In-house

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A General Counsel's Dilemma: To Please or Not to Please

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The idea of delighting your customers is rarely questioned in business. From frontline customer service reps to in-house legal teams working with ‘internal clients’, most of us believe that success means pleasing our clients.

In fact, 73% of general counsel agree that success requires pleasing clients, according to Gartner’s 2019 General Counsel Personal Effectiveness Diagnostic.

But what if this doesn’t hold true? Or worse, that focussing on pleasing clients can actually undermine GC performance?

Next Door Legal: An interview with Eduardo Ramirez, sole counsel at Convert

Eduardo Ramirez is sole counsel at Convert.com. A purpose-driven, fully distributed software company with team members spread across 18+ countries. It’s the first software company we’ve seen that actively screens (and fires) its customers, and operates as a ‘Holacracy’ where the team members hold multiple roles based on their skills, rather than official job titles. Eduardo’s story covers one of the most unique in-house legal roles we’ve come across.

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The Podcasting GC: Wendy Rubas, General Counsel at VillageMD

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Wendy Rubas runs compliance training a bit differently. As the incoming general counsel at VillageMD in 2017, she believed that when incidents occur, it's mostly because people don’t have the right information when they need it. She knew training was part of the answer, but that it had to be concise, practical and easy to tune into. And so, the VillageMD Working Smarter podcast was born.

We spoke to Wendy to get the backstory – from producing podcast episodes using microphones bought from Amazon to learning that interviewing is a skill that she didn’t initially possess, Wendy reveals the tools that were used, and key learnings she took away, to maximise success in a changing health care environment.

Backstory: Australia's First In-house Clerkship Program

It’s rare to hear a good news story when it comes to the preparedness of law students entering practice, and this one surely takes the cake for 2019.

The Learned Crew and ACC Australia have successfully piloted Australia’s first ever structured in-house clerkship 🚀

And they’re back for more in 2020 with two programs in Sydney and Melbourne, with in-house team applications for the Feb-Jun 2020 (Sydney) due by 22 November.

We spoke with Jessie Porteus (The Learned Crew) and Ingrid Segota (ACC) for the low-down on this year’s pilot.

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Doing law different with L'Oreal's Anna Lozynski

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Doing law different with L'Oreal's Anna Lozynski

L’Oreal’s Executive General Counsel, Anna Lozynski is not only one of the rare examples of GCs who’ve synthesised their learnings (and passion) into a book, but she has done so in a way that has won her an admirable readership both within and outside of the legal profession.

I caught up with Anna near her Melbourne HQ and couldn’t resist some follow-up questions and the opportunity to share some of her journey with you.

 

"Best legal related snippets I have read/watched in ages."

— Caroline Ferguson, Business Transformation Manager at Simpson Grierson.