking for tips and tricks on getting ahead or somebody who just wants to hear a few brilliant lawyers share advice, our event will get you up to speed. Join Deanna DeFrancesco (COO Legal, WeWork), Reeta Sharma (Legal Ops Lead, Notion), and Guilherme Tocci Salcedo (Global Legal Ops, Gympass) on September 23rd as they share their experiences!

‍

RSVP

‍

👏Check out our talent

‍

Meet Eric Frank.

‍

Eric is a legal operations specialist with over 16 years of experience. Since joining Lawtrades, he has logged almost 1,000 hours helping companies like Fivetran and Reonomy identify and implement solutions to legal operations challenges. You can read his full story here.

Preparing for an IPO can be intimidating and time-consuming for the in-house legal team!

‍

Join our moderator Kiki Haar, who, along with David Lee, Einat Levy, and Evan Ferl discussed their experiences of going public, delving into how to prepare and lessons learned.

‍

‍

‍

Key Takeaways:

‍

• The earlier you can start preparing for an IPO, the better
• Public company readiness is vital
• Project plan the entire legal-team structure pre and post IPO
• Make sure work-streams are consistent to maintain day-to-day operations
• Build + maintain strong trust with senior leadership
• Continue to promote company culture through the transition

‍

Meet the Presenters:

‍

• Host: Raad Ahmed: CEO & Founder at Lawtrades, marketplace for flexible legal talent.
• Moderator: Kiki Haar, GC, Sumo Logic
• Presenters:
• David Lee, AGC, Lyft
• Einat Levy, GC, Cherre; former director & assistant secretary, Vimeo
• Evan Ferl, GC, Poshmark

‍

How Far in Advance:

‍

5:13-10:40

‍

• Einat: “The earlier the better”
• Ideal to start preparing a year before, as the last six months are hectic
• Work with companies who are ready, for operations run smoother
• Evan: “Start acting as a public company”
• Beef up company preparedness, remember back & front end processes
• A strong GC should be backed by an appropriate management team
• Kiki: “Reactive solutions don’t scale, only proactive solutions do”
• Assess the building blocks as a GC, consider how the company will continue to expand

‍

Managing the IPO Team:

‍

10:40-15:11

‍

• David: “Public company readiness is very important”
• Make a milestone date when you should actually make the decision on going public
• Have someone to build relationships that merge communication between cross-functional teams
• Evan: “Have someone who can truly project manage on-board”
• A powerful lead who can disconnect from work itself and focus on the end goal

‍

Get on Top of Work Streams:

‍

15:11-19:20

• Einat: “Use outside counsel to your advantage”
• Avoid overwhelming work-flows by managing work streams and utilizing help early on
• Prepare ahead by learning the little things (KPIs, BI, etc.)
• Kiki: “Checklists are a really useful thing”
• Coordinate relationships between outside counsel and in-house team

‍

Building Out the Team:

‍

19:20-28:52

‍

• Evan: “Don’t forget to hire”
• Think about what you need for IPO process as well as what you need to act as a public company
• Have a close relationship with outside counsel you can really trust
• Kiki: “Build out your team to run the business”
• Conversely, you can choose to rely on your team to run the business end and devote your time to the IPO
• Use extra resources (company counsel, underwriters, etc.) often

• David: “IPOs are tried and true”
• Identify the heavy lifting, see where you can add the most value
• Utilize soft skills to add value in learning the business to understand where the execs and players fit within it

‍

Skills the GC can Bring:

‍

28:52-31:29

‍

• David: “Build trust as fast as possible”
• Form close relationships with senior leadership
• Rely on visibility and trust to be able to relay bad news

‍

Managing the Cultural Shift:

‍

31:29-36:30

‍

• Evan: “Carry both torches”
• GC should separate standardizing processes & procedures and the actual culture of the company
• Can still have an innovative culture while also being stewards of the public company
• Kiki: “Fundamental point is communication”
• Not an overnight switch, it takes time to ingrain these new procedures

‍

Long-Term Success:

‍

36:30-41:50

‍

• David: “An entire growth moment for the company”
• There are good things, and there are different things with the transition
• Have confidence in hiring and building out the team
• Kiki: “Leverage the IPO to get what you want”
• Have conversations with the management team to get what you need to minimize risk and be at the best point for success

‍

Lessons Learned:

‍

41:50-48:30

‍

• Evan: “Get people that can tell you those things mid-stream”
• Talk often, ask questions, and learn to be comfortable with how the business runs
• Kiki: “Push yourself in to those conversations”
• Ask to be included and push your way into management conversations
• Don’t forget to enjoy the energy & excitement of this unique process
• David: “Building in checkpoints”
• Convey what an IPO is and what you need to command as a resource in the process
• Be focused on company readiness and guide the transition openly
• Einat: “The equity in employees”
• Predict the huge workflow & ask questions early on
• Make sure to utilize outside help when necessary
• Want to continue the conversation? Request access to join our exclusive community of GCs!
• Also, check out our next event workshop, ‘Managing Hyper-Growth as a GC’, with Milana McCullagh, DGC, Coinbase, on August 19th.

‍

‍

Are you a first-time GC, or looking to move your career in house? We get it, the struggle is real!

‍

Here’s a replay of our first ever 'Ask the Expert', where Hank Greenberg shared his thoughts on what you need to know as a first-time GC.

‍

‍

‍

Key Takeaways:

‍

• Set & drive your own goals
• Build and promote integrity & trust
• Redirect legal outputs as inputs

• Be more than just a lawyer
• Be willing to put your name on everything
• Keep things simple, yet be ready to answer tough questions
• Find & maintain your voice as a leader

‍

Meet the Presenters:

‍

• Host: Raad Ahmed
• CEO & Co-founder at Lawtrades, giving busy GC’s the superpower to do more, with less

• Presenter: Hank Greenberg
• General Counsel at Oscar Health, a health company utilizing technology, design, and data to humanize health care.

‍

What To Expect:

‍

‍3:30-5:02

‍

• How to build a model to do the GC job: common ideas, skills, principles  
• Work-in-progress
• There is no one size fits all
• Success can and will look different

‍

Design your Agenda:

‍

5:02-8:28

‍

• Agenda is what differentiates a lawyer from a GC
• Budget resources across the team
• Understand where your priorities lie
• Deploy your agenda as a leader
• Set your own workflow
• Understand risk according to company framework
• Use your voice to catalyze action

‍

Understand the Business:

‍

8:28-13:42

‍

• Grasp full bounds of risk
• GC has to understand the operations and strategic goals of the company
• Know the market - how it works, and what it does
• Share knowledge with lawyers working with you
• Legal analysis as an input, rather than an output
• Forces you to strategize market risk
• Starting point for guidance to client

‍

Handling C-Suite:

‍

17:50-21:55

‍

• Build credibility
• CEO and CFO should see you as a trustworthy person
• Convey pertinent issues to clients so as to minimize work they have to do
• Clients do not need to know or understand the intricacies of law
• You can’t be a one-stop-shop for everything
• It is okay to admit you do not know an answer
• Make sure to circle back when you find answers

‍

Be a Paid Skeptic:

‍

26:23-29:49

‍

• Test other’s ideas and conclusions
• Do not rely wholesale on advice without testing it yourself
• Play the role of CEO or CFO
• Be ready to face the rigor of underlying assumptions
• You are an expert of your client
• Trust your legal team, stop comparing to strategies of competitors

‍

Find Your Voice:

‍

33:40-40:45

‍

• You are not just another lawyer
• Recognize the immense power and authority you hold
• Wield power in a responsible way
• Build your own integrity, promote your confidence
• Set rules for behavior
• Form a list of values you adhere to every single day
• Be direct, use analysis as an input
• Do not need to deploy rationale for everything
• Utilize concise (yes or no) answers
• Develop a simple style of communication
• Be ready to explain pertinent answers
• “Spoon feed” info by utilizing layman’s terms

‍

Melissa La Forest joined Lawtrades back in 2020 to head up our Account Management team. Hailing from Montana, Melissa brings a wide range of experience to the role after previously worked in the hospitality sector and sports industry. In her former position as Account Associate at ClassPass, she provided strategic leadership and managed over 100 key business accounts. Let’s get to know her a little better!

‍

Can you share two interesting facts about yourself?

‍

Well, I’ve spent over 50 days/night in the bottom of the Grand Canyon on river trips and I was a competitive runner in college … I guess it’s pretty obvious that I like being outdoors!

‍

How do you like to spend your weekends?

‍

I love to spend time with my family (my 16-month-old little boy, my husband, and our dog). I love running, snowboarding, rafting, and cooking…I like being active! We recently bought a house so lately my weekends are filled with house projects.

‍

What is the most unconventional job you ever had?

‍

This is a tough question! I've had quite a few "unconventional" jobs, from raft guiding, snowboard coaching, to various jobs in the hospitality industry. They all taught me a lot about people and building relationships.

‍

Why did you choose to join Lawtrades?

‍

Lawtrades is building a really unique product in a space where the need for a service like Lawtrades is only growing. It's really fun to be part of something that is so impactful in so many ways!

‍

What are your primary responsibilities?

‍

My primary role as an Account Manager is to grow the relationships we have with both our clients and our talent on the platform.

‍

What are you most looking forward to in this position?

‍

Making an impact on both our talent and our clients. Helping our clients succeed and helping our talent network find flexible work is really rewarding! We are also at a point where, as a company, we are growing and changing really fast so it’s fun to be part of this!

‍

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

‍

Understanding our clients’ needs and building relationships to grow both our current business as well as understand the future needs of how we can expand our business. I really enjoy problem-solving and helping find solutions for our clients. This position allows for that every day!

‍

The legal moves for adding Bitcoin to your balance sheet

‍

Is Bitcoin on your mind? If so, there’s good reason. The market value of one Bitcoin, the OG cryptocurrency, has gone up from ~$30,000 to ~$52,000 since late January. Around this time last year, one coin was trading for ~$4,000. Some analysts think a single Bitcoin could fetch a mind-boggling $500,00 by the end of the decade.

In response to Bitcoin’s bull run, financial institutions and companies that once feared its volatility have started using it for investments. Even some of the most financially cautious have gotten into the mix, with the endowments for universities like Harvard and Brown buying Bitcoin.

‍

What about your company? Has it been thinking about adding Bitcoin to the balance sheet?

‍

Before making the move, you’ll need to make legal plans. The panel from Microstrategy provided pointers about the legal steps you should consider. The panelists included Microstrategy’s general counsel, W. Ming Shao, and assistant general counsel, Euna Greene, as well as Perkins Coie partner J. Dax Hansen and WilmerHale partner Thomas S. Ward.

‍

Here are some of their takeaways and general information about cryptocurrency.

‍

1. Get to know Bitcoin

‍

Actual Bitcoins are virtually mined from a digitized central source. Only 21 million Bitcoins can ever be mined and about 18.5 million are already in circulation. Mining has become more difficult over the years, and it is expected that the final Bitcoin won’t be mined for at least another 100 years.  

‍

Regular people and regular companies do not mine Bitcoin. (Well, you technically could, but it would be a really bad idea!) They buy it from an exchange, either in whole or partial Bitcoins.

‍

Other types of cryptocurrencies are also available, but Bitcoin is the best known.

‍

2. Check with your board and management

‍

Bitcoin is probably unlike anything your company has invested in before. It is not a security, and it is possible that you would need to help your management or a board reconfigure company bylaws or best practices.

‍

“We had to get approval from the board to do investing especially at any significant levels,” said Greene, the assistant GC for Microstrategy.  

‍

3. Know the applicable laws and your options

‍

Because Bitcoin is not a security, some regulations that apply to companies making traditional investments (particularly public companies) do not generally count. According to Perkins Coie partner Dax Hansen, federal and state business laws are usually irrelevant, as are commodities laws. He said federal sanctions laws, such as from the Office of Foreign Assets Control, could be relevant, given the international nature of Bitcoin.

‍

Basically, you’ll want to be sure you’re not trading Bitcoin with any international “enemies.”

‍

You can also get into Bitcoin without trading for the actual currency. Some companies use less volatile options for Bitcoin through derivative trading or ETFs. These types of investments would count as securities, so more traditional investment laws could apply.

‍

4. Look for and vet outside help

‍

You can’t do this on your own. To make Bitcoin a major part of a business, you’ll need brokers and custodians.

‍

Before looking, have an idea about your needs. Some brokers, for instance, may not be able to help with derivatives, if that’s your strategy.

‍

WilmerHale partner Thomas Ward also recommends thinking how any vendor is legally incorporated. “What is the sophistication of the regulator above them? That can help you find out how protected you are as a customer,” he said.

‍

• Once settling on a vendor, Ward said to build a smart contract. One major concern, in addition to indemnity and other common pieces: timing. Make sure you have a buy/sell structure that works quickly enough, given how fast prices can change for Bitcoin.  

‍

5. Set up “guardrails”

‍

With something as new as Bitcoin, there is no blueprint for every company to follow. Everyone will have to pick plans that make sense for them. (If you’re curious this is Microstrategy’s “Treasury Reserve Policy” for its adoption of Bitcoin as its primary reserve asset).

‍

But Hansen recommends thinking of these “guardrails” to help structure a plan for your company:

‍

• Investment objectives
• Regulatory profile
• Risk appetite
• Governance structure
• Any relevant partners

‍

“Recognize this is an evolving area where the legal landscape changes frequently,” he said. “Be nimble.”

‍

Lawtrades has some wonderful individuals on our platform, and we want to highlight them.

In this post, the person we want to talk about is David Krebs.

‍

“Tell us a little bit about yourself”

‍

David: My name is David Krebs. I was born and raised in central New Jersey (yes that is a real place!), and I went to college at Trenton State College.

‍

I spent 26 years in the telecommunications industry, the last 17 in Legal Operations. I would have never thought that I would make a career out of it, but I absolutely love it.  I am a father of 3, and I live in Easton, Pa.  I am blessed that both of my parents are still healthy and living well in Florida. I also have a brother and sister-in-law, along with 2 nieces and a nephew, who live in NYC.

‍

“What does your day-to-day look like working through Lawtrades?”

‍

David: I am supporting a very small legal department of just 2 attorneys and 1 contracted attorney.  I have been tasked with trying to organize all of the department's resources as the company is expanding and growing. I have been exploring everything from entity and board management programs to document management and compliance software solutions.  I am working on providing the company a single-source solution, a Legal "Hub" for the entire company to come for anything and everything Legal. My goal is to have one single source of truth for the company.

‍

“What are some of your hobbies and passions outside of Lawtrades that you would like to highlight?”

‍

David: Outside of the pandemic, I love going to the gym. I spend at least an hour to 90 minutes there, 5 days a week, keeping in shape and trying to stave off the aging process. I enjoy watching all of the major sports and even like to attend games for our local minor league baseball and hockey games.  During the pandemic, I have been spending most of my time at home with my girlfriend, and we enjoy spending some great quality time with her 2 ½-year-old grandsons Maverick. He is both fun and challenging.

‍

My 18-year-old daughter has now begun her 2nd semester at community college and is loving it. She is studying to be a nurse, and I could not be more proud of her and love watching the amazing woman she has become.

I have a very close group of friends who are more like family than friends. I miss hanging out with my friends and miss going out to listen to our favorite local bands. I love the beach and could spend all day there. I try to take a couple of beach vacations each summer and take several day trips when possible.

‍

Visit the Lawtrades to connect with David and follow our socials to learn more about our fellow Lawtraders!

‍

‍

TLDR

‍

• Andrew shares the lessons from transitioning among legal and leadership roles.
• A team with a passion for the mission is indispensable when dealing with unexpected challenges.
• Finding the fundamental question of a business can open up insights in development.

‍

Intro

‍

On this episode, we interviewed Andrew Byrnes, Deputy General Counsel of Getaround. Andrew has an interesting career trajectory that includes a long run in Big Law, a senior Obama administration official at the USPTO and working in-house within tech for companies like Uber.

‍

We cover Andrew’s career track, lessons from practicing in government and in-house. We talk about how the pandemic affected Getaround’s business and how they were able to overcome adversity in their subsequent rebound.

‍

Andrew’s Legal History

‍

• After law school in the 90s,  Andrew spent 11 years at at Heller Ehrman and 5 years at Covington and Burling.
• Chief of Staff at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
• General Counsel at Shuddle  
• Executive VP and General Counsel at PresenceLearning.
• Senior Legal Director at Uber.
• Currently Deputy General Counsel at Getaround.

‍

Transitional Lessons

‍

• Coming into an agency as substantive as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the “rigor of analysis and building/management of teams” from intellectual property litigation was very important.
• The largest difference is the client. In a law firm, your client is a company/companies, but in the government the client is the American people.
• Transferring out of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to In-House was helped by the more business-like operations of the PTO.
• Similarities in breadth of concern also transferred well, e.g. being concerned with the long term well being of the agency and being concerned with everything going at the company as a General Counsel.

The Journey From PTO to Uber

‍

• Shuddle
• Shuddle was a ridesharing service that aimed to allow parents to leverage ridesharing for children.
• PresenceLearning
• Marketplace providing telehealth services to kids with special needs.

‍

Role at Uber

‍

• Andrew was the Senior Legal Director at Uber, essentially the principal general counsel of the rideshare business.
• The question of “How do people access opportunities by traveling from one place to another” is both energizing and challenging.
• Understanding the Product Counsel role
• Product Counsel worked closely with the business - product managers, engineer, business managers.
• The close connection with the business offered the opportunity to observe the ridesharing platform around the world.

‍

From Uber to Getaround

‍

• Getaround is a connected, contactless carsharing marketplace.
• Example: Andrew used Getaround to book a pickup truck to pick up a desk.  Hardware in the truck allowed him easy access to the vehicle and he booked and returned the vehicle without meeting the owner."  
• Uber provided the experience of leading a team of product counsel working closely with the ridesharing business, which positioned Andrew well to judge Getaround and mobility from a birds-eye view.

‍

Role at Getaround

‍

• What are your responsibilities as Getaround's Deputy General Counsel?"
• Providing support for a wide variety of legal matters.
• The primary focus is public policy, government relations, privacy, regulatory, product legal, and intellectual property.
• The relatively small legal team means that everyone is required to be a generalist.

‍

How was Getaround Impacted by COVID?

‍

• Although Getaround is contactless, the pandemic still caused bookings to drop 75%.
• By late summer, Getaround's bookings doubled from their pre-COVID baseline.
• This may be due to people taking advantage of Getaround's contactless experience, and concerns about other modalities.
• How was morale maintained during the period where the survival of Getaround was unsure?
• The team focused on working to procure COVID-19 related aid.
• The team kept optimistic and visibly working hard to help the company.
• A real optimism and passion for the mission helped keep people motivated.

‍

What is the future of mobility / self driving cars?

‍

• The acronym ACES (Autonomous, Connected, Electric, Shared) is an indicator of the future of mobility.
• Even in the case that there are no human-driven cars, there will still be a need for a  framework for connecting people with destinations to those vehicles.

‍

About Lawtrades

‍

Lawtrades is a software company that builds legal infrastructure for in-house teams to scale their operations. We develop software that serve as the connective tissue between an organizations in-house legal team, a tech-enabled workforce, and sophisticated analytics to help companies solve complex legal issues. To connect with a Lawtrades lawyer, create a position.

‍

SPACs: Almost Everything You Need To Know

‍

You’ve probably been hearing the phrase SPAC lately. They have soared in popularity last year.

‍

But what exactly is a SPAC? And if your company considers merging with a SPAC, how would it affect your work as a GC?

‍

We’re here to explain!

‍

What are SPACs?

‍

A SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) is a publicly traded shell company, also known as a blank check company. They are started by a “sponsor,” which is usually a group of people with deep business ties. Public figures who have launched SPACs include former Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane and former House Speaker Paul Ryan.  

‍

Just like a startup, SPACs raise money. But instead of selling the promise of a new product to investors, SPACs are essentially selling the expertise of their sponsor (their leadership, their experience, their competence etc.)  

‍

Then, they use the funding, as well as their IPO, to buy another company, often relying on private equity firms to contribute extra cash for the purchase. SPACs generally target grownup startups -- those that are fairly new but have already attracted considerable investor attention. After the merger, the old stock ticker for the SPAC is replaced by a ticker for the merged company.  

‍

Draftkings is a prominent example of a tech company that went public through a SPAC. It merged with Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp. in the spring in a deal valued at $2.7 billion.

‍

Chamath Palihapitiya is known as the SPAC king. His Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp II has merged with Opendoor, Clover Health and Virgin Galactic.

‍

How common are SPACs?

‍

They have been around forever but have become vastly more common the last few years. In 2012, there were 7 SPAC IPOs, according to CB Insights. As of October, there were 141 this year, up from 58 in 2019. SPACs have raised some $40 billion this year, up from about $10 billion each of the last three years.

‍

In the past, SPACs were seen as a tool for B-list companies to go public, often leading to failure. That is no longer the case. There are still risks, however, which we’ll explain further below.      

‍

Why would a business want to merge with a SPAC?

‍

There are several reasons, according to CB Insights and Cooley.

‍

• Less volatility when going public: Traditional IPOs can lead to uncertainty for employees because a valuation could swing based on the health of the market. Negotiating with a SPAC means setting a concrete valuation.
• Less upfront legwork: Companies that merge with SPACs don’t have to make deals with underwriters or prepare the prospectuses required for going public.

‍

What do GCs need to be prepared for?

‍

The first step for any legal department would likely be vetting the SPAC and its sponsor, as well as considering the pros and cons of taking this route to go public. Finding the ideal sponsor will likely depend on what a particular company is seeking. Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk LLP outlined a few considerations:

‍

• Trust: Gauging their level of expertise and how that level of expertise could help your company.
• Storytelling reach: Sponsors consisting of well-known VCs or investors may be able to elevate the “story” of your company to a broader audience.
• Leadership: Knowing whether sponsors will want to have a governing role in the new company.  

‍

A recent panel of attorneys on TechGC noted, “This market is evolving real-time and, while choosing the right sponsor is among the most important early decisions, companies contemplating a business combination with a SPAC should consider a broad range of factors before embarking on this fast-moving journey.”

‍

What about after deciding on a SPAC?

‍

After deciding to go through with a SPAC merger, here are some of the legal processes involved. More than likely, GCs would need outside help.

‍

• M&A: Companies usually must produce definitive acquisition agreements and an S-4, not to mention a thorough compilation of financial statements for review.
• SEC reviews: Any company merging with a SPAC will still go through the same scrutiny applied to a company seeking a fresh IPO. But the timeline is often shorter.
• Preparation for public reporting: As soon as a deal goes through, your formerly private company will be held to public company reporting standards. Directly, GCs will need to ensure compliance with federal securities laws. That also means understanding the risk of potential securities class actions and shareholder lawsuits. GCs may also be counted on to explain new standards for the company’s board, tax planning and financial reporting (for a more extensive list, check out page 7 of this document from Cooley).    
• Confidentiality: For companies negotiating and making deals with SPACs, more confidentiality is required than, say, negotiating with investors. That’s because of insider trading issues. According to Cooley, “Targets should set up a system of internal controls to ensure proper review of all such public disclosures. Legal counsel should review all press releases and publicity, including product announcements, and should be consulted before interviews are granted or speaking engagements are accepted.”

What are the risks?

‍

Some analysts say SPACs are a new bubble and could lead to financial issues at a grand scale, as well as a surplus of low-grade SPACs. Regardless of the overall merit of SPACs, any company must weigh potential downsides of merging with a SPAC.

‍

Notably, SPAC mergers are expensive. After a merger, the SPAC sponsor typically gets a 1-5% stake in any company it merges with, according to CB Insights.

‍

The quality of any SPAC also varies based on the sponsor. Having trust in a sponsor’s resume is a must.

‍

It’s also important to consider the age of the SPAC. SPACs typically dissolve after two years if they don’t find a company to merge with. A SPAC that is nearing its expiration date may try to rush a pairing with a company, potentially seeking a relationship that isn’t the right fit.

‍

‍

Lawtrades benefitted more lawyers and companies than ever

‍

It was impressive.

‍

449 legal professionals joined Lawtrades.

‍

118 Lawtraders worked a total of 20,500 hours and logged over 8,000 work updates through the Lawtrades platform. That was almost triple the amount of Lawtraders on the platform as in 2019 and almost double the amount of hours worked.  

‍

The number of engagements increased 270% from last year.

‍

Payouts were up, too

‍

Since 2017, Lawtraders have earned almost $6.5 million on the platform and made over 1,000 connections to companies in 2020 to find work they love doing.

‍

‍

GC’s used Lawtrades for all kinds of situations

‍

The 71 legal departments who used Lawtrades represented 30 industries.

‍

The industries ranged from the internet to consumer goods to apparel & fashion. These were the fastest growing ones:

‍

The type of legal services provided by Lawtrades were almost as wide-ranging. Companies received legal help in 18 practice areas.

Lawtraders are a diverse group

‍

Lawtrades knows the value of an inclusive workplace, and our platform reflects it.

‍

In 2020, 37% of Lawtraders identified as a racial or ethnic minority and 52% of Lawtraders were women.

‍

Lawtraders were all over the country

‍

Lawtrades attorneys worked from more than 40 states this year, including Alaska and Hawaii. But they were most prominent in states with the highest concentration of thriving companies, like New York and California.

‍

These were the top five locations they worked from:

And they spanned different roles, too.

Finally, our community grew

‍

Over 1,000 GC’s became members of the FORWARD GC.

‍

They read 35,055 words from our newsletter and listened to 9,388 minutes on our podcast.

‍

Thank you, again

‍

Whether you used Lawtrades to pay off your student loans, or scale your legal operations, or just followed along, we couldn’t have made it through 2020 without you. We’re excited for an even better 2021!

‍

Raad Ahmed

Founder/CEO, Lawtrades

‍

‍

Ah 2020, it’s been tough. But through it all Pinterest and Udemy have been growing like crazy and managing new challenges.  

‍

In coordination with Above The Law, Lawtrades hosted a panel featuring Jasmine Singh, Pinterest’s senior commercial counsel, and Akaash Gupta, Udemy’s associate general counsel. They explained how 2020 upended commercial contracts -- as well as the typical work life of a general counsel -- and what lies ahead.

‍

We broke out five areas of insight they shared for thriving this year and in the future.

‍

• P.S.: If you want to join a community that meets online to discuss best practices for commercial counsel, reach out to Jasmine or Akaash on LinkedIn. Anyone who does commercial work or scales legal teams is welcome.

‍

On to the takeaways!

‍

Brush up on non-lawyerly skills

‍

Because of the pandemic, Akaash has seen counsel pivot to other roles in addition to legal work. Specifically, he has found it vital to discuss to business side people how his company provides new value that is different from what it did before the pandemic and different from other companies.  

‍

Jasmine emphasizes communicating properly -- especially over email -- with internal and external clients who are not as well-versed in legal technicalities.

‍

• She recommends asking questions and telling people to be comfortable with their answers. “The important thing is to say the intent is not ‘gotcha’ but to tell them it's about figuring things out.”  

Take contractual changes in stride

‍

Force majeure may be the most-used legal phrase of the year. And Jasmine and Akaash both noted it has become a new priority for contracts, even though it was never that critical previously.

‍

There are likely times existing force majeures will come into play with customers who provide services and want to get out of their obligations because of the pandemic. In a strictly legal sense the pandemic may not be preventing them from providing the service. But that doesn’t mean clients aren’t hurting, and Akaash recommends being careful in these situations.  

‍

“It’s been a difficult year for everyone,” he says. “Do you really want to burn those bridges?”

‍

• Jasmine also says to remember to rework contracts for vendors working on site or remotely to ensure compliance with new regulations created for purposes of safety during the pandemic.

‍

Make staff feel comfortable from far away

‍

Have you even met everyone on your staff these days? Probably not because, well, 2020.

‍

Akaash has noticed that making new team members at Udemy feel welcome is harder without the ability to talk in person. So he recommends having one-on-one meetings with newcomers a few times per week during their first weeks on the job to make sure they understand their roles and become comfortable discussing legal topics with the team.

‍

Camaraderie with current staffers is important, too. Udemy has lunches where everybody orders DoorDash and catches up.

‍

• Akaash and his co-workers have also had game nights. He recommends the RBG-inspired board game I Dissent. “You take an inane subject,” he says, “and leave it up to all the lawyers.”

‍

Pinterest has built camaraderie by sharing parts of their lives over Zoom. Co-workers with children, for instance, will bring their kids to a meeting and let them do the talking for a while.

‍

“We’re not just people who see each other at work,” Jasmine says. “We see each other’s full lives now.”

‍

Remember that data is your friend

‍

Without being in the office, it’s more important than ever to track data.

‍

By paying attention to the numbers, Udemy found a large portion of sales contracts were coming from Europe. The legal team used that information to justify a legal hire overseas. “We couldn’t have gotten through Q4 without her,” Akaash says.  

‍

Vet contractors early to save time in the end

‍

Pinterest works with numerous contractors, including Lawtrades. To ensure potential attorneys are the right fit, Jasmine asks in advance that all candidates sent her way can handle the necessary areas of law for the work.

‍

• She had an excellent tip for an interview question: Jasmine comes up with a real-life scenario a candidate may encounter while contracting for Pinterest. Then she asks them what they would do. She knows immediately that candidates with quick, specific answers are potential fits and those who can’t offer a good response are not.

‍

Akaash recommends providing thorough onboarding even to contractors. That way they’ll know how to handle the work from the get-go and not bog down staff counsel with questions later on.

‍

About Lawtrades

Lawtrades enables legal departments to streamline contracts across their organization and better handle fluctuating workloads. Lawtrades’ commercial contracts service offers in-house teams with tech-enabled lawyers, transparency, and workflow management to become more productive. Get in touch if we can help.

‍

How to thrive as a GC in a world rocked by Covid-19

‍

2020 feels like it has lasted forever and yet somehow has offered no opportunities to get anything done, least of all for GCs. There’s legal work, the increased demands from coordinating your company’s Covid-19 response, parenting and homeschooling, and the consistent feeling of burnout.  

Self-care is necessary. Especially for lawyers.

‍

“The combination of remote working, social isolation, and ongoing financial insecurity (with little end in sight) is causing everyone to feel levels of stress that are palpable, and in some cases contributes to elevated levels of anxiety and depression,” Washington, D.C. clinical psychologist Tyger Latham said in a recent Law.com report. “But lawyers can be especially vulnerable to anxiety and depression (as well as substance abuse), so it would not surprise me if mental health issues are not widespread throughout the industry.”

‍

Consultant Jarrett Green added, “This is the most mentally and emotionally challenged the legal industry has been that we’ve seen.”

‍

🧘🏾‍♀️Competence During COVID

‍

So how do you stay strong during these crazy times? Remember: it’s pretty much the job of a lawyer to stay strong. The rules of professional conduct state that lawyers must always maintain competence and manage crises for their clients.

‍

We turned to a few GCs and attorneys to share some advice. Here are their tips:

‍

• Lose technology and manage distraction. Meredith Smith, the General Counsel at Stash, says she incorporates “makertime” – blocking off two or three hours of the day to work without distraction. And no distractions means turning off all electronic notifications.
• Develop a mindfulness and meditation practice. Headspace Director of Legal Affairs Michael Marchand does his first meditation as soon as he gets out of the shower in the morning and has “mindful moments” at least ten times per day to increase awareness, blow off steam, and reduce stress.
• Schedule self-care. According to Chris Ritter, director of the Texas Lawyers Assistance Program, “Four percent of your life is about one hour per day. I know very few attorneys who are giving themselves an hour of self-care a day. It’s not going to happen until you put it on your calendar.”

‍

Although 2020 is coming to an end in a few weeks (thankfully), the hard times may endure for at least another few months. Engaging in good habits now will help prevent anxiety, stress and depression from lasting after the pandemic.  

‍

The silver lining: We’re all in this together. And lawyers seem to be realizing that. Attorneys and consultants have noticed colleagues have stopped projecting that they have it all figured out -- and that they’re being met with open arms.

‍

“The raising of our empathy consciousness in the industry,” professor and lawyer Rebecca Simon told Law.com, “is a wonderful thing and will have a lasting effect.”

‍

‍

‍

TLDR

‍

• Forward is a revolutionary preventive healthcare membership that puts you in control of your health, with world-class doctors supported by technology.
• Lawyers at startups are responsible for making things happen - this means nonstop learning and deciding where and when to take risks
• Learn how to show where legal should and shouldn't be used
• Don't underestimate the importance of intellectual curiosity
• Communicate directly and with a belief in your objective

‍

Resources Mentioned:

‍

• Cruise
• Latham Watkins
• Forward Jobs Page
• Freshfields

Intro

‍

Matt Gipple and Thomas Scott, leading lawyers at Forward, discuss some common questions concerning the legal side of tech startups.

Subscribe

‍

Entering the Tech Space

‍

• It is important to understand the language of engineering in order to understand the dynamics of the space
• “Engineering is the function of a company, so you have to learn how engineers think and talk and what motivates them”
• Try to set yourself up environment where persistent, perpetual learning is encouraged

‍

The Role of A Lawyer in a Highly Regulated Startup

‍

• In this scenario, lawyers are responsible for making things happen
• Constantly helping your company figure out what rules cover their product/initiative and what you need to get done to launch
• Being able to take the necessary risks to keep the company and culture progressing forward
• “For companies that are small and trying to grow, there is risk all over the place, but there is also risk in not stepping forward”

‍

‍

Performing in Multiple Roles

‍

• It is important to learn to frame tasks in terms of tradeoffs
• Ex: “For the first time, legal will go through this with you, but after that it won’t make sense to pay lawyers to do this”
• Analyzing what the company is ready for and when
• Having an idea of what a mature company looks like, and knowing “when is the right time” to start doing something can be really important

‍

On Culture and Tone

‍

• Two of the most important qualities a person can have in the legal startup space are a comfort with change and an intellectual curiosity
• The people who end up being the best fit are almost always nerds about something
• For a culture in a legal team, you want people who develop relationships and dialogues around questions instead of finding narrow answers
• Don’t underestimate the downside cost of hiring someone who isn’t the right fit

‍

Approaching Regulatory Issues in an Unfamiliar Industry
‍

• Do as much reading as possible, conferences, talking to people in the space, learning the buzzwords
• Lean on outside counsel to give you context
• “You hired me because you think I'm great [as a generalist], but I'm going to spend money getting smart on these [specific] issues, and you want me to do that”
• Go to first principles
• “What are the underlying things that a regulator would be worried about?”
• Reason by analogy
• Approaching regulators with a straightforward and honest philosophy
• We believe we have a service that’s going to be really powerful and valuable to people, and we’re not afraid of that or ashamed of that or trying to hide anything”
• Be very clear and direct, don’t try to play games or omit things

‍

About Lawtrades

‍

Lawtrades is a software company that builds legal infrastructure for in-house teams to scale their operations. We develop software that serve as the connective tissue between an organizations in-house legal team, a tech-enabled workforce, and sophisticated analytics to help companies solve complex legal issues. To meet a Lawtrades lawyer, especially those specializing in hyper-growth tech companies, create a position.

‍

Prop 24: Everything you need to know

‍

A majority of Californians voted to pass Prop 24 in November’s election, approving the California Privacy Rights Act or CPRA. The Act forces companies to give greater freedom to consumers regarding data collection and establishes a state agency -- The California Privacy Protection Agency -- to work on behalf of consumers and regulate companies. The restrictions on data collection are similar to but stronger than those under the California Consumer Privacy Act or CCPA, which went into effect this year.

‍

Here’s everything you need to know about the new law and how it may affect your work as a GC and lawyer.

‍

A quick rundown of the law

‍

The CPRA builds on the CCPA. The main difference is that the CPRA gives consumers slightly more rights in controlling their data, and it encompasses the processing of more sensitive personal data than the CCPA. Also, rather than being governed by the Attorney General, companies will be governed by California Privacy Protection Agency for the CPRA.  

‍

The gist of the CPRA is that companies that buy, sell or share personal data must make consumers aware of what they’re doing, give them a clear opportunity to opt out and prove to the California Privacy Protection Agency they have a legitimate business reason for processing the data -- a reason that outweighs the consumers’ risk in giving up the data.

What counts as personal data

‍

See a full list. But here are a few common types:

‍

• Names
• Social security numbers
• Postal addresses
• Browsing and search history

‍

The newly added types of personal data that are considered to be more “sensitive” include precise location, religion, race, biometric data and health info.

‍

Small and midsize businesses are mostly exempt

‍

According to an analysis by the state of California, CPRA applies only to companies involved in the buying, selling and sharing of California residents’ personal information that meet any one of the following benchmarks:

‍

• Earn more than $25 million in annual revenues
• Buy, share or sell the data of at least 100,000 consumers or households per year (this threshold is higher than the CCPA, which affected companies buying, selling or sharing data of 50,000 or more consumers)
• Earn more than 50% of annual revenue from selling or sharing data of California consumers

‍

What covered companies must do

‍

The end goal of the CPRA is to give consumers more authority over their own personal data. To accomplish that goal, the law essentially forces companies to stop collecting/selling/sharing personal data of people who have opted out and to prove they are protecting any data they have collected.

‍

The various steps required for compliance are specific and lengthy and can be seen in full here, with much of the most relevant info in Sections 4, 12 and 13. Below are a few of the key provisions, most of which are new or at least modified under the CPRA (Jones Day also breaks out a few key definitions).

‍

• Notify customers before collecting data and setting up a process for them to opt-out of the collection/sharing/selling. The notification must be available in a “clear and conspicuous link” on the business’ homepage that says “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information.” Customers also have the right to receive reports on how they’re data is being used.
• Offer a link allowing customers to share only as much personal data with the business as is needed for the business to perform its function (companies may combine into one link the option for a total opt-out of data collection and a limited opt-out).
• Companies may offer payments or discounts to consumers in exchange for them sharing personal data.
• Disclose to consumers their ability to correct personal information and delete personal information and do so upon consumer request. Companies must notify any third parties to which they have sold information about deletion requests. But companies do not have to delete personal information if it is deemed necessary for security reasons.  
• Report to the California Privacy Protection Agency “on a regular basis” a risk assessment that weighs the benefit of processing personal information versus the risk of processing the information. The goal is for the Agency to limit or restrict processing of the information if the risks are determined to be higher than the companies’ benefit.

‍

‍

TLDR

‍

• Being a General Counsel at a startup requires you to be a good generalist
• If you’re the first lawyer at a startup, you’re going to be doing everything
• Communication is key and take the time to meet with your team and the C-suite
• Learn how to clearly illustrate issues and communicate in a succinct way
• Don’t underestimate the power of ALSPs (Alternative Legal Service Providers)

‍

Resources Mentioned

‍

• Lexology
• Investment Advisor Association
• SIFMA
• TechGC
• Carta
• DocuSign

‍

Intro

‍

• Meredith Smith is the General Counsel at Stash, the personal finance app, helping +5M Americans reach their financial goals.

“I Put the General in General Counsel” - Direct Quote from Meredith Smith

‍

• Meredith started her law career at Sullivan & Cromwell in the Financial Institutions Group.
• She worked at S&C for 9 years where she was trained in a “generalist philosophy.”
• Meredith was the first lawyer to be hired at Stash
• S&C career counseling center connected Meredith to Stash
• As the only lawyer at Stash, she had her hands in everything. You name it, she did it

‍

What A Normal Day Looks Like

‍

• In the morning, she catches herself up on the latest legal and regulatory news by reading:
• Lexology
• Investment Advisor Association
• SIFMA
• Meredith’s role has evolved to include more management as she’s moved from a VP level to C-suite level
• Meetings galore! Meredith has recurring meeting with:
• C-suite and senior leadership
• One-on-ones with everyone that reports to her
• Skip-level 1:1s
• Cross functional meetings
• The rest of the day is TBD based on what’s going on in the world of Stash

‍

The Dark Side of Being A Speedy Email Responder

‍

• Stash is a client of Lawtrades and our cofounder Ashish reveals to Meredith, “You’re one of the fastest [customers] to respond to emails”
• Meredith watches her email and Slack “like a hawk”
• But she wants to incorporate “makertime” AKA blocking off 2-3 hours of the day to sit down and work with no distraction … this would mean turning off all notifications

‍

Making The Transition from A Law Firm to A Startup

‍

• At S&C, Meredith was expected to be available at all hours of the day including weekends
• The daily pace of a startup is super fast and requires you to make decisions quickly
• Learn how best to accumulate facts and get a decent handling on the law
• You have to be comfortable making decisions when you don’t have the full story

‍

How to Navigate The Annual Board Meeting

‍

• Board meeting is only a couple of hours, so focus on explaining high ticket items in a succinct way
• You’re not going to hit everything you want at a board meeting
• Discuss the most important issues and the biggest risks facing the company

‍

Be Real with The C-Suite

‍

• Make your communication real
• Here is the issue. Here is how it could go wrong. Here is how it could affect us.
• Don’t be abstract when presenting an issue; explain it using this logic - “If this then that”
• Always include TLDR (To Long; Didn’t Read)
• People don’t read long emails so hit high levels and go from there

‍

Skills Every GC Should Have

‍

• Be curious about the business, industry, and macroeconomic environment.
• Learn everything you can
• You don’t need to be an expert in everything, but be well versed so you can speak with outside counsel or a Lawtrades lawyer
• Subscribe

‍

Why Every GC Should be Buddies with The CFO and Finance Team

‍

• Prior to coming to Stash, Meredith had little experience creating a budget headcount and hiring plans
• Build a good relationship with the CFO and finance team, so if you make a mistake in the budget, you have leeway

‍

The Most Asked About Question: Headcount

‍

• Look a year in advance when thinking about headcount
• Salaries are a very big part of budget
• Base your hiring off of the company-wide employee projections
• Checkout TechGC

‍

Factor Outside Counsel into The Budget

‍

• Think strategically
• Ask yourself questions like:
• Is the company releasing a new product that requires a specialized lawyer?
• Are we fundraising?

Your First Time…Hiring Of Course!

‍

• Use a legal assistant or paralegal before your next legal hire
• Consider what takes up most of your day; decide if your energy could be better directed towards other, higher-level issues
• Don’t hire a lawyer if you’re giving them tasks that isn’t helping them grow their career

‍

Thoughts on ALSP And Outside Counsel

‍

• Big law firms will always have their place and are a great one-stop-shop
• Use cases for big law firms include M&A, IPO, fundraising, debt fundraising, and large, complex deals
• ALSP (Alternative Legal Service Providers) like Lawtrades satisfy a very different need, Meredith has used Lawtrades twice - once for her maternity leave and a second time for a colleague’s maternity leave
• A resource like Lawtrades is great because they have access to lawyers of a high caliber and extensive in-house experience

‍

The Question We Love to Hate: Is NYC Dead?

‍

• NYC is Stash’s headquarters
• Stash is indefinitely remote but definitely plans to come back to NYC when it’s safe to do so
• Meredith is confident NYC will come back

‍

Last Thoughts

‍

• Meredith’s biggest concern using Lawtrades was if the lawyer could get up to speed fast enough
• The lawyer surpassed Meredith’s expectations
• “She’s awesome.”
• “Don’t think that someone can’t get up to speed quickly. It’s possible if you do it the right way on your end and the lawyers end.” - Meredith Smith

‍

Lawtrades Helps General Counsels Prepare for Maternity Leave

‍

🙈 Reduce the stress of finding a temporary replacement for maternity leave by using Lawtrades. Navigate an invite-only network of attorneys, paralegals, and legal ops to find the best fit for your needs. Backed by smart workflows, the Lawtrades platform makes it super easy to onboard and integrate new talent.

‍

How do you prioritize major projects and career development for a legal team? One way is to outsource time consuming day-to-day contract work. That’s exactly how GIPHYand its VP of Legal and Corp Dev, Jen Rubnitz, used Lawtrades.

‍

Meet Jen Rubnitz and GIPHY

‍

Does GIPHY really need any introduction? Probably not, but it is the internet’s leading repository for searchable GIFs.

‍

Jen Rubnitz is the company’s VP of Legal and Corp Dev. She joined in 2017 after working as an associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Gunderson Dettmer, where she first built a relationship with GIPHY. In her spare time, Rubnitz is a runner who also practices yoga and has lately taken up ceramics.  

‍

How Lawtrades helps GIPHY

‍

• Miscellaneous legal work: Lawtrades mostly assisted GIPHY with commercial contract overflow work. It reviewed SaaS agreements and statements of work for customizable GIFs.
• The work BigLaw wouldn’t do: For a long time, Jen wanted to reduce the size of GIPHY’s NDA form from 2.5 pages to 1 page. She didn’t have time to do it herself and wouldn’t have hired a Big Law firm for such a task. But Lawtrades helped her complete that task.

‍

Why Jen recommends Lawtrades to all her GC friends

‍

• Deep experience levels: Jen saw the options Lawtrades provided and realized the attorneys were talented and experienced. “In some cases I was interviewing people who had been in-house for a decade in addition to working at big firms.” The lawyer that GIPHY hired from Lawtrades immediately knew the specific legal work GIPHY was looking for.  
• A quicker, closer relationship than Big Law: GIPHY’s Lawtrades lawyer was part of the GIPHY legal team’s Slack. He could turn the work around within hours after being pinged. “People thought of him as part of the team,” Jen said.  
• Less day-to-day contract work and more big picture improvement: With Lawtrades helping out, Jen felt like she was better able to focus on her own career and develop more experience for herself. “There’s a lot of career development that can come when you’re not stuck doing all the day-to-day work,” she says.

‍

Whether your company needs help with commercial contract overflow or more time seeing the bigger picture, Lawtrades’ talent pool of 300+ commercial lawyers can provide your team with the experience and flexibility to execute efficiently. Get in touch with us today.

‍

More about Lawtrades

‍

Working with Lawtrades enables legal departments to streamline contracts across their organization and better handle fluctuating workloads. Lawtrades’ commercial contracts service offers in-house teams with flexible lawyers, transparency, and workflow management to become more productive. With Lawtrades, in-house departments can meet company goals, whether a swift close to the quarter, the successful launch of a new product, or an organized roll out in a new market.

‍

In-person depositions were as much a tradition of law as the suit. After coronavirus, they may be an artifact, according to Law360.

‍

• Depositions have been one of law’s most change-resistant traditions: They tend to involve exhibits that are best distributed in person and are generally played back at trials through video, which used to require an in-person deposition. Lawyers also like to be in the same room as their clients.
• But video conference technology hasn’t prevented any of that from happening: Lawyers can still swap exhibits by sharing screens, they can enter separate “rooms” to pull aside clients and they can record the video deposition. Coronavirus basically introduced lawyers to a technique they should have been following for years.

‍

States have already extended remote deposition laws

‍

Florida needed a state Supreme Court decision for video depositions to happen. That decision has now been extended and is expected to last even longer.

‍

The Verdict

‍

The top reason for the remote deposition’s staying power could be client cost. While attorney fees should remain the same, clients will have far fewer miscellaneous costs to pay.

‍

Key Takeaways

‍

• Creating efficiencies and working with Lawtrades to access contract attorneys have both been critical to addressing company needs post-Covid
• Technology allows a lean team to accommodate heavy volume efficiently and effectively
• Nothing speaks louder than data, especially to someone in finance. If you can show someone concrete metrics, you can make a business justification for a particular spend
• Subscribe

‍

Resources Mentioned

‍

• Google forms
• Google sheets

‍

Introduction

‍

• Kathy M. Zhu is Director of Commercial & Legal Ops at DoorDash
• She is also an advisor to LegalDesk, a workflow optimization platform designed to help in-house legal teams to manage requests as well as visualize workflow metrics on a beautiful dashboard. Kathy advises LegalDesk on product strategy and design based on learnings from her own experience from scaling a commercial team, managing multiple workstreams, and dealing with volume challenges.
• Kathy is a graduate of Notre Dame and the University of Michigan Law School and is based in San Francisco, CA
• She was formally Senior Counsel at Medallia, where she worked on key customer accounts including Hilton, Shell, Farmer's Insurance, and Toyota. Before moving to Medallia, she worked as an associate in corporate practice for the private Palo Alto law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

‍

The DoorDash Legal Team

‍

• Legal team is comprised of 22 individuals and will continue to grow
• Commercial side of the DoorDash legal team handles the company’s contracting needs worldwide, whereas Legal Ops is a brand new branch of the legal team that is still developing
• Additional legal team verticals beyond those overseen by Kathy: Product, Regulatory, Corporate Litigation, and Employment

‍

Dealing with Uncertainty Post- Covid

‍

• Uncertainty is a challenge that everyone faces – DoorDash is focusing its efforts on supporting the communities that need its services now more than ever
• Kathy has been helping to adjusting the company’s customer-facing approach and our internal business practices to accommodate work-from-home needs and the changing nature of everyday life
• These challenges are not a sprint, they’re a marathon, which is why she reached out to Lawtrades to onboard contractors that help us DoorDash meet its evolving business needs
• What drives the supportive internal team at DoorDash is that the work they’re doing is meaningful, partially because it is helping so many to maintain livelihoods so that they can put food on the table

‍

Managing Bandwidth Constraints

‍

• She is navigating the issue of adjusted prioritization by creating efficiencies wherever she can. Doordash has a significant volume issue that isn’t going to become scalable simply by “throwing more bodies” at that reality
• Evolving solutions include: Creating thresholds to minimize the deals that qualify for team support, creating self-help playbooks and a wiki to help others answer commonly asked questions without direct team involvement, etc. to enable the teams she supports to “help themselves.” This is an approach for smaller legal departments and solo practitioners to keep in mind at this chaotic time and moving into the future
• Kathy relies heavily on technology to not only give her visibility into the work volume each member of her team is navigating, but also to track overall volume so that she can adjust the team’s collective approach (including qualification of thresholds) accordingly
• She uses contract attorneys through Lawtrades (cost effective, high-quality talent) for overflow work which helps to bridge the gap between hires
• Every team member “owns” certain verticals so there is no time waste assigning tasks and there is an organic streamlining of “point of contact” for DoorDash clients. – To that end, leads within verticals are empowered to handle prioritization of legal requests because they are in the best position to make informed decisions within their specialization
• Subscribe

‍

Utilizing Outside Counsel

‍

• Kathy’s team is very lean and supports a profound volume of verticals. It is the systems and tools Kathy has already noted (including hiring contract attorneys through Lawtrades to bridge gaps) that allow it to function as successfully as it does
• Spotting where an additional efficiency could serve as a game changer is critical (ie: a client that is a volume-intensive request generator could benefit from new tools that will allow them to cut down on generation requests)
• Use technology to gain visibility into your work so that you can translate those metrics into greater efficiency(Better metrics enable you to make informed decisions so that you can get ahead of your work instead of being crushed by it)

‍

‍

Getting Access to the Resources Your Legal Department Needs

‍

• Nothing speaks louder than data, especially to someone in finance. If you can show someone concrete metrics, you can make a business justification for a particular spend

‍

Use Cases: Bringing on Contract Attorneys

‍

• Contractors have helped us with overflow volume when a team member is out on leave
• Contactor playbooks help to ensure that there is no training time waste when onboarding outside help – we create them for different areas of focus and they serve as reference tools for as long as a contractor is working with us
• Automatic intake processes cut down on manually assigning work to outside help
• We make expectations crystal clear (including speed/task completion rate) and only train contractors in the specific areas they’ll be working in  – contract attorneys have been a great resource for us

‍

Scale your legal department with the best legal talent

• ✅ Browse curated profiles
• ✅ Diverse talent network (>50% women)
• ✅ Time tracking & analytics
• ✅ 5 hours free

‍

Key Takeaways

‍

• The pandemic and economic downturn have changed “life” at AngelList and for startup founders generally. However, AngelList’s historic remote managerial model has made it easier for us to understand how to remain present and keep team engagement high in remote settings.
• VC seems to be faring well in a post-Covid world. Although the “how” and “where” of work is changing, the fundamentals of VC investment remain intact and are functioning well in this environment.
• Later stage companies have an opportunity to use the changing nature of the post-Covid world to reevaluate their approaches and adjust accordingly so that the investments they’re making truly support their models.
• Businesses are transitioning to a more fully remote model, but this change won’t be a wholesale one. There is only so much productive work that can be done in a fully remote capacity. Both businesses and individuals will have to find the balance that best accommodates their interests.
• Participating in AngelList syndicates and venture lead syndicate opportunities offers investors the ability to either place their resources in a single, innovative venture or to spread their risk around.

‍

Amir Hassanabadi is the Associate General Counsel at AngelList.

‍

‍

An Introduction to AngelList

‍

The verticals of the business itself can be described differently from the perspective of the client at hand. There are three major client needs fulfilled by AngelList services and three main products we offer to meet those needs:

‍

• Startup fundraising - AngelList Venture
• Startup hiring - AngelList Talent
• Building a startup customer base - Product Hunt

‍

The AngelList and Lawtrades Relationship

‍

Lawtrades is a great supporter of AngelList because we help our clients fundraise on Venture and hire through Talent and we launched on Product Hunt. Now AngelList is a customer of the Lawtrades platform, which illustrates how valuable it can be to connect the visions of different startups and business models to produce mutually beneficial relationships.

‍

How Has the Legal Team Been Evolving at AngelList?

‍

Less than two years ago, the legal team was a “team of one.” Counting on a single individual to manage a superhuman workload isn’t sustainable, so by leveraging the services provided by Lawtrades, working with contractors, and growing the in-house staff to a team of four, the team is still over-leveraged but in more robust shape.

‍

Evaluating the ways in which the legal team will continue to evolve has obviously been influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic and recent economic downturn. We’ve obviously transitioned to remote work, but we’re feeling different impacts in different business units beyond that change. AngelList has experienced some layoffs, cut back on some spending, and taken some legal work in-house in an effort to keep operations sustainable. By contrast, the venture side of the business is growing. Our company exists to help startup founders and investors… we’re noticing that startup founders are finding that the current climate makes it relatively easy to fundraise but harder to build a customer base and navigate the hiring process.

‍

Making Remote Work Effective

‍

The AngelList model allowed for a lot of remote work generally pre-Covid. A remote managerial approach pre-Covid allowed the team transitioning into remote work during the pandemic to understand the importance of remaining present. Some useful tools and approaches have particularly aided in allowing staff to remain present during working hours:

‍

• Video calls
• Zoom
• Slack bots
• Fun gifs to punctuate the solitude of remote work
• Virtual in-house happy hours to help everyone remain connected as a team

‍

Additionally, the legal team has a standing weekly lunch and learn to talk through the issues of the day or an interesting shared piece of legal literature. This bonding helps to facilitate team morale by encouraging a shared consideration of issues with broad internal and external consequences.

‍

Venture Capital in a Post-Covid World

‍

AngelList is privy to a wide view of the VC world simply because AngelList works with such a wide variety of clients. If the AngelList view is a solid indicator of how VC is faring in a post-Covid world, VC is doing surprisingly well. The number and quality of the deals that are being made are reasons for optimism in this environment. It’s possible that valuations as a whole are going down, but that may be a good thing overall as it’s possible that valuations were becoming somewhat inflated and were in need of a deflationary influence. Interestingly, pressure from society is fueling an interest in pumping more money into venture. Americans want to spend money on physical infrastructure and other endeavors that allow for VC to thrive. It certainly seems like VC is in a better position to pull through this time period than some other industries are.

‍

With that said, some of the later stage companies that have raised tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars at high valuations and are now dealing with massive revenue declines and/or are seeking to secure another massive valuation may have a somewhat harder time. Many of these companies are tethered to physical locations and may need to lay off more workers, so the recent economic climate affects them in a nuanced way when compared to some startups and less traditional business models. When you’re grounded in a system that requires rapid growth, you’re not always making investments that are logical in the long-term. It is in this way that the current climate is allowing some businesses to reevaluate their approaches to support their most fundamental metrics.

‍

How Do Seed Stage Companies Look in a Post-Covid World?

‍

New founders launching companies during the crisis should consider that enterprises are likely going to look different moving forward in regards to the “how” and “where” of work. Remote teams, reduced or non-existent office space is going to be a reality. However, the underlying dynamics of VC at the seed stage - a time of “growth at all costs” as opposed to profitability and other factors that fuel future sustainability of a given model – are likely not going to change much in the wake of the current crisis. As the crisis was not born of mismanagement in terms of business dynamics, the fundamentals of VC remain intact. The only thing that would potentially shift the dynamics of VC (as opposed to the ways in which physical work is conducted) is a truly radical shift in the way the world operates after the crisis itself has resolved.

‍

Founders can take advantage of the “destruction” in the current market, including cheaper, readily available labor, more affordable costs generally, etc. to create noteworthy, valuable startups. The last economic downturn produced interesting, innovative business models (like Uber, AirBNB, etc.) and we should expect nothing less from this downturn.

‍

Will a Transition to a Fully Remote Work World Become a Reality?

‍

Not every company is going to go fully remote, either in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area or in the rest of the country in the wake of the pandemic. However, it is clear that a change is happening. Some companies, particularly newer companies, are going to be fully remote. With that said, when newer companies become truly expansive enterprises, it becomes harder for these ventures to operate in a 100 percent remote capacity. For example, in recognition of this changing world, companies like Facebook are allowing some employees to go fully remote, but that transition tends to come with a pay cut. Companies may need fewer workers to be physically on-site at any time, but as most large companies need at least some on-site workers, it will become a balancing act for individuals to determine whether they want to work remotely for less pay or on-site for higher pay. Similarly, it will be a balancing act for businesses to determine what percentage of their workforce they need to be physically present vs. remote in order to function at peak levels.

‍

With that said, disintegrated teams are learning how to function effectively as a result of the pandemic. Everyone knows how to use tools like Zoom now. Even populations that would have been resistant to use such technology before the initial lockdowns occurred. A shift towards remote work is going to happen post-Covid, and it’ll be more effective due to what we’re all learning now. That shift will help to satisfy a pent-up demand for more flexible working conditions that was affecting the workforce before the start of the pandemic. However, it won’t be a wholesale change because there is only so much effective work that can be done remotely at all times.

‍

Participating in AngelList Syndicates

‍

Syndicates are AngelList’s bread and butter. A syndicate is an investment in one single company. This form of investment represents the ultimate VC “bet” as you’re placing all your resources in one place. The platform provides access to these deals, which are often very good deals. Yes, if the company doesn’t succeed, you’ve risked a lot by placing all your eggs in that company’s basket. However, you similarly are rewarded handsomely when an investment pays off. For example, Uber was a syndicate on the AngelList platform and we all know how well that model has functioned.
‍

A potential syndicate investor on the platform will get to choose between various syndicates. We provide lead investors who supply the deal flow to the platform and show the syndicate on the platform. It’s up to investors to determine which syndicate leads and deals they trust and ultimately want to back. Note that a syndicate lead is different than the lead for the round of the venture fundraising. In this context, lead is a term that is used liberally.

We ultimately created a set of legal processes for a fund lead to invest in multiple syndicates because we were seeing such positive investment activity from syndicate leads that this transition naturally made sense. This way, as an investor on the platform, (instead of backing one or two syndicates) you can back a fund lead who will invest in multiple syndicates on your behalf. This can reduce risk and increase the probability of getting some “big hits” for individual investors. The resulting model acts more like a traditional fund in which multiple investments are made with the aim of having at least one or two pay off in big ways.

‍

A newer, successful innovative product we’ve created is a rolling venture fund, which is more focused on the fund lead and making their life easier. This process allows for accepting new capital into the fund in the form of auto renewing quarterly commitments. You can therefore start a venture on the platform with a relatively small startup amount and simply rely on the autofund commitments to increase the fund’s size. That way, fund leads don’t constantly have to go back to investors to raise new rounds.

‍

Who Are Some of Your Favorite Angel Investors?

‍

Ryan Hoover, who is the founder of Product Hunt has a fund called Weekend Fund and he does a fantastic job.

What Are Some of the Resources You Recommend for Anyone Interested in Startups?

AngelList generally and our blog specifically… of course. But also, the book “Venture Deals,” is a great foundational text.

‍

Key Takeaways

‍

• Lawyers with specialization and specific knowledge will gain a competitive advance when launching their virtual practice.
• The speed of innovation within the legal industry will vary based on practice area and nature of work.
• More companies are refusing to pay a premium for routine legal work and independent lawyers are filling that need.
• Lawyers focused on saving clients headspace and expensive overhead will succeed in this new economy.

‍

Jordan Schwartz runs his own virtual practice on Lawtrades as Transactional, Product, and Corporate Counsel to several notable high-growth companies in NYC, SF, and LA.

‍

• After graduating Columbia Law School, he started as a BigLaw attorney at Jones Day where he advised financial institutions on transactions and regulatory matters.
• He then served as General Counsel at Meta, one of the earliest startups to build augmented reality headsets, where he helped the company scale 10x and raise $100M until it was acquired in in 2018.

‍

Challenges of running your own practice

‍

• You have to learn different methods of communications, specific to each client, while trying to build your own business.

• It’s all about how quickly you can build a stable client base that can generate enough revenue for you in the beginning.

• Relationships with clients can change from reasons outside of our control.

‍

How to attract clients to your virtual practice

‍

• Have specific knowledge when addressing certain legal matters.
• Quality work and an agreeable personality will drive new clients and retain existing ones.

‍

Time management

‍

• A client will notify Jordan of their needs on a weekly or daily basis, often via email.
• Jordan has a set amount of time that he allots to per client depending on their situation.
• He builds in flexibility for emergencies and is upfront with his availability to maintain trust.
• Issues need to be resolved ASAP and you need to deliver at that speed – all clients will expect that.

‍

The future of law is independence

‍

• The speed of transformation within the legal industry will vary based on the practice area. For instance, tax law may not shift much.
• There are areas of law that need competency and a certain level of expertise. However, companies don’t need to pay a premium for everything and independent lawyers are creating this new opportunity for them.
• They’re not over-billing or creating massive expenses thanks to their low overhead and agility.

‍

Challenges GCs are currently facing across the board

‍

• There are numerous agreements, leases, and contracts that need to be renegotiated because of the change of landscape.
• We have a dysfunctional government, and there is no guidance for lawyers out there. Everyone is just hoping that the downside scenarios don’t play out.
• GCs need to navigate the needs of the business with the rapidly changing landscape. There is no set path, and tremendous liability is looming.

‍

Advice for lawyers who are laid off

‍

• Give going independent a shot – it might not have the prestige of a law firm, but you get your freedom back.

‍

Every Wednesday morning we normally send you informative, entertaining stories about the intersection of law and tech. This week, we want to address the unrest coursing through America and share a message of support for everyone affected by structural racism and inequality and police brutality.

‍

The killing of George Floyd ignited a movement, but the news of his death was all too familiar. The deaths of black Americans like Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Botham Jean, Eric Garner and Atatiana Jefferson have highlighted America's lack of equality and the fears and obstacles black people live with every day. As a minority-founded business, these issues matter deeply to us. We want to live in a country where everyone can enjoy the same freedoms, from having equal educational opportunities to being able to go for a jog without fear.

‍

Change is long overdue. To build a better America, we must act now. We are donating to the following organizations and encourage you to do the same:

‍

• The NAACP Legal Defense Fund
• The George Floyd Memorial Fund
• Black Lives Matter  

‍

We also encourage and support all peaceful protests against racism and injustice. It is only through awareness, action and constant dialogue that America can become the equitable country it needs to be. Let's do this together.

‍

The Lawtrades team,

Raad Ahmed

Ashish Walia

Amit Roopnarine

Bryan Ryu

Jerry Thomas

Olivia Chan

Nilesh Patel

Jared Stark

Elizabeth Cuccinello

Joseph Budd

Jordan Schwartz

Jon Hood

Patti Mefford

Paul Ryan

Josh Garber

Sonya Thomas

Alex Angarita

Susan Bell  

‍

‍

It’s becoming clear we’re in this for the long haul. So here’s some advice from GC’s, as reported by Law.com, for overcoming challenges while workers are spread out.

‍

• “Encourage people to take care of themselves, be sensitive to how people are reacting [to working at home], encourage them to make it a peaceful, comfortable environment. Take time to go for a walk, or clean up around you if that’s what you need. And overcommunicate with teammates.” -- Christina Ibrahim, general counsel of Weatherford International

• “We communicate exhaustively with our staff, clients, vendors, regulators, executive management and board. [It’s important] to ensure the human connection is maintained and enhanced during this strange period of social isolation.” -- Dave Hattem, chief legal officer of Equitable Holdings

• “It’s helpful in some contract negotiations, when normally we would meet in person, to do conference calls to finish up the details. After the first week I suffered some “home fatigue,” and I realized I need to take regular breaks, put up some boundaries so I don’t start early in the morning and work late into the night, make sure I eat and go outside to take short walks. It made a world of difference.” -- Adwoa Awotwi, general counsel of LocumTenens.org

• “One thing that is more difficult is doing a workshop to work through an issue with a multidisciplinary team. Virtual tools can be used but are not a substitute for face-to-face interaction. The advising in a negotiation setting or in brainstorming for product development and the like is not the same.” -- Richard Nohe, general counsel of BT Americas, Inc.

• “Respect the fact that team members are moms and dads and spouses and children first. I made it clear that foremost they have to take care of themselves and their families, and then somewhere down the line they are members of this team.” -- Mark Smolik, general counsel of DHL Supply Chain

‍

Key Takeaways

‍

• This crisis has put the gas pedal on providers allowing telemedicine.
• Oscar has a personalized risk assessment survey. You can access this survey even if you are not a member. If you are a candidate for testing, it will refer you to a testing site.
• The danger of a fully remote workforce is not communicating enough. Communicate more than ever when working remotely.If you think it can be useful to someone, then communicate it out.
• In the long run, COVID-19 will drastically change the healthcare system.
• Our society is all in this together.
• Subscribe

Resources Mentioned

‍

• Oscar
• Oscar’s COVID-19 Resources
• WTF with Marc Maron

‍

Hank Greenberg works as General Counsel at Oscar Health.

Over the past five years, Oscar has built a health insurance company that people actually want to talk to – one that engages members and guides them to the right care. Today, Oscar drives the highest levels of engagement in health care, helping over 250,000 individuals and businesses – from startups in Brooklyn, New York to bookkeepers in Bouldin Creek, Austin – take charge of their health.

‍

Working at Oscar during COVID-19

‍

• Oscar has the most engaged members in the industry, with the highest mobile engagement of any insurer. 43% of our members’ first visits to the doctor are routed through their technology and customer service teams.
• Oscar is partnered with more than half of the top 20 health systems in the U.S.
• The company is lucky to already have resources set up. They accommodate work from home in a big way. Oscar has been able to maintain the continuity of their work by setting up goals and touchpoints for their team.

‍

COVID Resources

‍

• Oscar has a personalized risk assessment survey. You can access this survey even if you are not a member. If you are a candidate for testing, it will refer you to a testing site. This survey is constantly being updated.
• For members, you can call the care team to find the right provider for you.
• If you have symptoms, you can call the care team to find the right place to go.

‍

How Telemedicine will move forward

‍

• COVID-19 accelerated telemedicine.
• More and more services are moving online.
• The availability for telemedicine is moving forward state by state.
• This crisis has put the gas pedal on providers allowing telemedicine.
• Everything that can be done remotely is being done remotely now.
• The state of preparedness for something like this will become a talking point for policy change from now on.
• Hopefully, there will be more attention to PPE for healthcare workers.
• This will affect the way that people get healthcare.

‍

GC’s working remotely

‍

• It has been difficult to move remotely. There are certain types of work that are more capable of working remotely. However, legal teams can work remotely fairly seamlessly.
• Communicate more than ever when working remotely. It can be hard to appreciate what you are hearing or what you aren’t hearing.
• Don’t hesitate to click send on an email or pick up the phone. If you think it can be useful to someone, then communicate it out.
• The danger of a fully remote workforce is not communicating enough.

‍

Closing thoughts

‍

• We have to continue the things that we are doing with social distancing.
• The world needs to make sure that everyone is doing their part.
• All of the short-term tradeoff’s will be worth it if we can reduce the amount of loss of life.
• Back in the office in a few months

‍

Bad news for Zoom lovers: The platform’s ease of use has made it a target for hackers and trolls. That is not good for attorneys, who depend on privacy. But there are several tips and services lawyers can follow to ensure better security while working remote.

‍

• If you still want to use Zoom: Be sure to require everyone to enter a password to get into the meeting and have the leader of the meeting approve everyone who joins.  

• Send messages over Signal: Signal is known for its security, with privacy as the default setting. It also has a videoconferencing service available.

• Pay more Legaler: If your company is thinking about videoconferencing as a longterm solution, it may be smart to check out Legaler. It is a conferencing and management platform built specifically for lawyers and has security and legal-related features that Zoom and Google Hangouts lack. Legaler starts at $19 a month.  

‍

Read more about Legaler and other pros and cons of remote work platforms here.

‍

Major companies, including some in tech, have long enjoyed an arbitration system that has made it difficult and costly for individuals to mount successful cases against them. But lawyers and startups, according to The New York Times, have found a new way to go after the biggest fish: sheer volume.

‍

• Why arbitration worked for big companies: Arbitration is often a costly, drawn-out process. And the few plaintiffs who can afford to bring complaints against companies usually don’t make enough money for the fight to be worthwhile.
• But there was demand for arbitration: Although only 30 people have brought litigation against the telecoms industry the last few years, Teel Lidow, a lawyer and entrepreneur, quickly found at least 1,000 people who wanted to take action.  

‍

Enter the startup solution

‍

Lidow started a service, FairShake, that brings people together who want to start litigation against massive companies and then files their claims at once. Call it mass arbitration. With hundreds or thousands of similar claims brought by one attorney, the legal cost is not as high for an individual.

‍

• Lidow and another firm, Keller Lenkner, have found companies can’t deal with the volume. DoorDash had 2,250 claims served against it in one day last summer. The food delivery company wrote in a federal court filing that it was “scared to death.”

‍

The Verdict

‍

DoorDash has been trying to get out of arbitration, the long preferred destination for major companies. FairShake and Keller Lenkner could upend one of the most routine business litigation traditions of the last several decades.

‍