News

‘We Are a Better Nation Than This:’ Tech’s In-House Leaders Share Views on Immigration Policies

Caroline Spiezio | June 19, 2018

Top in-house lawyers in the tech industry have taken to social media to discuss Trump's immigration policies.

News

Meet David Taylor, the Theranos GC and Former Munger Associate Who Just Became the Troubled Company's CEO

Caroline Spiezio | June 18, 2018

Taylor will have his work cut out for him, replacing former CEO Elizabeth Holmes at a company that has been stuck in a downward spiral of legal troubles and bad headlines.

Expert Opinion

What's Market-Rate Compensation for a Midlevel Associate Heading In-House?

Julie Q. Brush | June 15, 2018

Moving in-house is an alluring proposition that has been a major driver for the exodus of today’s young law firm associates.

News

PTAB Chief Accusing Former Employer Medtronic of Sexual Orientation, Disability Bias

Scott Graham | June 13, 2018

Chief Judge David Ruschke alleges he was laid off from Medtronic's in-house department for pretextual reasons in 2015 in a lawsuit playing out in Oakland federal court.

News

Steptoe & Johnson Lawyer Moves In-House as Vote.org's First GC

Caroline Spiezio | June 13, 2018

Steptoe & Johnson litigator Sarah Jackel has come aboard to help the online voter registration nonprofit navigate state laws to help citizens sign up to vote digitally.

News

At Stanford Conference, In-House Leaders Discuss 'Delicate Tension' Between Legal Obligations, Consumer Demands

Caroline Spiezio | June 12, 2018

Companies are increasingly being asked to take political stands, which can make life a bit more complicated for in-house lawyers, according to speakers on a Monday panel at the 15th annual Stanford E-Commerce Best Practices Conference.

Expert Opinion

Q&A: Title IX in the Wake of the USC Physician Sexual Misconduct Scandal

Ryan Whitacre, Major, Lindsey & Africa | June 11, 2018

"Remember that Title IX cases that make the news—like Larry Nassar’s unspeakable criminal sexual assaults at Michigan State—are outliers and the vast majority of educational institutions work really hard to maintain a healthy and safe environment," said Natalie Brouwer Potts in a Q&A with Ryan Whitacre of Major, Lindsey & Africa.

Video

Video: Louise Pentland of PayPal is a Legal Leader, and a Business Boss Too

Rebekah Mintzer Rebekah Mintzer | June 07, 2018

In a one-on-one interview, Corporate Counsel spoke to Pentland about how she found a role at the payment transfer company that stretches far beyond just legal.

News

LinkedIn Names Caroline Goulding as Data Protection Officer Under GDPR

Caroline Spiezio | June 05, 2018

Goulding will return to her home country of Ireland, where she will help ensure that LinkedIn stays compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation.

Analysis

How Tech's In-House Lawyers Balance IP and Open Source

Caroline Spiezio | June 05, 2018

In-house attorneys at Pure Storage and Dropbox say that education is key when it comes to making sure rights to innovative technologies are protected.

News

UC Berkeley Appoints Chief Campus Counsel, Months After Former Counsel's Death

Caroline Spiezio | June 01, 2018

After serving in the role as chief campus counsel on an interim basis for nine months following the death of his predecessor Christopher Patti, David Robinson was named to the position permanently on Thursday.

Video

Video: OpenTable GC Connie Chen On What’s Cooking in Her Law Department

Caroline Spiezio | Jason Doiy | May 24, 2018

The Recorder affilliate Corporate Counsel recently sat down with Chen to talk about her role at the San Francisco-based company and her career advice—plus her favorite foods.

News

After Just 16 Months at Square, GC Hillary Smith Resigns

Caroline Spiezio | May 22, 2018

It's unknown where Smith will land next, but another in-house lawyer at Square, Sivan Whiteley, has been named as her successor.

News

Silicon Valley Digital Wealth Management Firm Names Allison Amadia New GC

Stephanie Forshee | May 21, 2018

"My experience helping technology companies grow and stay ahead of the increasingly complex legal and compliance matters as they scale will allow me to add value right from the start," said the new Personal Capital Corp. general counsel.

News

San Mateo Software Company Alfresco Names New General Counsel

Dan Clark | May 03, 2018

New GC Kamil Chaudhary's promotion is one of a few executive moves in Alfresco's ranks as of late.

Expert Opinion

Consider Retaining Outside Counsel for Ethics Issues

Shari L. Klevens and Alanna Clair | May 01, 2018

Handling ethics compliance issues can be one of the most difficult tasks inherent in running a law firm.

News

Daphne Frydman Promoted to Top Legal Role at Oakland Investment Manager

Dan Clark | May 01, 2018

Daphne Frydman, the new GC at USCF, has over 17 years of experience counseling companies in the financial services industry.

Expert Opinion

How to Score an In-House Job Without In-House Experience

Julie Brush | April 27, 2018

Whether you’re a litigator or a transaction lawyer, the lack of in-house experience can put you at a competitive disadvantage when applying for an in-house position.

News

Top Lawyers at Cisco, NetApp and HPE Say Legal Ops Has Been a Game Changer

Caroline Spiezio | April 26, 2018

At the final panel at the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium's 2018 institute, in-house leaders from the Silicon Valley tech companies shared thoughts about the rise of legal ops.

News

Zero to Hero: Legal Ops Leaders From Gap and Cisco Discuss Starting From Scratch

Caroline Spiezio | April 24, 2018

At CLOC's annual conference in Las Vegas this week, Mike Haven of The Gap and Steve Harmon of Cisco Systems gave some pointers on how to build an ops function where there wasn't one before. "It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon," Haven said.

News

Margo Smith Leaves Apttus After 10 Months for Snowflake Computing

Stephanie Forshee | April 24, 2018

Smith replaces Barbara Walkowski in the CLO role at the cloud-based data warehousing company in San Mateo.

News

In-House Leaders From Facebook, Uber, Dropbox and Salesforce: 'Consent Is Complex in GDPR'

Caroline Spiezio | April 20, 2018

Are companies seeking too much consent to process data? Too little? It's a situation that poses challenges for in-house lawyers far and wide, according to a panel discussion of industry leaders at Santa Clara University School of Law.

Profile

Former ClearSlide GC Olga Mack Joins San Francisco's Quantstamp as VP of Strategy

Caroline Spiezio | April 18, 2018

Mack, who was also formerly in-house at Zoosk, was planning to take some time off, but then found a job that she couldn't turn down.

Slideshow

What 5 California Legal Department Luminaries Have Said About Outside Firms

Rebekah Mintzer | April 16, 2018

Here are some of the quotable (and occasionally controversial) statements California lawyers in corporate legal departments have made about outside partners.

Dodgers' GC Says Technology Has Created Major League Changes for Baseball Lawyers

Caroline Spiezio | April 13, 2018

Veteran legal leader Sam Fernandez spoke on Friday at Berkeley Law about how in-house lawyers' roles in the sport have evolved over his three-and-half decades on the job.

News

In-House Leaders: The Future of IP Law Is Global, Data-Driven

Caroline Spiezio | April 12, 2018

At Wednesday's IPForward Conference in San Francisco, the Recorder took a look into the crystal ball with in-house IP luminaries.

News

5 Takeaways From IPForward's 2018 Conference

Caroline Spiezio | April 12, 2018

Here's some of the knowledge that a high-profile group of in-house IP specialists shared at the San Mateo conference on Wednesday.

News

Eve Saltman Returns to GoPro, This Time As General Counsel

Caroline Spiezio | April 05, 2018

After a stint at Asana, Saltman is back in on the action at GoPro, taking over for Sharon Zezima as general counsel.

News

AcelRx Hires New GC From McKesson Corp.

Kristen Rasmussen | April 02, 2018

AcelRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. has hired John Saia, most recently associate general counsel at drug distributor McKesson Corp., as its new top lawyer in the run-up to resubmitting its pain drug Dsuvia to the FDA.

News

Facebook Deputy GC Details Plan to Increase User Data Privacy, Transparency

Caroline Spiezio | March 28, 2018

Facebook's vice president and deputy general counsel Ashlie Beringer co-authored a blog post detailing how the company is attempting to make its privacy tools and settings easier to find.

News

Legal Departments Developing Criteria to Judge Outside Counsel Data Defenses

Caroline Spiezio | March 26, 2018

The Corporate Legal Operations Consortium is designing a framework to help corporate legal departments evaluate how firms can protect valuable client data, and give firms real standards to shoot for on cybersecurity.

Expert Opinion

Business Intelligence Finally Knocking at the Legal Department Door

Eric Willis | March 26, 2018

Legal departments are expected to do more with less and are now charged with better controlling and reducing costs, continuously evaluating and improving processes, and wherever possible, retaining and re-using historical data and knowledge.

Former ClearSlide GC Olga Mack Appointed to the California Law Revision Commission

Caroline Spiezio | March 20, 2018

Mack says she jumped at the opportunity to join the commission, as service is the reason why she became a lawyer in the first place.

Slideshow

Four Takeaways from the the Hispanic National Bar Association's Corporate Counsel Conference

Caroline Spiezio | March 19, 2018

Key highlights from panels at the conference, which ran from Thursday to Sunday at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square

Former Google In-House Discovery Leader Says It's Important to Invest in People Before Tech

Caroline Spiezio | March 15, 2018

For Pamela Davis, who left Google last year, success is about a lot more than just technology.

Bay Area’s In-House Lawyers Find Collaborative, Cross-Company Communities

Caroline Spiezio | March 09, 2018

“The bar is high in the Bay because we don't have to start each conversation at a higher level. We understand each other,” said one legal ops leader.

News

In-House Counsel Poll Finds a Quarter Have Used Litigation Finance—Mainly in Tech

Ben Hancock | February 28, 2018

The survey also showed that corporate legal departments often drive the decision to use third-party funders, but that many in-house lawyers have ethical reservations.

Analysis

After a Second Google Suit, Time to Re-Examine Policies Around Internal Forums?

Caroline Spiezio | February 26, 2018

The follow up to James Damore's suit against Google may prompt legal departments to take a close look at how they deal with speech on internal company message boards.

Expert Opinion

How Long Should a GC Stay at the Same Company in Today's Market?

Julie Brush | February 26, 2018

Many professionals view the role of general counsel/chief legal officer as the top legal spot in the in house world. It is a “goal achieved”—through years of hard work and career navigation. And it’s a legal position unique to any other… and is viewed as such by employers

Q&A

Wickr GC Says 'Waymo v. Uber' Had 'Very Positive Result' for Ephemeral Messaging

Caroline Spiezio | February 15, 2018

Jennifer DeTrani, GC at the disappearing message app maker and Wickr outside counsel, and Jonathan Meyer, a partner at Sheppard Mullin, spoke to The Recorder about how they explain the perks of ephemeral messaging to companies and what it's like being name-dropped in court.

49 Tech Companies Call for Protection of Sanctuary City Funding in New Amicus Brief

Caroline Spiezio | February 13, 2018

The companies, which were represented by attorneys from Fenwick & West, called Trump's move to cut funding to sanctuary cities "antithetical to the values, practices and culture of Silicon Valley, the Bay Area, and technology hubs across the country."

News

Adobe Pairs With Firms for Split-Summer 1L Diversity Internship

Caroline Spiezio | February 12, 2018

Adobe Systems Inc.'s legal team is looking to build diversity in-house and in partnered firms in a new, more collaborative way.

News

5 Takeaways From Tech Leaders' Content Moderation Conference

Caroline Spiezio | February 05, 2018

Tech companies' legal leaders and policy experts gathered at Santa Clara University School of Law on Feb. 2 for a day of panels on content moderation and removal.

News

Airbnb CLO Belinda Johnson Becomes the Company's First COO

Caroline Spiezio | February 02, 2018

Belinda Johnson, who has been dubbed "Airbnb's Sheryl Sandberg," will be the first to take this role at the company.

Q&A

Adobe GC Mike Dillon Is Retiring, but He Won't Be Slowing Down

Caroline Spiezio | February 01, 2018

Dillon's post-Adobe plans include welding, baking sourdough bread, fighting climate change—and publishing a book.

News

Snap Inc. GC Michael O’Sullivan to Employees: If You Leak, We May Sue You

Caroline Spiezio | January 19, 2018

"If you leak Snap Inc. information, you will lose your job and we will pursue any and all legal remedies against you. And that’s just the start," O'Sullivan wrote in a recent internal memo obtained by the media.

News

Former Uber CLO Salle Yoo Named in Reports of Tool Meant to Evade Foreign Authorities

Caroline Spiezio | January 12, 2018

Uber's former CLO Salle Yoo is in the spotlight again, after a report from Bloomberg that she knew about an Uber tool that allowed remote company-owned device shutdowns in the event of police raids in offices outside the United States.

Profile

GE In-House Leader Goes 'Home' to Gibson Dunn in San Francisco

Caroline Spiezio | January 08, 2018

"I started my legal career with Gibson Dunn, so this feels like a return home," Aaron Briggs said.

News

Silicon Valley GCs Increasingly Named Executive Officers, Report Says

Caroline Spiezio | December 22, 2017

"People want to be part of an operation that's highly regarded, to be among the executive team, and to be a part of the decision-making for the entire entity," one expert said.

Analysis

4 Changes In-House Tech Teams Could See Under New Tax Bill

Caroline Spiezio | December 21, 2017

Tax attorneys told The Recorder that legal departments should be figuring out exactly how the bill affects their individual company, as there are a variety of changes in regulations.