To say it was a busy year for the lawyers at ride-hailing company Lyft would be a gross understatement. The Lyft legal team led the company to an industry-first IPO, navigated the acquisition of bike-sharing company Motivate, and won a legal battle against SFMTA, which led to the launch of its new dockless bikes in San Francisco. Lyft was a finalist for Most Innovative Public Company Legal Department of the Year as part of the California Leaders in Tech Law and Innovation Awards. Lyft general counsel Kristin Sverchek recently shared how her team managed such a momentous year.

Kristin Sverchek, Lyft GC

What are the distinguishing characteristics of Lyft's in-house legal department and the lawyers and staff that make it up?

Kristin Sverchek: Lyft's growth and expansion has been astronomic over the last 18 months, and the legal team has been uncompromising in its ability to help the company achieve business goals and take us closer and closer to realizing our mission. To be on Lyft's legal team requires the ability to scale just as quickly as the business does—constantly reviewing and up-leveling processes and work to match the increasing complexity of the business, the sophistication of our partners and the challenges we meet as we expand our transportation offerings into cities across North America.

Because of that, Lyft's legal team deals with disparate practice areas—personal injury, regulatory, intellectual property, employment, disability law and privacy, just to name a few. It's an extremely well-rounded team that can handle a multitude of complex legal issues.

What was the biggest challenge your in-house team faced in the past year and how did you overcome it?

When the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) refused to comply with its obligations pursuant to Lyft's contract to be the exclusive bike-share system in San Francisco:

Lyft closed its acquisition of Motivate, the bike-share system, in December 2018. And as part of this acquisition, Lyft also acquired a number of exclusive city contracts that make it the only bike-share system in a number of cities. However, when the SFMTA challenged its contract, Lyft's litigation team filed a suit to block the city from granting bike permits to other companies, including Lyft's primary competitors. Lyft won the case in San Francisco Superior Court, which led to Lyft launching their new dockless bikes in the city. The legal team's victory was a huge step towards unlocking new modes of transportation across North America—a key part of growth for the company as we continue down our journey as a public company.

Besides that challenge, what was your legal department's most significant accomplishment of the past year and why?

Becoming the first major tech company to IPO in 2019:

Lyft started preparing for its IPO in summer 2018, and officially kicked off the process that fall. Lyft's corporate team led the project, including drafting the S-1, working with underwriters' counsel on diligence, staying up to date on hot-button issues for the SEC, and managing all communications with Lyft's CFO and CEO. To make matters more complicated was a record 35-day government shutdown and Lyft's main competitor filing their S-1 on the exact same day. Of note, Lyft's S-1 had far fewer comments in general compared to the competition. And ultimately, Lyft still went public within the originally planned time frame due to the corporate team's deep experience and exceptional draft registration statements.