Inside Track: Schools Embrace Legal Operations. Plus, Startups Go Public.
How legal operations is growing in popularity with law school classes and surveys on compensation while Lyft, Pinterest and Uber filed for what may be some of the largest initial public offerings this year.
April 17, 2019 at 06:05 PM
6 minute read
Welcome back to Inside Track!
Legal operations is becoming increasingly popular. So much so that law schools are starting to teach the function. Last week, the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium released information on the compensation legal operations professionals received in 2017.
CLOC found the average base salary of a legal operations professional in 2017 was $132,044. The report says salaries get higher the longer someone is in the role. Those in legal operations with 16 or more years of experience averaged $209,667 in 2017.
The survey showed a disparity between men and women for total compensation for legal operations professionals in 2017. For most legal operations roles, men earned more, according to the report. However, women with the title senior director or managing director received more in total compensation than men. On average, women in that role in a legal operations function earned just over $300,000 while men with that role earned around $266,444.
Do you think the salaries and total compensation for legal operations professionals will rise as the function becomes more popular? Let me know what you think by emailing me at [email protected]
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What's Happening
The Season of IPOs
Last week, Uber filed its first IPO and revealed the former chief legal officer, Salle Yoo, has sold more than $22.3 million in Uber capital stock back into the company. Law.com reporter Caroline Spiezio reported Yoo also sold capital stock shares to a third party as a part of Uber's series G-1 financing, which was around the time she left the ride-hailing company.
Yoo was replaced by the current CLO Tony West in November 2017. West was brought on to mitigate the company's legal challenges. In the S-1 filing, Uber emphasized the legal and compliance hirings it made over the past two years to make changes to the company. Uber noted in the filing that its business would be “adversely affected if drivers were classified as employees instead of independent contractors.”
April has been a month of startup IPOs. Lyft and Pinterest also filed IPOs which may boost the number of in-house counsel are hired by startups. Recruiters told Caroline the Bay Area cannot keep up with the demand for securities lawyers.
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Protecting Yourself From ICE
Protecting Yourself From ICE
Federal officials raided a cellphone repair store earlier this month and arrested 280 people for illegally working in the United States. Law.com reporter Kristen Rasmussen spoke to experts in the field on how companies can protect themselves from those kinds of raids.
➤ The I-9 Process. Harry Joe, of JMA Firm in Dallas, told Kristen that employers typically look at the process as a nuisance. “but this case demonstrates that compliance with I-9 is a must—an important corporate procedure that has to be taken seriously,” Joe said.
➤ Automatic Notifications. Matthew Dunn, a partner at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, said employers could implement a system which notifies them when a work authorization has expired.
➤ Keep A Paper Trail. Jorge Lopez, a shareholder at Littler Mendelson, said compliance departments should keep their employees paperwork. “What the government has never liked, under any administration, is intentionally hiring an undocumented worker,” Lopez said.
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What I've Been Reading
The Trentonian reported last week that there is a rift in the Mercer County GOP between the chairwoman Lisa Richford and general counsel George Dougherty. A reporter from the paper called Dougherty to ask if he had been fired for standing with others by asking Richford to resign. Dougherty left his desk during the interview at Katz & Dougherty, where they both work, to ask Richford. He returned to the phone to say he had not been fired and told the paper he will only leave the local GOP if he is fired.
Quartz reported former general counsel and current acting CEO of Wells Fargo, Allen Parker, has been asked during a conference call for investors what kind of person will be the next CEO. He said he could not give an answer and is not involved in the search. The report says there is speculation that some female candidates for the job include Beth Mooney, CEO of KeyBank, and Nandita Bakhshi, CEO of Bank of the West.
Jason Gabriel, the general counsel of Jacksonville, Florida, was inserted into local politics by saying the mayor's chief of staff is qualified to be the city's chief administrative officer, according to Florida Politics. Republican City Councilwoman Anna Broche sent a letter to Gabriel asking to see his credentials. She said the CAO must have a bachelor's degree in business administration or public administration. Gabriel responded by saying, “For this appointment, the discretion and judgement to exercise that duty resides completely and unequivocally with the Mayor.”
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Don't Miss
Wednesday, April 24 – The Philadelphia chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel will be hosting the 11th Annual In-House Counsel Conference at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Speakers will include Thomas McKenna, CLO of Clemens Food Group; Jonathan Margolis, vice president and counsel at Toll Brothers; and Carl Sottosanti, general counsel of Penn National Gaming.
Wednesday, May 1 – The General Counsel Forum will be hosting an event on Litigation Finance. Topics will include finding value with innovative deal structures, the uses of big data and navigating funding regulations in the U.S. Speakers will include Charles Schmerler, partner in the global litigation department of Norton Rose Fulbright; Alan Guy, managing director of Vannin Capital; and Peter Zimroth, head of NYU Law's Center For Justice.
Tuesday, May 14 – Global Leaders in Law will be hosting a “What Keeps You Up At Night?” event in Dallas at Rosewood Mansion. On Tuesday, May 21, the group will be hosting an event on “The Global Trade Wars” in New York at Bar Boulud. 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
✦ Gordon Brothers ✦ Leslie Zmugg left her role as a senior attorney at Caterpillar Inc. to become the top attorney at the Boston-based investment firm. She replaces the firm's old GC, Michael Chartock. Chartock left the role to become the senior managing director of litigation claims business at the firm.
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