Dive into the complete episode list for The Abstract. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.
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Title
Pub. Date
Duration
Ep 115: From Career Break to CLO: How Shanti Ariker Rebuilt Her Legal Career
16 Oct 2025
00:57:37
In this episode of The Abstract, host Tyler Finn speaks with Shanti Ariker, Chief Legal Officer at JFrog, about her unconventional journey from taking a six-year career break to leading legal teams at Salesforce, Twilio, Zendesk, and beyond. Shanti shares lessons on reinvention, resilience, and empathetic leadership — from returning to work as a contracts manager to navigating billion-dollar acquisitions and leading through global crises.
Whether you’re building your in-house career or leading a team, this conversation offers practical insights on growth, adaptability, and finding purpose in every chapter.
Topics Introduction and career overview – 00:00 Stepping away from full-time work and returning after six years – 02:41 Re-entering the legal workforce in Canada and taking a step back – 05:47 Breaking into Salesforce through networking and early contributions – 12:50 Building the Salesforce Canada legal team and launching pro bono work – 15:30 Becoming General Counsel at salesforce.org and leading through learning – 19:20 Innovative legal models and lessons from the salesforce.org structure – 22:17 Transitioning back to for-profit legal roles and rebuilding GC credentials – 24:56 GC role at Zendesk: From steady start to activist investors and take-private – 33:44 Managing governance, communication, and morale during high-stakes transitions – 37:35 Joining JFrog and leading through the Israel crisis – 43:03 Evolving leadership style through personal and professional challenges – 47:07 Rapid-fire Questions – 51:45
Connect with us: Shanti Ariker - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanti-ariker/ Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 114: Building Outside the Box: Monica Zent on Legal Ops, AI, and Bold Bets
11 Sep 2025
00:42:29
Want more contracting insight to see how your team compares? SpotDraft recently launched their 2025 Contracting Efficiency Report! Download the report: https://hubs.la/Q03DNYkH0
In this episode of The Abstract, Monica Zent, serial entrepreneur, legal tech investor, and legal innovation pioneer, shares her journey of founding ZentLaw and helping shape modern legal operations before the term even existed. She unpacks the founder’s mindset, how to lead through ambiguity, and why taking bold bets early pays off. Monica also shares guidance on embracing AI, identifying scalable legal tech ideas, and forging unconventional paths in a traditionally risk-averse industry.
Topics Introduction – 00:00 Embracing entrepreneurship from a young age – 02:23 Founding ZentLaw and challenging traditional models – 03:25 The founder paradox: balancing vision and risk – 05:49 Early struggles and inflection point for ZentLaw – 08:36 Overcoming pushback and evolving with client feedback – 10:09 Integrating innovation into legal workflows – 11:52 Handling setbacks and staying agile as a founder – 15:10 Choosing an unconventional legal path – 18:01 Advice for law schools and future legal professionals – 22:11 Becoming a legal tech investor and mentor – 25:55 Signals of a Scalable Legal Tech Startup – 27:14 Legal tech trends: compliance, privacy, and predictive AI – 29:03 AI’s role in reshaping legal teams and workflows – 31:18 Rapid-fire question – 36:18
Connect with us: Monica Zent • https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicazent/ • https://www.monicazent.com/
Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more. #legaltech #foundermindset #theabstractpodcast
Ep 113: Tackling Change: Emmanuel Smith's Journey Beyond Football
04 Sep 2025
00:50:22
In this episode of The Abstract, Tyler Finn sits down with Emmanuel Smith, former NFL linebacker, Super Bowl champion, substitute teacher, and now legal tech professional. Emmanuel shares his remarkable journey from the football field to the classroom to corporate America, opening up about resilience, reinvention, mental health, and the power of community. From being cut in the NFL to rediscovering purpose while substitute teaching, Emmanuel’s story is a powerful reminder that setbacks can become setups for something greater.
Topics Introduction: 00:00 What inspired him to play football and gives an overview of his career:02:00 The mental preparation, challenges in college, and lessons from his coach that shaped his journey:04:36 His most proud accomplishments from his NFL career: 7:57 Transition out of the NFL & mental health: 09:01 Rediscovering joy in football through teaching & mentorship – 17:38 Transition to corporate America & legal tech: 24:46 Joining Qualitas & sales approach: 29:31 What excites him about legal tech:36:58 Rapid-fire questions: 39:20
Connect with us: Emmanuel Smith - https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmanuel-smith-a79650101/ Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 112: Risk, Reward, and Reinvention: Viraj Joshi on Law, Policy, and Startups
28 Aug 2025
00:51:34
Want more contracting insight to see how your team compares? SpotDraft recently launched their 2025 Contracting Efficiency Report! Download the report: https://hubs.la/Q03DNYkH0
In this episode of The Abstract, host Tyler Finn sits down with Viraj Joshi, VP: Legal & Regulatory at Zerodha , India’s largest bootstrapped brokerage firm. Viraj shares his unconventional career journey—from big law to public policy, and finally to building cross-functional impact at Zerodha. He reflects on lessons from working across law, finance, and government, the role of community in shaping careers, and Zerodha’s growth philosophy. The conversation also dives into his work with Rainmatter, Zerodha’s long-term investment arm focused on fintech, health, and climate startups, and the cultural values that have fueled Zerodha’s success.
Read a detailed transcript: https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-112
Topics Introducing Viraj Joshi – 00:00 Viraj’s Early Career in Big Law - 01:47 Shift from Law to Policy & Finance - 03:44 Applying legal training beyond traditional legal careers - 09:41 Building Community: Lawyers Not Lawyering - 11:05 Changing Job Market Dynamics - 14:40 Joining Zerodha & Its Growth - 16:51Viraj’s Current Role & Regulatory Work - 19:19 Rainmatter Investments: Mission, Long-Term Philosophy, and Focus on Fintech, Health, and Climate - 26:08 Opportunities Beyond Big Cities - 29:44 Adapting to Investing Through Small Checks and Building Conviction Over Time - 31:45 Leadership & Culture at Zerodha - 33:10 Legal Tech & Contracting Challenges - 38:57 Rapid Fire Questions - 45:05
Connect with us: Viraj Joshi - https://www.linkedin.com/in/viraj-joshi/?originalSubdomain=in Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 111: Lessons from Ola's Former GC: Leadership, Risk, and Reinvention
21 Aug 2025
00:56:21
Want more contracting insight to see how your team compares? SpotDraft recently launched their 2025 Contracting Efficiency Report! Download the report: https://hubs.la/Q03DNYkH0
In this episode of The Abstract, Tyler Finn sits down with Rohit Kumar, former SVP and General Counsel at Ola and a seasoned in-house leader. Rohit reflects on his journey from corporate law firms to building scalable, tech-driven legal teams in high-growth companies. He shares insights on embracing legal technology early, managing global litigation, navigating regulatory challenges, and shaping team culture. From career pivots inspired by Charlie Munger to implementing CLM solutions ahead of the pandemic, Rohit’s story is a masterclass in reinvention, resilience, and leadership in the evolving legal landscape.
Topics Introduction 00:00 Rohit’s early career journey: choosing law and working across India and international firms 02:04 Moving from law firm life to in-house: time, control, and motivation 04:40 Adapting to in-house culture, stakeholder management, and leadership mindset 06:47 Early adoption of legal tech and compliance solutions at UPL 10:09 Pandemic-driven adoption of CLM and collaboration tools 15:21 Transitioning from traditional enterprises to founder-led tech companies and scaling Ola’s legal team 19:50 Leadership evolution: building teams, specialized roles, and creating a strong culture 22:58 High-stakes legal challenges: managing litigation and settlement strategy in Ola’s UK class action case 30:28 Regulatory complexities: two-wheeler taxis and navigating government pushback in India 37:20 Contracting efficiency: blockers to CLM adoption, improving processes, and scaling efficiency 42:37 Rapid-fire Questions 48:13
Connect with us: Rohit Kumar - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohit-kumar-5153715/?originalSubdomain=in Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 110: From Product Counsel to Privacy Leader: Tina Hwang's Journey
07 Aug 2025
00:59:45
In this episode of The Abstract, Tyler Finn is joined by Tina Hwang, Head of Legal at ClassDojo, whose career spans Google, WhatsApp, Ancestry, and Twitter. She built a career by staying curious, stepping outside her remit, and proactively solving legal and product challenges. She talks about starting out as a commercial attorney, finding her way into privacy and regulatory strategy, and how she learned to lead initiatives without being asked. Tina also shares actionable advice for junior and senior lawyers on navigating career growth, finding the right environments, and redefining legal’s value in cross-functional teams.
Topics Introduction – 00:00 Finding fit in the legal profession: from courts to Google—01:05 Discovering the business side of legal at Google—04:56 From Google to WhatsApp: chasing the excitement of building —07:20 Scaling the legal team at WhatsApp: lessons in hiring and growth – 10:44 Leadership evolution: from problem solver to team developer – 13:46 Mindful management: a four-part framework for legal leaders – 18:54 Evaluating new opportunities: people, trust, and executive chemistry – 22:00 Building the legal function from scratch at ClassDojo – 25:42 People, process, tech: where to start when scaling legal—28:26 Metrics that matter: proving legal’s impact to the business – 33:10 Hiring for adaptability and stage-fit in legal teams – 42:21 Rapid-fire Questions – 49:32
Connect with us: Tina Hwang - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tina-hwang-a9556a19/ Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 109: Books That Stay With You: Legal Leaders Share Their Shelf
24 Jul 2025
00:28:07
What’s on the bookshelf of today’s top legal leaders? In this special bonus episode, host Tyler Finn asks general counsels, founders, and legal innovators one simple question: What book would you recommend to our listeners?
From legal thrillers to leadership classics, personal growth memoirs to spiritual texts — the answers are as wide-ranging as the roles these leaders play. Hear how books like Give and Take, The Culture Code, Ikigai, The Hard Thing About Hard Things, and 100 Saturdays have helped shape how these professionals think, lead, and live.
Whether you're looking for your next business read or something more soul-stirring, this episode is your perfect reading list.
Topics Introduction: 00:00 Rob Chesnut, Former GC and CEO at Airbnb, on writing a book that started as a dinner-table idea: 00:33 Dana Rao, Former GC & CTO, Adobe, on falling for fiction through Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty: 05:52 Shashank Bijapur, Co-Founder & CEO, SpotDraft, on how Zero to One and The Hard Thing About Hard Things guided his transition from lawyer to founder: Akshay Verma, COO at SpotDraft, on the leadership lessons from Getting Naked: 07:07 Tim Hirsch, GC of Mars Science & Diagnostics, on the untold Holocaust history in 100 Saturdays: 08:48 Manu Kanwar, Founder and CEO, LexSolutions, on trauma, ADHD, and human flourishing: 11:17 Alex Herrity, Director of Global Legal Solutions, Adidas, on contract design and building a second brain: 14:52 Keita de Souza, GC at Ryse, on Likable Badass and redefining influence: 17:00 David Cowen, President at The Cowen Group, on how books shape leadership and connection: 19:33 Joon Park, Chief Legal Officer at Extend Enterprises, Inc., on the spiritual depth of the Tao Te Ching and his wife's Pulitzer-winning biography: 21:14 Tyler Finn, Head of Community & Growth at SpotDraft, on books that shaped his values, legal curiosity, and political awareness: 23:01
Connect with us: Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 108: Reimagining Law Firm Pricing: Ken Callander on Value, AI & In-House Strategy
17 Jul 2025
01:07:12
What happens when a former law firm CMO and Uber’s head of legal ops pulls back the curtain on the business of law? In this episode, Tyler Finn sits down with Ken Callander, Managing Principal at Value Strategies, to explore the evolution of law firm pricing, the rise of AI, and how in-house teams can save millions by shifting to value-based fee arrangements. From the politics of partnerships to actionable strategies for better outside counsel management, Ken brings unmatched candor and clarity on how legal teams must adapt in a rapidly evolving landscape.
Topics Introduction—0:00 How Law Firm Business Models Drive Political Risk-Taking and Brand Fallout – 01:49 Inside the Law Firm Model: Power Partners, Payout Structures, and Why Change is So Hard—09:02 Challenges with hourly billing and how law firm economics are misaligned with client value—16:32 Why Ken left the law firm world for legal ops at Uber—26:34 Moving to value-based pricing and how it impacted Uber’s legal spend—30:10 Why predictability in pricing is often more important than savings—34:21 How AI is disrupting law firm pricing, staffing, and the associate career path—37:33 How In-House Teams Can Improve Law Firm Relationships, Reduce Spend, and Drive Change—49:14 Rapid-fire questions—56:25
Connect with us: Ken Callander - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kencallander/ Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 107: From Big Law to GC Before 35: Andrew Epstein's Journey on Navigating Modern Legal Careers
10 Jul 2025
00:56:59
In this episode of The Abstract, host Tyler Finn sits down with Andrew Epstein, General Counsel of Demandbase, for a candid conversation on building a legal career rooted in curiosity, intentionality, and creative risk-taking. From starting his career in the GC’s office of the Washington Nationals to handling high-stakes spinouts at LiveRamp, Andrew shares how he made bold choices, built trust across functions, and scaled legal teams strategically. He dives deep into building legal ops, leveraging AI thoughtfully, and what it really takes to thrive as a first-time GC. A must-listen for in-house leaders, aspiring GCs, and legal professionals navigating a rapidly evolving legal landscape.
Topics Introduction – 00:00 Andrew’s intentional path to law school and first job at a GC’s office – 02:28 Working for the Washington Nationals and using that experience to stand out – 04:38 Choosing O’Melveny for its cross-office structure and California links – 08:10 From Capital Markets to Privacy: Why Andrew Left Big Law for In-House at LiveRamp – 09:49 Managing complex transactions: M&A, spinout from Axiom, NYSE listing – 17:18 Privacy, Adtech, and Proving Your Value in a Changing Legal Team – 22:04 Getting hired as GC at Demandbase through cross-functional trust – 27:33 Scaling the legal team intentionally for IPO readiness – 29:41 Growing as a first-time GC through peer mentorship – 32:43 Building a lean, flexible team that integrates AI and legal ops – 35:35 Encouraging AI experimentation over shiny tools – 40:08 Rapid-fire Question – 46:04
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 106: Scaling Legal at Speed – Lessons from Carta, Cockroach Labs, and More
03 Jul 2025
00:20:05
What does it take to scale a legal team in high-growth environments? In this special bonus episode of The Abstract, we feature insights from five legal leaders who have each helped their organisations scale — and survived the chaos that comes with it.
From building global teams at Carta to laying the legal foundation at early-stage startups, our guests reflect on the personal and professional lessons learned along the way. You’ll hear how legal ops, AI adoption, prioritisation frameworks, and even IKEA furniture assembly play a role in building agile, resilient legal teams. Whether you're the first lawyer in the door or leading a 50-person department, this episode is packed with takeaways for legal professionals navigating scale.
Topics Introduction - 0:00 April Lindauer, GC at Carta, on scaling legal from 200 to 2000 employees post-Series C – 0:35 Adam Becker, Head of Legal Ops at Cockroach Labs, on building connective legal infrastructure and enabling smarter AI adoption – 2:42 David Cowen, Founder of The Cowen Group, on legal ops maturity and leading in the age of AI agents – 4:54 Tommie Tavares-Ferreira, Chief Strategy Officer, Lawtrades, on aligning legal priorities with business impact and enabling cross-functional trust – 8:52 Jordan Hatcher, Co-Founder & CLO/COO, The Grid, on scaling legal internationally and staying grounded through hypergrowth – 14:11
Connect with us: Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 105: Punishing the Victim: What's Broken in Cybersecurity Law
26 Jun 2025
00:48:59
What if the legal system punishes the victim instead of the attacker? That question drives Andy Lunsford, founder and CEO of BreachRx, to rethink how companies prepare for and respond to data breaches.
In this episode, Andy joins host Tyler Finn to share his journey from litigation consultant to legal tech entrepreneur—and why he believes incident response should be treated like any other core business process. Separating privileges from factual records to rethinking executive liability, Andy offers practical insights for legal counsels navigating a regulatory maze, rising risk, and increasing accountability.
Topics Introduction – 00:00 Andy’s path into privacy law: From philosophy to shaping early FTC breach cases—02:07 The shift from rare black swan breaches to everyday business risk—6:19 How GDPR’s 72-hour rule changed incident response expectations – 08:54 Founding Beacon Group: bridging litigation, incident response, and expert testimony—13:53 The law punishes victims: why breach response is legally broken—16:53 Defending the defenders: Mental toll and leadership under breach pressure—21:00 Personal Risk in Cybersecurity: Why CISOs and Legal Leaders Need Protection Too – 22:48 How GCs Can Prepare for Breaches: Building Systems, Not Just Plans—27:28 Rising executive accountability: how GCs can protect their teams and companies—32:23 From legal consultant to tech CEO: building BreachRx as a category-defining platform—34:49 The challenge of early-market education and building industry standards—40:52 Rapid-fire Questions—42:35
Connect with us: Andy Lunsford - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andersonlunsford/ Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 104: Jack of All Trades, Master of Risk: How Joon Park Navigates Modern Legal Work
19 Jun 2025
00:38:14
In this episode of The Abstract, host Tyler Finn is joined by Joon Park, Chief Legal Officer at Extend Enterprises, Inc., for a candid conversation about building a legal career defined by integrity, adaptability, and curiosity.
From navigating the collapse of Refco early in his career to leading legal at high-growth fintech companies, Joon shares how high-pressure moments shaped his risk mindset and leadership style. He unpacks why startups need legal guidance from day one, how to embed compliance without slowing down, and why modern legal counsel must be both partner and protector. Along the way, Joon reflects on finding purpose, embracing uncertainty, and staying curious through every chapter.
Topics Introduction - 00:00 Early career influences: philosophy, parenting, and curiosity - 01:54 Holistic thinking and law as systems navigation – 05:00 Transitioning from Big Law to in-house for financial security – 07:01 Refco collapse: a crash course in legal ethics and resilience – 10:35 Risk mindset: documenting decisions and staying aligned – 14:05 Generalist vs. specialist: finding fit during the Citigroup bailout – 17:02 Moving to startups: autonomy, prioritisation, and risk ownership – 21:59 Legal as an enabler, not a blocker, in startup environments – 24:35 Building scalable compliance without killing speed – 26:17 Legal’s role in shaping company culture and accountability – 28:21 Following curiosity to stay motivated and engaged – 30:19 Rapid-fire Questions – 32:21
Connect with us: Joon Park - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joon-park-147a9a92/ Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 103: Building What Doesn't Exist Yet: Inside the Legal Career of Tommie Tavares-Ferreira
05 Jun 2025
00:51:49
In this special episode of The Abstract, host Tyler Finn speaks with Tommie Tavares-Ferreira, newly appointed Chief Strategy Officer at Lawtrades and longtime legal ops leader, community builder, and podcast host.
Tommie walks us through her unconventional path from the music industry to Peloton, Rakuten, Cedar, and now the executive team at Lawtrades. She shares lessons on scaling companies, embracing curiosity, balancing parenting with leadership, and how legal ops leaders can (and should) step into strategy roles. It’s a personal, powerful conversation about evolving careers, future tech, and the next phase of legal work.
Topics: Introduction: 0:00 Tommie’s early career in music, HBO, and the spirit of DIY creativity: 2:26 Legal ops as a career by necessity, not design: 5:03 Legal ops as a creative discipline and never-ending work: 6:53 Helping businesses scale through legal ops alignment and prioritization: 8:39 Love of technology, fears of automation, and the case for balance: 13:46 Bringing legal teams into the AI journey and overcoming resistance: 19:24 Why Tommie joined Lawtrades and what she hopes to build: 24:55 Legal ops as strategy and expanding the role into go-to-market leadership: 33:15 The glass ceiling in legal ops and the need for executive pathing: 36:52 Rapid-fire questions: 41:17
Connect with us: Tommie Tavares-Ferreira - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommie/ Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues.
Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 102: What Comes After Legal Ops? A Conversation with David Cowen
03 Jun 2025
00:52:36
In this special live-recorded episode of The Abstract from CLOC in Las Vegas, host Tyler Finn sits down with David Cowen, founder of The Cowen Group and creator of the SOLID Summit Series.
David shares his journey from staffing to shaping the legal ops ecosystem, the moment he foresaw the rise of e-discovery, and why community is the most powerful response to chaos. He discusses the evolution of legal operations, the future of AI and agentic teams, and why trusting your talent matters more than ever. From frameworks on scaling legal to using ChatGPT as an executive coach, this episode offers a playbook for building a career and community in a rapidly changing industry.
Topics: Intro: 00:00 David's career journey: From staffing to community building: 2:22 The moment he discovered e-discovery's potential: 5:10 How TED Talks inspired the SOLID Summit format: 6:49 Chaos as the ideal condition for community building: 8:43 Overbuilding in legal tech: problem or opportunity?: 10:52 Spotting innovation through curiosity, not prediction: 13:02 Legal Ops turns 10: What’s next for the profession?: 17:33 Climbing the legal career “jungle gym,” not a ladder: 21:03 How to manage anxiety and disruption in an AI-driven future: 25:53 On coaching, preparation, and using ChatGPT as a partner: 28:25 Legal Ops’ evolving role in helping businesses scale: 32:49 The future of legal tech: use cases and AI agents: 37:12 The GC as catalyst: Top-down transformation is here: 39:46 Creators, Builders, Consumers: Who shapes the industry?: 42:54 What excites David most about the next 10 years: 45:35 Rapid-fire Questions: 47:25
Connect with us: David Cowen – https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidcowen/ Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues.
Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 101: How Legal Ops Became the Center of Strategy with Adam Becker, Cockroach Labs
29 May 2025
00:38:04
What does it mean to lead legal operations when there’s no clear blueprint?
In this episode of The Abstract, host Tyler Finn sits down with Adam Becker, Director of Legal Operations at Cockroach Labs and board member at CLOC, for a candid conversation about evolving careers, scaling legal departments, and the growing scope of legal ops. From breaking the “lawyer mold” to embracing AI-native strategies, Adam shares personal lessons on confidence, curiosity, leadership, and why legal ops is entering a new season of strategic impact.
The discussion also explores how CLOC’s community and resources help elevate the field, and why every legal ops professional should see themselves as a partner to the GC — not just a process owner.
Topics Introduction and career arc overview: 0:00 Early clues that pointed to process thinking: 1:14 Breaking out of the lawyer mold and recognizing transferable skills: 2:09 Confidence, curiosity, and pivoting into legal ops: 5:51 Driving impact at MetLife and Endeavor: 8:33 Why legal ops requires conviction, not just thick skin: 11:09 The people-process-tech triangle — and why “people” matters more: 14:13 Culture and collaboration at Cockroach Labs: 16:36 Balancing scale with flexibility in a fast-growing company: 18:53 How legal ops has evolved through CLOC’s growth: 21:14 Is legal ops at a crossroads? And what’s CLOC’s role in the future?: 26:22 Rapid Fire: 32:59
Connect with us: Adam Becker - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-becker-896a7a3/ Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues.
Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 100: Community as Strategy: Your Guide to Growth with Tyler Finn
27 May 2025
01:13:50
In the 100th episode of The Abstract, the mic flips as SpotDraft’s Chief of Staff, Nakta Alaghebandan, interviews our podcast’s usual host and creator, Tyler Finn.
From his start in public policy to shaping one of the most influential legal communities at SpotDraft, Tyler shares the pivotal career moments, risky leaps, and trust-building lessons that defined his path. He reflects on navigating early career detours, becoming a privacy leader despite skepticism, and building trust from scratch with executive stakeholders and customers.
The conversation dives deep into community-building philosophy, the value of calculated risk, and how Tyler sees “increasing your surface area” as the most underutilized career growth strategy. You'll also hear how the podcast came to life, what he’s learned after 100 episodes, and his advice for creating lasting impact — with humility, humour, and heart.
Topics Introduction: 0:00 Tyler’s early pivot from public policy to legal tech: 3:15 Choosing privacy despite warnings against it: 5:40 Building trust after entering a low-trust role: 8:33 Becoming the go-to for high-anxiety customer: 12:04 Why cross-functional thinking matters in legal leadership: 15:52 Sitting in the grey: layoffs, uncertainty, and consulting: 19:03 Taking calculated risks and trusting your gut: 22:51 From outsider to community leader at TechGC: 25:20 What real community building looks like: 29:28 How to design a community where people actually open up: 30:55 Building trust and reputation intentionally: 31:25 How SpotDraft went from a consulting client to employer: 36:26 Community as a future-facing marketing strategy: 40:18 How Tyler now evaluates executive teams and companies: 43:22 Why the CEO and executive team matter more than you think: 46:33 What great executive teams do to support internal community: 47:42 Why Tyler launched The Abstract and his goals for it: 50:12 Personal lessons from 100 episodes: 56:04 “Increasing your surface area” and embracing uncertainty: 1:01:56 Favourite part of the day: 1:05:12 Professional pet peeve: 1:06:11 Book recommendations: 1:07:09 Advice to younger self: 1:11:21
Connect with us: Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn Nakta Alaghebandan - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nakta/ SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 99: Resilience, Wellness, and the Law: Keita de Souza on Building a Sustainable Legal Career
22 May 2025
00:51:10
Download the AI Impact Report now: https://www.spotdraft.com/ai-impact-report-2025
What does it take to thrive in law without losing yourself in the process?
In this episode of The Abstract, host Tyler Finn is joined by Keita de Souza, General Counsel of Ryse and a former big law attorney turned wellness advocate, for a conversation that redefines what it means to be successful in legal practice. From pushing herself to burnout in her early law firm years to navigating the emotional toll of winding down a startup, Keita opens up about how personal health crises sparked a shift toward sustainability, intentionality, and self-compassion.
Keita discusses her unique path from big law to in-house roles, the lessons learned from yoga and physical setbacks, and how she’s learned to prioritize both career and care. She also shares what it was like to lead legal through the closure of a company — and why she decided to take the leap again with a new startup. This episode is a candid and empowering look at resilience, leadership, and how to keep your center while leading others.
Topics Introduction: 0:00 Early years in Big Law and unsustainable pace: 3:07 Physical breakdowns and health wake-up calls: 5:2 Small habits that transformed wellness: 11:42 Transitioning from law firm to in-house counsel: 13:30 Differences Between Law Firm and In-House Legal Work: 14:54 Developing Wind-Down Strategies and Daily Resets: 18:50 Aggressive Self-Care Days: A Personal Practice: 18:55 Leading Through a Company Wind-Down: 23:05 Staying Grounded in Crisis: Leading with Calm and Integrity: 26:57 How yoga helped her survive high-stress moments: 29:11 Starting over as General Counsel at Ryse: 30:22 Balancing ambition with intentional self-care: 32:12 Redefining legal excellence beyond perfectionism: 34:15 Building confidence and shedding self-doubt: 39:03 Daily Rituals for Reset and Recovery: 42:35 Professional Pet Peeves: 44:23 Book Recommendations: 46:37 Advice to Younger Self: 49:32
Connect with us: Keita de Souza - https://www.linkedin.com/in/keitadesouza/ Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues.
Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 98: Breaking the Silence: Legal Leaders Talk Mental Health
14 May 2025
00:23:47
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so we’ve pulled together some of the most vital stories from some of the star legal and business experts we’ve featured on The Abstract about managing stress, achieving a healthy work/life balance, dealing with tragedies at home, leaving toxic working environments and more. Keep listening and feel inspired to make a positive change in your life and career.
Ep 97: From First Legal Hire to EMEA GC with Volker Weisshaar, Sonos
30 Apr 2025
00:54:10
What's it like to be the first European legal hire for a fast-growing tech company? How do you build out a European legal team? And where is the European tech sector headed?
Join Volker Weisshaar, General Counsel EMEA at Sonos, as he talks about establishing and scaling European legal teams for US tech giants NetApp and Sonos, and what it takes to help these companies thrive in the regulation-heavy and culturally diverse landscape of the EU.
Listen as Volker discusses his approaches to hiring at NetApp and Sonos, taking on an operator function and getting your hands dirty as you build a new office, evolving your leadership style in a growing business, key differences between European and US regulations, and much more.
Topics Topics Introduction 0:00 Living and working in Amsterdam: 2:24 Europe’s tech and startup scene: 2:27 What motivated Volker to become a tech lawyer: 3:44 Being the first European legal hire at Sonos and NetApp: 11:10 Approaches to building out a legal team: 14:54 Being a lawyer and an operator: 16:52 Joining Sonos: 19:01 Evolving as a leader: 23:12 Managing your relationship with a global CLO: 26:10" Differences between US and EU regulations: 28:48 Europe’s start-up scene and regulation: 34:41 Biggest challenges at Sonos: 40:24 Leveraging AI: 44:41 Proudest accomplishments at Sonos: 47:29 Rapid-fire questions: 49:07
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 96: Scaling Teams from 80 to 800 with Jordan Hatcher, Co-Founder, CLO, and COO of The Grid
24 Apr 2025
00:57:38
How do you make the move from building a legal career in the US to one in Europe, scale one of Europe's hottest unicorns, and transition to launching your own start-up?
Join Jordan Hatcher, co-founder, CLO, and COO of The Grid, a blockchain-based tech start-up, as he shares his experience as a Texas-born lawyer living and working across Europe in senior counsel roles at Optimizely, ARM, and Hewlett Packard before joining Staffbase as GC and ultimately co-founding his own cutting-edge Web3 company.
Listen as Jordan discusses his early work writing and advocating for open data licenses, offers advice to US companies looking to build or scale in Europe, explains the value of a well-timed career break, and much more.
Topics Introduction: 0:00 Living in Amsterdam: 3:08 Working in IP, Web3, civil liberties law: 5:54 Collaborating with engineers at HP and ARM: 8:14 Open source data and standards making: 10:37 A throughline from open source to Web3 Leading legal at Staffbase: 14:57 Signs that you’re overworking: 19:22 Dual perspectives on business culture in the US and Europe: 23:40 Building a business in Europe: 26:50 Biggest accomplishments at Staffbase: 29:58 When to leave a GC role: 31:38 Taking a career break: 35:38 Diving into Web3 with The Grid: 36:30 Reflecting on entrepreneurship: 39:40 Starting a non-profit: 46:16 Raising a child with a disability: 48:56 Rapid-fire questions: 53:39
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 95: How Adidas Is Scaling Legal Ops with Alex Herrity, Director, Global Legal Solutions
17 Apr 2025
00:52:35
Where is the legal innovation space headed? Is this an area where European businesses are actually investing more deeply than their American counterparts? And how can you transition your team to focus more on innovation and a little less on the law?
Join Alex Herrity, Director of Global Legal Solutions at Adidas, as he offers expert takes on the future of legal tech and legal ops, including adopting new technology like AI, leaning into change management, scaling innovations globally, and more.
Listen as Alex discusses his transition from lawyer to “legal tech guy,” the growing acceptance of ops roles in inhouse legal departments, legal innovation’s big moment, hosting the Law://WhatsNext podcast, and much more.
Topics Introduction: 0:00 A big moment for legal innovation: 2:33 Characterizing legal innovation: 5:28 From lawyer to legal ops director: 7:50 Adopting technology vs. change management: 9:12 Avoiding mistakes in legal tech: 15:41 Leading with AI: 18:52 Deciding to be a lawyer: 21:09 Becoming a “legal tech guy”: 26:18 Directing global legal ops for Adidas: 27:40 Managing teams in multiple countries: 30:54 The future of legal ops at Adidas: 34:21 Advice to future legal ops professionals: 36:50 Hosting the Law://WhatsNext podcast: 42:24 Rapid-fire questions: 46:02
Ep 94: Why Legal Teams Break and How to Fix Them with Manu Kanwar, CEO LexSolutions
15 Apr 2025
00:59:19
How important is the culture of an organization to its success? How can legal leaders cultivate high-performing cultures for their teams and their companies? And why is this something that a lot of legal teams struggle with?
Join Manu Kanwar, Founder and CEO of LexSolutions, as he shares how he improves his clients’ legal teams and why he focuses on strategy, culture, and relationships as the cornerstones of legal innovation.
Listen as Manu discusses strategies for changing work cultures, fixing toxic situations, and maintaining a healthy self-image, why he left Yahoo! after ten years to start his own legal consulting firm, the problem with “doing more with less,” and much more.
Topics Introduction 0:00 Founding LexSolutions after ten years at Yahoo!: 2:07 Approaches to legal innovation: 5:07 Shifting cultures: 7:11 The rewards and challenges of consulting: 9:44 What’s wrong with “do more with less?”: 12:14 Why corporate culture is so hard to get right: 19:25 Who is responsible for changing culture? 26:22 Reinforcing psychological safety: 31:06 Fixing toxic cultures: 32:38 Advice to lawyers in toxic situations: 34:16 Why lawyers struggle with self-image: 41:48 Considering authenticity: 45:58 How to connect with Manu: 52:44 Rapid-fire questions: 53:07
How do you navigate a crisis? Data breaches, bank collapses, CEO transitions, and global recessions are just a few of the hazards that can challenge general counsels and other executives and threaten the future of their businesses.
In this episode, we’re sharing stories of resilience and tough lessons learned from some of the legal and business leaders who have joined us on The Abstract. Keep listening for advice that could prove handy in an emergency.
Vanessa Wu, GC at Rippling, on surviving the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank: 0:42
Joe Sullivan, CEO of Joe Sullivan Security, on the personal fallout from a data breach at Uber: 7:45
Heath Tarbert, Chief Legal Officer and Head of Corporate Affairs at Circle, on gaining career momentum from the great recession: 12:40
Kristin Sverchek, former President of Lyft, dealing with executive roles and hiring during a crisis: 15:07
Dan Haley, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Guild, on managing CEO transitions in a time of crisis: 18:25
Sean West, Co-Founder at Hence Technologies, on how general counsels can get better at navigating political risks: 21:55
Chelsea Grayson, Managing Partner of Corporate Restructuring at Pivot , on sitting on a corporate board during a crisis: 24:21
Connect with us: Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues.
Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 92: Why I Left the Big Firm Life to Feed Dogs with Tim Hirsch, GC of Mars Science and Diagnostics
03 Apr 2025
00:55:40
Can your pets inspire you and shape the direction of your career? How can practicing abroad open doors? And what personal and professional lessons can you draw from training for and completing an Ironman triathlon?
Join Tim Hirsch, General Counsel at Mars Science and Diagnostics, as he talks about making transitions: from practicing law in the EU to practicing in the US; working in-house at huge companies like Mastercard to becoming Head of Legal at Collibra, a ten-person start-up; taking the leap to co-found his own business, DoggyChef; and leveraging that experience in pet care into his current role as GC at one of the biggest names in the industry.
Listen as Tim discusses the different expectations on lawyers in the US versus Europe, how to have influence in a huge in-house legal team, what it takes to turn an idea into a company, operating a start-up while working full-time, and much more.
Topics Introduction 0:00 Starting a legal career in Europe: 4:27 Bringing a different perspective to in-house legal: 8:59 Becoming Head of Legal at Collibra: 11:25 Learning business skills on the job: 14:24 Developing the confidence to start a business: 20:02 Co-founding DoggyChef: 21:29 Moving into a GC role at Mars Petcare: 30:08 Switching between large and small organizations: 34:58 Training for an Ironman triathlon: 39:34 Rapid-fire questions: 49:36
Ep 91: Why Legal Work Will Never Be the Same with SpotDraft's Shashank Bijapur and Akshay Verma
27 Mar 2025
00:44:08
Why is technology the right leverage point for improving how a legal team works together? What did it take to start and sustainably grow SpotDraft? And how do you transition from a more traditional legal career to one leading a legal tech business?
Join Shashank Bijapur, SpotDraft’s Co-Founder & CEO and Akshay Verma, SpotDraft’s COO as they sit down with Tyler Finn at the SpotDraft Summit 2025 and break down their journeys from lawyers to tech executives and legal innovators.
Listen as Shashank and Akshay discuss the origins of Spotdraft, offer their expert predictions on the future of legal work and AI, explain why legal operations professionals should aim for COO roles, and much more.
Topics Introduction: 0:00 What inspired Shashank to start SpotDraft: 2:38 Leading strong customer success teams: 4:40 Approaches to fundraising: 6:38 Looking back on Legal Ops at Facebook: 9:14 Where is the legal ops profession headed?: 11:45 Hiring a legal ops professional for COO roles: 13:06 Seeing yourself as a lawyer in the business world: 15:48 Building balance on an executive team: 18:19 Advice to lawyers looking to pivot: 21:27 How AI will evolve the way in-house teams work?: 25:06 Will lawyers accept AI risks?: 27:52 The future of law firms and AI: 32:50 Rapid-fire questions: 38:52
Ep 90: From Engineer to Top Lawyer at Adobe and Microsoft with Dana Rao
21 Mar 2025
00:58:03
How do you make the transition from IP lawyer to general counsel in a typical path? Help Adobe navigate a transition to the cloud, and then the AI era? And make time for your family through all the ups and downs?
Join Dana Rao, former general counsel at Adobe and IP and Licensing expert at Microsoft, as he discusses how he capitalized on his electrical engineering background to skyrocket himself from a patent attorney to the forefront of some of the most consequential technology decisions of the last two decades—including topics like copyright, AI, litigation, and more.
Listen as Dana explains how he became invaluable to Janet Reno’s justice department, how to make ethical business decisions, influencing legislation to combat patent trolls, and more more.
Topics Introduction: 0:00 Relaxing and writing after retirement: 2:23 Transitioning from electrical engineer to DC lawyer: 10:51 Doing the right thing for your company and the world: 21:48 Leaving politics to become tech counsel: 27:21 Combating patent trolls: 36:03 From Microsoft to Adobe general counsel: 41:42 Rapid-fire questions: 51:48
Ep 89: From Hackathon to Legal Game-Changer with Hannah Konitshek, Founder, Legal.io
13 Mar 2025
00:43:08
How do you build a legal marketplace with more than 75,000 community members? Find the right investors to join you on the journey? And help the business navigate the inevitable pivots that will come along with its growth?
Join Hannah Konitshek, COO and Founder of Legal.io, Business Operations and Strategy, as she dives deep into the business of legal tech, and how a relationship built during a hackathon transformed into the premiere marketplace for in-house legal talent.
Listen as Hannah explains how attending law school in San Francisco guided her legal career, founding and growing a start-up with a legal background, how to balance your convictions with investors, and learning that the biggest risk is not taking a big enough swing.
Topics Introduction: 0:00 Going into legal tech directly from law school: 2:10 Do law schools prepare students for careers outside big law?: 6:25 Getting started with Legal.io: 9:20 Defining yourself as a “second-term founder”: 11:31 Hannah on conviction and experimentation: 14:50 Approaching fundraising: 19:06 Advice to business leaders on pivots: 23:21 How Legal.io works with AI: 28:45 Upcoming trends in the legal hiring market: 30:47 The future of Legal.io: 36:04 Rapid-fire questions: 37:29
Ep 88: From Prosecutor to Security Leader – Joe Sullivan (ex-CSO: Uber, Facebook, Cloudflare)
11 Mar 2025
00:54:05
How do you make the transition from federal prosecutor to security leader? Help secure some of the world's largest technology companies? And build yourself back up after being convicted by a federal jury for your company's handling of a data breach?
Join Joe Sullivan, CEO of Joe Sullivan Security and the non-profit Ukraine Friends, as he reflects on the trial and sentencing he endured for a data breach at Uber to interpret the manifold challenges the chief security officers face each day.
Listen as Joe shares his journey from the first full-time cyber federal prosecutor in the country to legal and security leader at eBay, Paypal, Facebook, Uber, and Cloudflare, why lawyers need to work closely with security teams, the relationship between security and privacy, and much more.
Topics Introduction: 0:00 Becoming the CEO of Ukraine Friends: 2:43 Getting a start in cyber: 13:55 Transitioning from tech-savvy prosecutor to trust and safety at eBay and Paypal: 17:18 Taking on security at Facebook: 22:20 The challenges that face chief security officers: 24:03 How legal teams and security can work better together: 26:23 The difference between a chief security officer and a CISO: 30:03 Navigating the fallout of the data breach at Uber: 32:02 Working at Cloudflare during the Uber trial: 37:21 Building a private security practice: 38:28 Joe’s biggest learnings from the trial: 44:01 Rapid-fire questions: 46:08
Ep 87: Building a Culture of Integrity with Rob Chestnut, former Airbnb Chief Ethics Officer
06 Mar 2025
00:51:43
What role does integrity need to play in your company's culture? How can legal teams and corporate leaders foster it? And where do you get started if you want to write a book on it?
Join Rob Chesnut, author of Intentional Integrity: How Smart Companies Can Lead an Ethical Revolution, as he discusses his path from prosecutor at the Department of Justice to tech industry legal leader at eBay, Chegg, and Airbnb, and how integrity and ethics became the cornerstone of both his career and his personal philosophy.
Listen as Rob discusses scaling global legal teams for some of the biggest disruptors in the world, embedding integrity into your company’s corporate culture, transitioning from general counsel to author and thought leader, and much more.
Topics Introduction: 0:00 Transitioning from prosecutor to tech counsel: 2:12 Joining eBay in the early years: 4:13 Building eBay’s trust and safety functions: 5:01 Making the leap to general counsel: 7:21 Reflecting on mentorship: 9:13 Knowing when to move on to new opportunities: 13:13 Leading legal at Airbnb: 15:50 Signature interview questions: 20:56 Developing the “Chief Ethics Officer” role: 23:04 Writing Intentional Integrity: 32:10 How a company can start their integrity program: 34:31 The changing integrity landscape: 41:13 How to contact Rob: 42:50 Rapid-fire questions: 44:07
Ep 86: Why In-House Lawyers Need Each Other with Shai Mehani, CEO In-House Connect
27 Feb 2025
01:03:05
Why build a big tent community of in-house lawyers without restrictions on who can join? How do you manage the transition from in-house lawyer to founder? And can you keep space for your religious faith during the process?
Join Shai Mehani, co-founder and CEO of In-House Connect, as he shares why he left his career as a corporate counsel behind to lead a thriving community of more than fifty thousand in-house lawyers that offers connection, education, professional advancement and more.
Listen as Shai discusses his journey from matrimonial law to corporate counsel, transforming a regular meetup for lawyers into an extraordinary organization, finding unexpected benefits in fractional work, the best way to quit a job, and the importance of prioritizing personal faith and family over your career.
Topics Introduction: 0:00 Why Shai went to law school: 2:46 Starting his legal career in matrimonial law: 5:34 The beginnings of In-House Connect: 12:49 Expanding beyond NYC and online: 19:45 Taking an inclusive big tent approach: 23:47 Taking on fractional work: 30:15 Going all-in on In-House Connect: 36:52 The best way to quit job: 42:47 Finding guidance in your faith: 46:00 What’s next for In-House Connect: 50:09 How to contact Shai and get involved: 55:29 Rapid-fire questions: 56:17
Ep 85: From Coding to the C-Suite with Ryan Nier, GC Nova Credit
25 Feb 2025
01:00:36
What if you never really wanted or expected to become a lawyer? How do you navigate imposter syndrome? And where do you find meaning in your work?
Join Ryan Nier, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Head of People at Nova Credit, as he shares his career path from being a self-taught computer programmer who founded his own start-up to a decade as a litigation associate at a global law firm, eventually landing as a general counsel at companies with a positive impact on the world.
Listen as Ryan discusses his struggles with imposter syndrome, feeling like the only person in the room with a unique background, hiring great people for roles you’ve never done before, and his side project of creating a documentary podcast about the time he and his brother dug up some (literal) buried gold.
Topics Introduction 0:00 Starting as a software engineer: 2:17 Enrolling in law school: 5:34 Managing imposter syndrome: 9:58 Hiring diverse talent: 16:44 Why representation matters: 23:42 Transitioning to in-house legal: 27:08 Making the leap to general counsel: 32:22 Expanding beyond legal into the people function: 39:52 Creating and hosting a podcast about your family: 45:18 Rapid-fire questions: 53:30
Ep 84: Why Lawyers Struggle with Communication with Briefly CEO Adam Stofsky
20 Feb 2025
01:04:07
Is it possible to carve out a meaningful career in law by following your passions? What's harder: building a non-profit or a business? What do lawyers have to learn from animators?
Join Adam Stofsky, CEO of Briefly and founder of the New Media Advocacy Project, as he shares how he used high-production documentary video to advocate for human rights across the globe and started a company to help lawyers better communicate with their clients.
Listen as Adam discusses the challenges of non-litigation career paths, founding nonprofit and for-profit companies, the trauma of human rights work, working with creative professionals like animators and voice actors, the importance of bearing witness to human rights abuses, and much more.
Topics: Introduction: 0:00 Why Adam wanted to become a lawyer: 2:29 Starting your career at Debevoise & Plimpton: 5:48 Transitioning into human rights work: 7:20 Founding the non-profit New Media Advocacy Project: 10:48 Dealing with the challenges of human rights advocacy: 17:52 Adam’s biggest accomplishments at NMAP: 23:18 Living on a farm in Upstate New York: 26:20 Founding Briefly: 33:38 Helping lawyers communicate better: 43:46 Lessons from creative professionals: 47:26 Expanding Briefly’s customer base: 50:27 Rapid-fire questions: 56:33 Book recommendations: 59:20
Ep 83: The 2025 Legal Ops Playbook with Brightflag's Kevin Cohn & Priori's Matt Wheatley
14 Feb 2025
01:16:26
What does 2025 hold for legal tech and the legal ops profession? Will legal ops ever become a standard part of every in-house legal team?
Join us in this very special episode as Tyler invites Kevin Cohn, Chief Customer Officer at Brightflag, and Matt Wheatley, VP of Client Strategy at Priori, for a very special, no-holds-barred discussion about legal operations in an ever-changing industry.
Listen as Matt and Kevin share their thoughts on legal ops conferences, gender and wage disparities, whether legal ops is more of a legal role or an operational role, 2025’s uncomfortably tight labor market, AI disrupting the legal ops field, and much more.
Topics: Introduction: 0:00 Working with customer advisory boards: 3:11 Are there too many legal ops conferences?: 12:34 Connecting GCs and legal ops professionals: 20:10 Analyzing survey data: 34:52 Do you need a JD?: 40:28 Thoughts on hiring: 46:57 AI in the legal landscape: 53:04 Market consolidation: 57:19 Rapid-fire questions 1:04:44
Ep 82: How Carta Built a Legal Team from Scratch & Scaled 10X with April Lindauer, GC
06 Feb 2025
00:31:43
How do you build a fintech juggernaut and redefine how employees think about ownership in businesses, navigate regulatory roadblocks along the way, and build a global team to make it happen?
Join April Lindauer, General Counsel at Carta, as she discusses her start-up’s tremendous journey from 200 employees to more than 2000, as the software platform that allows users to manage equity, build businesses, and invest in the companies of tomorrow as they expand into an ever-growing list of international markets.
Listen as April offers tips for working with regulators, navigating several financing rounds, building out legal operations, working with great outside partners, and hiring the perfect team, and much more.
Topics: Introduction: 0:00 Joining Carta and overseeing tremendous growth: 1:58 Cultivating a career in financial services: 4:10 Carta’s growth from 200 employees to 2000: 6:26 Transitioning from deputy general counsel to general counsel: 8:23 Hiring for a global legal team: 12:30 Navigating the GC role during the COVID-19 pandemic: 14:34 Working with the executive team to make tough decisions: 16:57 Working with financial regulators: 18:22 Leading legal through multiple financing rounds: 22:21 Leveraging Carta’s wealth of data: 24:21 Rapid-fire questions: 27:48 Book recommendations: 29:00 What you wish you’d known as a young lawyer: 30:36
Ep 81: What Every GC Should Know About Working With Founders with Sarah Irwin
31 Jan 2025
00:42:01
How do you advise founders and learn to speak their language? Build a thriving legal community in Europe? And navigate the ups and downs of starting your own business?
Join Sarah Irwin, CEO and Founder of Irish Tech GC, as she discusses her career as a consultant for tech founders, adviser for GCs looking to build better relationships with their fellow executives, angel investor, and global legal influencer.
Listen as Sarah shares how she founded the Irish Tech GC community, why she decided it was time to leave her GC role behind and go all-in on her own company, how she leveraged LinkedIn to create enormous reach, and offers tips to GCs on how they can position themselves as business leaders.
Topics: Introduction: 0:00 What inspired Sarah to be a lawyer: 2:19 Assessing Dublin’s start-up landscape: 7:47 Working with founders at Tines: 9:44 Founding the Irish Tech GC community: 12:17 Seeing yourself as a founder: 15:12 Deciding to go all-in on your own company: 18:31 Operating a start-up and legal consulting practice: 20:01 Common mistakes that GCs make when working with founders: 21:51 Documenting the ups and downs of your founder journey on LinkedIn: 26:39 The best and most challenging parts of being a founder: 29:07 The future of Irish Tech GC: 33:01 Getting in touch with Sarah: 34:31 Rapid-fire questions: 35:15
Ep 80: Insights on Privacy with Ron De Jesus, the Industry's First Field Chief Privacy Officer
28 Jan 2025
00:45:01
How do you become a leader in the privacy space? Use video and content to make privacy and the profession more accessible? And define a whole new type of privacy role?
Join Ron De Jesus, Field Chief Privacy Officer at Transcend, as he shares what it’s like to be the first in the compliance industry to take on his innovative new role leading dialogues and creating spaces for discussion about the future of privacy. Pulling from his experience leading privacy at dating app companies like Grindr and Tinder and fashion houses like Tapestry and Coach, Ron leads with his extensive domain knowledge and first-hand understanding of privacy-related issues.
Listen as Ron discusses how he conducts interviews with privacy regulators, politicians, and activists in his video series “Field Notes,” the future of the CPO role in the age of AI, managing corporate reputations after privacy complaints, how to break into privacy without a law degree, and much more.
Topics: Introduction: 0:00 What is a Field Chief Privacy Officer?: 1:50 Producing a creative video webseries at Transcend: 6:54 Experimenting with video content as a freelance privacy consultant: 12:05 Coming into a role at a company dealing with privacy complaints: 15:50 Managing privacy-related communications issues: 19:01 Navigating a career break after alleging wrongful termination: 21:53 Thinking about new consent frameworks in the privacy industry: 24:40 How did you get your start in privacy?: 27:57 What is the future of the CPO role?: 33:56 Advice to young people who want to work in privacy: 36:19 How to find Ron: 39:34 Rapid-fire questions: 40:01 Book Recommendations: 41:28 What you wish you’d known as a young privacy professional: 42:42
Ep 79: Understanding the Future of Patent Law with Patsnap's Matt Veale
23 Jan 2025
00:28:28
How is the rise of AI going to affect the intellectual property field and patents? What are some common mistakes that GCs make when setting up a patent strategy? Or tips that our guest has learned from years as a patent examiner?
Join Matt Veale, European Patent Attorney and UPC at PatSnap, as he leads us into this podcast’s first-ever deep dive into all things patents and IP, sharing expert advice on the best way to work with examiners to bring your innovations to the world.
Listen as Matt discusses why he thinks IP is the most important thing in the world, the importance of data analytics, bridging the gap between lawyers and R&D, building a strong patent strategy, the future of IP law, and much more.
Topics: Introduction: 0:00 What inspired Matt to be a lawyer: 1:48 What does intellectual property law mean?: 3:40 Starting your legal career at the UK Intellectual Property Office: 5:11 Tips for people filing their first patent: 6:42 Interesting patent applications Matt has seen: 8:47 Tips for GCs who inherit corporate patents: 9:39 Looking for outside patent counsel: 11:55 Patent analytics at PatSnap: 13:44 The future of IP law: 16:38 AI as a tool for patent lawyers: 20:55 Contacting Matt: 25:23 Rapid-fire questions: 25:37 Book recommendations: 26:46 What Matt wishes he knew as a young lawyer: 27:17
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 78: Blueprint for the Ultimate Legal Ops Team with Steph Corey, CEO UpLevel Ops & Co-Founder LINK
21 Jan 2025
00:53:30
How can general counsels and legal operations leaders work better together? How do you cultivate a high-performance culture across your legal team? And what makes for a thriving community of legal ops professionals?
Join Steph Corey, CEO and Co-founder of UpLevel Ops and Link, the Legal Innovators Network, as she unpacks her career leading legal operations, starting at HP in the 90s, leading operations at Flex and VMware, co-founding the game-changing CLOC and Link conferences, and launching her own consultancy.
Listen as Steph discusses how she built community in an isolating legal role, whether or not you need a law degree to work in legal ops, how to hire the best talent for your team, and merging with The L Suite to bring general counsels into the legal operations conversation.
Introduction: 0:00 Switching to legal ops from finance: 2:50 Building trust with HP’s general counsel: 5:33 Co-founding CLOC, the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium: 11:21 Do you need a JD to break into legal operations?: 15:47 Tips for finding the right talent: 18:55 How can legal operations professionals and general counsels work better together?: 23:03 Co-founding Link: 28:44 Merging Link with The L Suite: 31:54 The future of her consultancy: 38:23 Connecting with Steph and LINK: 40:27 Rapid-fire questions: 41:11 Book Recommendations: 45:46 What you wish you’d known as a young legal ops professional: 49:30
Ep 77: Thriving Through Change: Insights from Ron Bell, Collective Health CLO and Former Yahoo! GC
14 Jan 2025
01:01:07
How do you help one of Silicon Valley's most iconic companies, Yahoo!, navigate years of change, stay engaged over almost two decades there, and make the move to health tech when you're ready for something new?
Join Ron Bell, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer at Collective Health, as he shares his journey from Chicago litigator and software programming hobbyist to in-house lawyer at some of the hottest tech companies in the world during the dotcom renaissance.
Listen as Ron offers his insights on how to navigate the constant and radical changes he’s seen in the tech industry over three decades, the importance of creating spaces of trust and transparency, establishing legal operations in legacy businesses, and why people are so afraid of lawyers.
Topics: Introduction: 0:00 Charting a career course after law school: 2:04 Leaving Illinois for the Bay Area: 3:44 Working in legal at Apple as a former programmer: 6:45 Leaving Apple for Yahoo!: 10:17 Growing and changing at the same company for 18 years: 13:22 Setting up legal operations at Yahoo!: 17:25 Becoming the second Chief Legal Officer at Collective Health: 21:30 Building a strong relationship with Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer: 23:04 Navigating constant change: 29:45 Coaching your staff to be more accessible: 35:00 Paying attention to stock fluctuations: 39:13 Reflections on the maturing tech industry: 42:59 Deciding to move into healthcare: 46:50 Being open and candid with your colleagues: 48:45 Rapid-fire questions: 54:57
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 76: Lawtrades Co-Founders on Creating a Gig Economy for Lawyers
09 Jan 2025
00:57:10
How are marketplaces for legal work transforming the way that we work and the way that we live, creating opportunities for a better match between what you need from work and the work that you do?
Join Lawtrades co-founders Raad Ahmed and Ashish Walia, as they discuss their path from dissatisfied law school graduates to running a powerhouse legal services startup that links white collar freelancers to legal departments, with $9.7 million in venture backing and $12 million in annual recurring revenue.
Listen as Raad and Ashish talk about taking the leap to start a company, making difficult business pivots, working with leading startup accelerators, bringing the management suite into the gig economy, democratizing opportunities for entrepreneurial lawyers, building strong relationships with clients and investors, and much more.
Topics: Introduction: 0:00 Why two start-up founders went to law school: 2:04 Deciding to go all in on your start-up: 5:46 Participating in the 500 Startup accelerator: 10:49 Pivoting your business model to match talent with legal departments: 17:58 Is gig work good for workers?: 20:33 Cultivating a diverse and gender equitable talent pool: 25:18 Removing administrative burden for independent legal professionals: 28:17 Changing course and enduring layoffs: 30:09 Getting buy-in from team members and investors: 35:30 Managing stressful times in business and coming out the other side: 39:56 What’s next for Lawtrades?: 43:34 Rapid-fire questions: 46:36 Book recommendations: 50:13 What you wish you’d known as a young founder: 53:19
Ep 75: Must-Read Books for Legal Professionals in 2025 | Bonus Episode
03 Jan 2025
00:18:21
What are the top books that every legal leader needs to read to succeed in the new year?
At the close of each episode, Tyler asks our guests what book they would recommend to our audience, and we’re kicking off 2025 with this year’s list of must-read books that you need to check out. Listen to hear titles that these CEOs, start-up founders, and GCs can’t live without.
Joe Green, Chief Innovation Officer Gunderson Dettmer, recommends Leading Professionals: Power, Politics, and Prima Donnas by Laura Empson: 0:42
Rachel Olchowka, General Counsel & Chief People Officer at Fetch recommends Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility by Patty McCord: 1:34
Dan Haley, General Counsel at Guild Education recommends Helping Your Business Win by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford: 2:39
Chelsea Grayson, Managing Partner at Pivot, recommends Quench Your Own Thirst: Business Lessons Learned Over a Beer or Two by Jim Koch: 5:51
Aaron Gregory, CEO of Upwardly, recommends The Right It: Why So Many Ideas Fail and How to Make Sure Yours Succeed by Alberto Savoia: 7:38
Jasmine Singh, General Counsel at Ironclad, recommends The Practice of Groundedness: A Transformative Path to Success That Feeds--Not Crushes--Your Soul by Brad Stulberg: 10:03
Sean West, Co-Founder of Hence Technologies, recommends The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century's Greatest Dilemma by Michael Bhaskar and Mustafa Suleyman: 12:56
Jules Polonetsky, CEO of Future of Privacy, recommends: Privacy Is Hard and Seven Other Myths by JH Hoepman: 14:17
Heath Tarbert, Chief Legal Officer at Circle, recommends The Enchiridion of Epictetus: 14:57
Matt Tanielian, Co-Founder of Franklin Square Group, recommends How to Talk Dirty and Influence People: An Autobiography by Lenny Bruce: 16:21
Connect with us: Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues.
Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 74: Advice to Young Lawyers | Bonus Episode
30 Dec 2024
00:15:20
What’s the best advice you can offer to young lawyers who are just starting their careers? What do you wish you’d known then that you know now?
These are the questions we ask each of our guests at the end of every episode of The Abstract. Listen to some of our favorite answers from the legal leaders and C-suite executives who visited the podcast in 2024 and hear tips about trusting your gut, building strong relationships, taking surprising career paths, and much more.
Topics: Introduction: 0:00 Adam Greenberg, former General Counsel at Warby Parker and Ro, on being a lawyer who doesn’t litigate: 0:33 Christine Uri, founder of ESG for In-House Counsel, on the value of building relationships: 1:24 Jasmine Singh, General Counsel at Ironclad, on trusting your gut: 2:54 Matt Campobasso, General Counsel at Enfusion, on exploring self-doubt: 4:15 Sarah Feingold, playwright and former counsel at Etsy and Vroom, on not doing everything yourself: 6:33 Chelsea Grayson, Managing Partner at Pivot >, on centering business solutions: 8:26 Ben Klein, CEO at Aero, on not putting pressure on yourself: 9:59 Joe Green, Chief Innovation Officer at Gunderson Dettmer, on experimenting early in your career: 11:23 Kristin Sverchek, President of Lyft, on imposter syndrome: 13:46
Ep 73: All Things Contracts with Laura Frederick, CEO of How to Contract
23 Dec 2024
00:57:23
How do you avoid common mistakes in commercial contract negotiation? What about in drafting? And how can you get better at and find more joy in commercial contracting?
Join Laura Frederick, Founder and CEO of How to Contract, as she goes deep on all things contracts—everything from how to avoid common mistakes to tips for supercharging your negotiating skills.
Listen as Laura talks about her career in contracts working for top energy and renewable companies like Tesla and SolarCity, making the leap to start her own law firm and training business, establishing a yearly conference about all things contracts, and more.
Topics: Introduction: 0:00 Why Laura chose contracts as her core practice area: 5:52 Drafting contracts for energy and renewables: 10:17 Laura’s favorite types of deals: 13:54 Contract drafting tips and tricks: 15:39 Considering a more generalist role: 17:50 Common mistakes during contract drafting: 23:19 How to negotiate more effectively: 25:10 Tips for breaking a negotiating log jam: 27:59 Lessons from mentors: 33:03 Founding How to Contract: 36:39 Leaving Tesla to make the leap to business owner: 40:06 Focusing on mental health: 44:19 Finding Laura’s businesses online: 51:10 Rapid-fire questions: 54:08 What Laura wishes she’d known as a young lawyer: 55:12
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 72: Lobbying for Better Telehealth Regulations with GC Adam Greenberg
18 Dec 2024
00:55:18
What do you need to know about managing government affairs for heavily regulated, high growth brands? Is it perhaps the most interesting part of a GC's job? And will it actually lead you to Washington D.C. or maybe other slightly less glamorous cities?
Join Adam Greenberg, Advisor and Fractional General Counsel at APG Advising, as he shares lessons from years as top in-house counsel at healthcare start-ups Warby Parker and Ro about lobbying state legislatures to make telehealth more accessible to customers across the United States.
Listen as Adam discusses the legal needs of direct-to-consumer businesses, working with lobbyists and legislators at a state level, sharing notes with your closest competitors to change regulations, destigmatizing embarrassing medical topics, and much more.
Topics: Introduction: 0:00 Deciding to become a start-up lawyer: 2:56 Dealing with government affairs issues at Warby Parker: 7:15 Lobbying state legislatures: 10:35 Going state to state with a small budget: 19:16 Becoming the first legal hire at Ro: 26:30 Building out the legal team at Ro: 30:08 Talking with legislators about erectile dysfunction medication: 37:10 Lobbying for direct-to-consumer brands: 42:51 Does the CEO need to be involved in state lobbying?: 45:21 What Adam is up to now: 47:39 Rapid-fire questions: 48:54 Book recommendations: 52:29 What Adam wishes he’d known as a young lawyer: 53:47
Ep 71: Privacy, Facial Recognition, and Semi-Pro Football with DPO Paul Collier
09 Dec 2024
00:35:06
What does a Data Protection Officer do? How is it different from your privacy counsel? And how might a DPO help your company with cutting-edge issues like regulations around facial recognition or biometrics?
Join Paul Collier, data protection officer at The DPO Centre, as he shares how the skills he gained as a front-line police officer have helped him counsel clients on how to balance complex privacy regulations with business goals.
Listen as Paul discusses how companies can use facial recognition technology while safeguarding privacy, how in-house legal departments can work best with DPOs, his side hustle as a part-time semi-professional football referee, and much more.
Introduction: 0:00 Working as a front-line police officer: 2:00 What does a Data Protection Officer do?: 6:06 Considerations when hiring a DPO: 9:26 Counseling companies on facial recognition: 11:33 Should governments regulate facial recognition technology?: 16:00 How DPOs manage expectations with resistant clients: 20:36 How DPOs can work effectively with legal departments: 23:49 Becoming a semi-professional football referee: 25:23 Rapid-fire questions: 30:06 Book recommendations: 32:13 What Paul wishes he’d known as a young lawyer: 33:33
Ep 70: Why GCs need to care about ESG with Christine Uri, Founder ESG for In-house Counsel
05 Dec 2024
00:42:10
If you're in the C-Suite, what do you really need to know about ESG? Is ESG the new privacy? And should ESG really be so controversial?
Join Christine Uri, founder of ESG for In-house Counsel, as she explains the importance of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) to both public and private companies in today’s global regulatory climate.
Listen as Christine draws on more than a decade offering sustainability solutions to her corporate clients to explain how GCs can advocate for ESG to fellow executives, why ESG is great for the bottom line, and why, as she puts it, “ESG is the new privacy.”
Topics: Introduction: 0:00 What are sustainability solutions?: 4:03 The difference between Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental, Social, and Governance: 7:36 Why she decided to launch a consulting company?: 10:09 Why should ESG matter to in-house counsels?: 11:59 Explaining why “ESG is the new privacy:” 15:28 How general counsels can advocate for adopting ESG practices: 20:11 Is ESG relevant at the board level?: 24:40 Why ESG has become politicized in the United States: 26:52 What ESG for In-house Counsel offers: 30:43 How to advocate for ESG at your company: 33:50 Rapid-fire questions: 36:50 Book recommendations: 38:29 What Christine wishes she’d known as a young lawyer: 40:02
Ep 69: Leading Teams Across Borders with Manuel Martinez-Herrera, BetterCloud GM
26 Nov 2024
00:40:15
What does a general manager role involve? How do you establish your company's first international office? And what skills from lawyering can you draw on to do it well?
Join Manuel Martinez-Herrera, General Manager and General Counsel at BetterCloud, as he shares his journey from law school in Spain to offices in Argentina and the U.S., to earning an LL.M at Harvard, jumping from big law to in-house counsel, moving beyond the GC role, and opening his company’s first office in Mexico City.
Listen as Manuel offers tips for lawyers who want to move into business roles, why it’s important to explore new and different opportunities, the traits that lawyers and software engineers share in common, and more.
Introduction: 0:00 Why did you decide to practice law in United States?: 2:18 Gravitating towards in-house legal: 5:10 Feeling ready to lead a legal team: 7:32 Becoming General Manager at BetterCloud: 11:35 Shifting your mindset from legal to business: 13:43 Working with software engineers: 15:23 Transitioning from advisor to doer: 18:31 How has working as GM changed your relationship with the executive team?: 21:57 Leading a team through its maturation process: 24:19 Investing in company culture: 26:50 Tips for listeners thinking of taking a job abroad: 30:07 What’s next for Manuel: 32:12 Rapid-fire questions: 33:15 Book recommendations: 36:23 What Manuel wishes he’d known as a young lawyer: 38:50
Ep 68: From Litigator to Spin Instructor to Chief Legal Officer with Jasmine Singh
21 Nov 2024
00:49:39
Have you ever considered quitting your job outright because you felt like you were being pulled farther and farther away from your calling? And then finding your way back through a career change that's very different?
Join Jasmine Singh, former Chief Legal and People Officer at Binti, as she shares lessons she learned after taking time away from the legal profession about how to recalibrate your career to align with your principles and passions, and how a year instructing a spin class landed her the in-house role that led her all the way to the executive suite.
Listen as Jasmine discusses knowing when it’s the right time to quit, how to rely on your network and give back back to your community, realigning your career to match your values, getting your foot in the door as in-house counsel, and much more.
Topics: Introduction: 0:00 Why Jasmine chose to become a lawyer: 2:36 Knowing when to take a break: 5:50 Teaching spin classes: 14:06 Getting your first in-house role at 24 Hour Fitness: 18:26 How to position yourself during an in-house job interview: 21:36 Transitioning into tech counsel: 25:29 Explaining Binti and it’s mission: 30:59 Fulfilling a philanthropic mission with Dincert Movement: 36:22 Tips for people who feel stuck at work: 40:29 Rapid-fire questions: 42:54 Book recommendations: 44:19 What Jasmine wishes she’d known as a young lawyer: 47:35
Ep 67: The Future of Crypto Regulation with Heath Tarbert, Circle CLO and Former CFTC Chair
19 Nov 2024
00:58:23
What is the transition like from government service to a C-suite leadership role at a cutting edge tech company? How are regulators thinking about crypto and other financial innovations? And is public service something that's still inspiring or something that we ought to aspire to?
Join Heath Tarbert, Chief Legal Officer and Head of Corporate Affairs at Circle, as he draws on his extensive and prodigious career in public service–serving as Chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commision, associate White House counsel, Supreme Court clerk, special counsel to the Senate Banking Committee, and more–to break down the legal side and wide-ranging impacts of financial markets around the globe.
Listen as Heath discusses the intersection between law, finance, and public policy, the future of cryptocurrency, the value of humility, and much more.
Topics: Introduction: 0:00 Building a career around banking and financial markets: 8:53 Being picked to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission: 16:50 Advice to young people considering careers in politics and public service: 22:13 Breaking down CFTC regulation of cryptocurrencies: 30:17 Why the CFTC chose to engage with cryptocurrencies: 37:26 Why Heath joined Circle as Chief Legal Officer: 41:40 Should lawyers move beyond legal into business operator roles?: 47:15 Rapid-fire questions: 49:16 Book recommendations: 53:31 What Heath wishes he’d known as a young lawyer: 55:21
SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
Ep 66: Tennis & Media Law with Peter Steckelman, SVP, Tennis Channel
14 Nov 2024
00:51:03
What lessons from tennis can you apply to your day-to-day life? How do you build a career as a dealmaker working with high-profile talent? How has the entertainment industry, and what it needs from its lawyers, changed over the years?
Join Peter Steckelman, Senior Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs at the Tennis Channel, as he shares stories from his uniquely wide-ranging career in entertainment law, including working in-house work at Disney, Fox Entertainment, Warner Brothers, Mattel, and Konami.
Listen as Peter serves up stories about his lifelong love for tennis, negotiating with celebrity athletes, and the joys of working in film, television, video games, streaming, and more.
Topics: Introduction: 0:00 Starting his career in-house at Disney: 9:59 How to work with creative people: 20:45 What role does creativity play in the legal field?: 24:31 Working as a studio executive at video game developer Konami: 28:44 Putting together talent agreements with celebrity athletes: 30:51 Leading legal at the Tennis Channel: 39:45 What playing tennis has taught Peter about being a lawyer: 44:49 Rapid-fire questions: 47:30 Book recommendations: 49:10 What Peter wishes he’d known as a young lawyer: 49:50