Welcome one, welcome all to another edition of Inside Track. This week, in your favorite newsletter on all things in-house counsel, we look at how much you all are spending on yourselves, what might matter to those of you in the tech industry following the midterms and how to make sure your legal department stays a cohesive unit when the company puts offices in new cities. We at Corporate Counsel are trying to find out what keeps GCs in the manufacturing and energy industries up at night. Click on the link to your respective industry to take a survey so we can learn a little more about your worries.

Before we jump into the news, I saw this tweet the other day and it made me wonder what are some of your pet peeves when it comes to business development on social media? I personally get annoyed when financial advisers ask me if I want them to manage my money. It's oddly specific, but it happens more than you'd think.

 

 

I can be reached anytime through my email at [email protected] or you can find me on Twitter @DanclarkALM.

Let me know what you think. But now, let's dive head first into this week's deep pool of news!

What's Happening-

 

 

Treat Yourself!

Last Week, Law.com reporter Phillip Bantz looked at the 2018 Chief Legal Officer Survey from Altman Weil Flash. I thought that the most interesting part of the surveywas that even in tough times, legal departments are spending more on themselves.

Of all of those who responded, 42 percent indicated that they planned on expanding their legal department over the next 12 months. For one-third of those legal departments expanding, that means hiring new lawyers. The main reason for this expansion; an increased workload.

And perhaps because of the expansion of legal departments and because of a greater workload, the companies are spending more money on their legal departments. I say, treat yo' self. That's a Parks and Recreation reference, in case you weren't familiar. The report says that 53 percent of law departments increased their budget by 29 percent since 2017.

Is your law department growing or spending more? Or, is it spending less and why? Let me know!

Election Fever

 

 

Just when I thought election season was over, I saw that the first Democrat, a guy from West Virginia, announced he would be running for President in 2020 against Donald Trump. Last week, Law.com reporter Caroline Spiezio looked at how the results of last week's midterm elections will impact the tech industry.

Privacy laws. Remember the GDPR and how many in the U.S. want a more comprehensive data privacy law? Well, with a Democratic majority in the House, that seems more realistic. In fact, Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat who represents Silicon Valley, recently introduced a bill of rights for the internet.

Freaking Out About Net Neutrality. Every couple of years, net neutrality comes becomes a part of the national conversation. In the first year of President Trump's tenure, it was repealed. However, now with a majority of Democrats in the House, it is likely that there will be more challenges to the FCC's repealing of the Obama-era internet rules.

What To Do When Expanding

We're all familiar with Amazon, right? Seriously if you're not, what world are you living in and how can I get there? It sounds like a simpler world. But I digress, this week Amazon announced it would be expanding to both Long Island City, New York and Crystal City, Virginia. Caroline Spiezio spoke to some in-house folk on the best ways to make for a smooth transition

➤ Titles matter. Nancy Jessen, the senior vice president of legal business solutions for UnitedLex, told Caroline that a good place to show uniformity is to make sure the titles throughout the legal department are the same no matter the location.

➤ Don't make one “The Good Place.” Boy, I'm full of NBC show references today. But again, I digress. Jessen told Caroline that leadership should be distributed throughout all of the locations. If a company keeps all of its legal leaders in one location, the other locations will begin to feel like “outposts.”

➤ Take a vacation to other offices. Caroline found that GCs with legal departments in different area codes should stretch their legs and visit those other offices every so often. Maureen Brundage, the former GC of Chubb Corp., said that once a year she would go to the company's different offices so that people do not begin to feel isolated.

Don't Miss-

Wednesday Nov. 21. Lawyers from the National Cyber Security Centre in the U.K. will be hosting a legal conference in London for lawyers on how to support their companies in the event of a cyber incident.

Wednesday, November 28-Thursday, November 29. Legal industry players will gather at ALM's LegalWeek Connect in London for keynotes, workshops and roundtables on collaboration, diversity and talent. Featured speakers include Clare Wardle, general counsel of Coca Cola European Partners; Helen Hayes, legal director for Uber in Northern and Eastern Europe; and Jeremy Barton, general counsel of KPMG UK.

The Global Leaders in Law on Dec. 4 will be having an event in London on the year of change. They will be having the same event in Dublin, Ireland, on Dec. 5. GLL is an invitation-only membership group offering general counsel a global platform for in-person collaboration to exchange ideas and receive advice and guidance from peers. For more information, contact Meena Heath at [email protected].

On the Move-

 

 

Double Album. Rather than package one high ranking lawyer by themselves, Warner Music Group promoted a pair. Insiders Trent Trappe and Maryrose Maness were elevated from their in-house roles to be deputy GCs. Trappe had previously worked as the label's chief corporate governance and securities counsel and Maness had worked as chief employment and corporate infrastructure counsel. 

From Tesla To Sonder. While the SEC spends time scrutinizing Tesla and the company deals with the departure of Elon Musk, the company must also deal with the departure of one its securities lawyers. Philip Rothenberg left Tesla to become the top lawyer at Sonder, a hospitality startup company. He told Corporate Counsel that he did not leave because of the controversy surrounding Tesla, but rather that he wanted to chance to head a legal department.

Drilling for a new GC. Englewood, Colo. based Ultra Petroleum Corp. announced this week that Andrew Kidd, an experienced oil attorney will be its new top lawyer. The company's former GC, Garrett Smith, chose to leave the company when it announced earlier this year, that he did not want to relocate with the company to Denver from Houston. Kidd has previously worked for Constellation Energy Group Inc.

Collecting new general counsel. A student loan collection company, Defiance, has named Ricardo King as its new GC. In the role he will oversee the company's legal activities and will also lead the compliance team. It is not clear whether or not he is the company's first general counsel.

Working For Workers' Comp. Promoting from within, Employers Holding announced that Lori Brown will be the company's chief legal officer beginning in 2019. She had been working as the company's deputy general counsel and assistant corporate secretary since 2015.