Julie Kinch

Julie Kinch, Heineken USA's senior vice president and chief legal officer, says she felt “tons of trepidation” when she joined Dutch beer company Heineken and took on the task of building its in-house legal function from the ground up. But clearly it all worked out, as she'll soon be celebrating two decades at the company.

Kinch recently chatted with reporter Dan Clark. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Corporate Counsel: What exactly is it that the C-suite is expecting of the modern general counsel?

Julie Kinch: When I think about what's expected from us, I think of the creativity piece of it. You can only really get to the creative solutions if you really understand the business. Then there is also compliance and protection. It's supporting and partnering with the business and maintaining that responsibility for compliance and reputation issues. There needs to be a deep trust level because I've had CEOs before who will say, “Julie, I expect you to push back on me.”

CC: It sounds like you're trying to find a balance between being “the department of no” and giving solutions.

JK: I don't think of it as much as “the department of no.” I think it's the “department of yes and …” or “yes, but … .” I have a great excitement about coming in and creating a legal function because that's what I've spent all of my time doing—recruiting and developing lawyers who are business partners who don't say no and who find the solutions. There is the rare occasion where we have to say no, but most of the time it's about finding something that will achieve the objectives of the business. Many of the lawyers probably could shift their careers, if they wanted to, to go to marketing or advertising.

CC: What were some of the challenges in building a legal function from the ground up?

JK: I do remember coming in with tons of trepidation, thinking that the last thing this organization wants is a lawyer because of the reputation of lawyers saying no to everything. However, it was quite the opposite … I was really embraced by the organization in creating the function and had a lot of leeway there and support for what I wanted to do. I think for me it's been really about finding the right kinds of lawyers and hiring more for attitude and not just aptitude.