Creating a Talented & Diverse Legal Workplace: Mentoring, Coaching and Supervising Your Team to Increase Success

Scott Nehs is Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), a national federation of 36 independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. The Blue System is the nation's largest health insurer covering one-in-three of all Americans. Having practiced law for more than 25 years, Nehs brings a wealth of experience to BCBSA. He advises BCBSA and Blue Plan senior leadership on a range of strategic, reputational and operational issues to protect and enhance the brand.

During his tenure, Nehs has hired or promoted over half of the 36 members of the division, making significant inroads in adding to the diversity and depth of the legal team. He is also leading defense of the nationwide antitrust class action litigation which began in 2012 and is still pending against BCBSA and each Blue Plan. In addition, Nehs led a successful cross-functional initiative to reduce risk and increase efficiencies by modernizing BCBSA’s record retention policies and practices. Prior to his current role, he served as BCBSA’s deputy general counsel and assistant corporate secretary.

Before joining BCBSA, Nehs served at PepsiCo where he was senior vice president of legal and government affairs for PepsiAmericas, Inc., a $5 billion NYSE corporation and the world’s second largest bottler of Pepsi-branded products. He was also a member of the company’s worldwide leadership team and held the offices of chief compliance officer and chief privacy officer.

He began his career at Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon, a large firm based in Chicago where he worked on a wide variety of litigation matters, trying civil and criminal cases in the federal and state courts for his clients. Nehs frequently shares his expertise as a speaker at legal seminars and other forums.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and sociology from Northwestern University and his law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Jason Brown is a the Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for Dyson. His experience includes substantive legal expertise and leadership within consumer products industry in the areas of litigation, advertising/marketing, real estate and contracts. Jason has a reputation for strong client service orientation and has been recognized by business colleagues as the “go to” person for tackling complex problems and providing actionable legal advice based on solid understanding of company objectives. He has an established track record for identifying best practices to enhance organizational efficiency, and is a strong leader with ability to motivate teams and develop talent.

Tracy O’Flaherty wears “many hats.” Tracy is Vice President, Deputy General Counsel at Groupon, Inc. (www.groupon.com) where she leads the Global Litigation, Compliance, Employment and Regulatory functions. In addition, Tracy serves as the Executive Sponsor of the LEARN initiative of Groupon’s Diversity & Inclusion function to combat racism and serves as the Executive Sponsor of Groupon’s Woman@Groupon Business Resource Group.

Prior to Groupon, Tracy was the Vice President, Associate General Counsel at Baxter Healthcare Corporation leading the Global Litigation, Employment and Benefit functions. She also served as a member of Baxter’s Global Leadership Team and the Global Human Resources Leadership Team. She led Baxter’s Legal Department Diversity & Inclusion initiatives and served on the Global D&I committee. Prior to joining Baxter, Tracy was a partner at Winston & Strawn, LLP.

In addition to her role at Groupon, Tracy is the Senior Vice President, Programming and Development in the WOMN LLC Chicago Region and leads its 12-month mentoring program. This program provides some of the world’s leading law firm’s top-talent women with leadership coaching on business development, networking, and communication skills to enable them to hone their skills and succeed in the “business of law.” Her true passion is helping top-talent individuals reach their highest potential. (www.womnllc.com)

Tracy is married and has two teenage sons and a menagerie of animals. In her spare time, she is often seen in a hockey rink cheering on her boys who play competitively. Her greatest joy is watching her boys grow up to be self-aware, talented, and socially conscious men.

Brandon B. Smith is Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Tenneco Inc. (NYSE: TEN), an $8.2 billion global manufacturing company with headquarters in Lake Forest, Illinois and approximately 30,000 employees worldwide. Mr. Smith joined Tenneco in 2008 and has responsibility for managing the company’s legal affairs and attorneys in North America, South America, Europe and Asia, in addition to Tenneco's securities, corporate governance and transactional matters.

Prior to becoming in-house counsel, Mr. Smith was a corporate attorney with Kirkland & Ellis LLP, representing clients on a wide variety of corporate engagements.

Mr. Smith earned a B.A., magna cum laude, in Business Management from Hiram College and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Cornell Law School, where he graduated Order of the Coif.