David DeBord is Senior Legal Counsel at Paragon, focusing on antitrust and corporate matters.
In the latest Paragon Attorney Spotlight, David discusses emerging trends for in-house law departments, the attorney he looked up to as an 11-year-old, and what children’s archery tournaments can teach you about work-life balance.
David DeBord, Senior Legal Counsel at Paragon
What initially got you interested in law?
I met my first attorney when I was 11 at my parents’ divorce mediation. She was the mediator and, even at that age, I could tell she was extraordinary at her job.
She was brilliant, empathetic, and utterly in control of the hearing, including my parents’ disputatious counsel. That’s the first time I remember consciously thinking, “I want to grow up to be like that adult.”
Can you talk a bit about your career progression? Was there anything in particular that made you gravitate toward your current areas of practice?
I started out as an antitrust associate at a great firm, working with some amazing people who taught me how to be a lawyer.
After about eight years at that firm, I got the opportunity to go in-house at a Tier 1 automobile manufacturer. My boss and co-workers there taught me how to be an effective in-house lawyer. Looking back, I appreciate their grace and patience every day, because I had plenty to learn.
Over the years, I kept up my antitrust specialty, while also developing the toolkit of a corporate generalist. I’ve been blessed to work in-house both as part of a large corporate department and as the sole lawyer for a company.
What do you like about working in the flexible counsel arena at the moment? Can you name any specific challenges and rewards during your time with Paragon?
Being embedded allows me to get a detailed view of a client’s operations that would be considerably more difficult to get if I were at a traditional law firm. This allows me to be much more effective in supporting the client and helping its team members solve problems.
Being interim also means that I get to work with a variety of people with different backgrounds, which helps me see how different attorneys and companies are solving similar problems. This better equips me to share effective practices with my own clients.
The initial challenge with any client is IT onboarding (my thanks to all the tireless IT professionals out there), and other areas of focus emerge based upon the client’s needs.
Some legal departments are well-oiled machines that simply need a temporary replacement, while others need help building the airplane while it’s in the air. I find both situations to be rewarding in different ways.
What led you to Paragon and what’s it like working here?
I hadn’t heard of Paragon when they approached me with an opportunity for one of their clients. Once I understood how their model worked, I got very excited very quickly about the opportunity.
Paragon’s people always make time to help with whatever issue I need addressed. Interacting with other Paragon attorneys also helps me build my network.
Each client is different, of course, but I appreciate the consistency of support from Paragon to ensure that the fit works for both the client and me.
What was your favorite Paragon engagement you worked on? Why?
Can a parent pick a favorite child? Of course not, and that’s how I see each of the engagements I’ve worked on.
On what Paragon project were you able to provide the biggest impact for the client? How?
In terms of measurable impact on a company’s financials, the client I’m currently providing commercial support for just finished a record-breaking quarter where they closed the most deals and had the highest total sales in their 10-year history.
I actually think, though, that Paragon attorneys provide “the biggest impact” for each client we serve by reducing the burden on existing in-house attorneys and helping them serve their clients more effectively.
What skills have you learned at Paragon and how have you applied them to future roles?
I believe the skill I’ve improved the most since joining Paragon is effective communication, which is a lifelong improvement process for attorneys.
I strive to quickly make an impact and add value for Paragon clients.
For me to do that effectively, I have to be a great listener and hone in on the unique parts of each client’s business. I’m often working with people for the first time, and I need to understand what they’re looking for while being clear on what I can deliver.
What were some of your most notable experiences as an embedded lawyer through Paragon?
I find that I get to work on a lot of unique matters in addition to whatever issues I was hired to work on — at least once a month or quarter, some new project comes along with issues no one in the department has ever dealt with before. Paragon clients often give me these challenges rather than having their internal people build new skillsets.
One particularly notable example was when a large online retailer and multimedia provider approached the organization I was working with about a brand new business line it was selling, and we had to figure out how everything was going to work together.
What stands out to you, if anything, about the Paragon experience?
It may sound like a cliche, but for me it’s the people at Paragon. There are a lot of good people and places to work out there, but for sheer pleasantness I don’t think the Paragon team can be beat.
What have been your impressions of how diversity and inclusion efforts have progressed throughout the legal industry during your career?
According to the World Bank, in the year I was born there were 4.2 billion humans on Earth. In 2020, there were 7.7 billion. That’s an 83% increase.
I bring that up because, just by sheer numbers alone, we have to be better today than we were then at effectively working with others. Some great lawyers are born that way, but most are made, through access, mentoring, and opportunity.
I think diversity and inclusion efforts have made great strides, but that there are still historical and structural impediments to those efforts and we should always be looking to improve.
What are your passions outside of work?
My partner and I love to travel and see and do new things. I’m a voracious reader, as well as a new convert to the sport of pickleball. While walking the dog or working out, my newly discovered soundtrack is The Rest Is History podcast — I’m going to be slightly morose when I catch up on the backlog.
Work-life balance is a popular topic, especially since the pandemic. How do you balance top-level legal work with other pursuits?
I’m one of those insufferable people who likes to think I’ve evolved past work-life balance. From my perspective, work is a part of life until it isn’t.
My approach is to devote my personal energy to the things I care about, and to try to minimize the energy I devote to things I don’t care about. I also try to keep my mindset at a high enough level of categorization that I view otherwise unpleasant parts of my work or life as part of a process that I do care about.
For example, do I like traipsing through the muddy woods on scorching hot days to support our kid as she competes in archery tournaments? No. But, I do love the enjoyment she gets from the sport and what it has meant for her development.
So as I swat away flies, I remind myself of the larger goal. I try to bring the same mindset to work. Delivering value to Paragon clients is the larger goal, and staying focused on doing that generally solves the work/life balance issue for me.
How do you see the legal industry evolving in what will likely be a workflow that includes some remote component?
The legal industry has a reputation for a certain level of technophobia, and I think there’s significant truth to that.
The pandemic demonstrated the pluses and minuses of remote work. People who couldn’t have imagined working effectively remotely learned to do so, while others who thought they’d like to work remotely forever missed aspects of being in the office.
I think the firms and departments that engage with what their people want are going to come out ahead. My instinct is that the hybrid model will become the default for the industry over time.
What legal trends do you think will be important in the second half of 2022 and heading into 2023?
Privacy, including potential federal legislation, will continue to be a hot-button topic. IT security issues will also remain significant.
As an antitrust attorney, I would remind everyone that we often see price-fixing schemes in down or flat markets, so if the U.S. does head into a recession, there could be significant enforcement activities.
Also, for those companies that still haven’t figured out their return to work (or not) approach, I think they’ll continue to wrestle with that issue.
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Associates Want In On In-House Life. Here’s What That Means For GCs.
/in Articles alternative legal services|employee handbook|legal industry insights/by competenowLaw firm partnership has long been the brass ring for young lawyers seeking prestige (and the accompanying seven-figure compensation plan.)
But a new report from Above the Law suggests that associates seeking to climb the ranks at their current firm are now firmly in the minority.
Instead, these lawyers are fed up with law firm life and on the hunt for greener pastures, according to the “Associate Perspectives on the New Normal” report, which drew from a survey of around 500 U.S. associates at firms of all sizes.
So where are they looking for their dream job?
Forty percent — the largest cohort — are planning to seek an in-house position for their next role. Meanwhile, less than a third of respondents plan to stay at their current firm with the expectation of joining the partnership.
Here, we look at this surprising dynamic and consider what it could mean for in-house lawyers.
Advance the Quest for Work-Life Balance
For in-house law departments, creating an environment that addresses the complaints made clear by the Above the Law report will be a key part of attracting and retaining this generation of lawyers.
The survey respondents indicate, for example, that work-life balance is far and away the most important factor in their decision to leave their current position — a full 69 percent said it was their main motivation.
Of course, corporate law departments are facing ever-increasing workloads themselves, to the point that “do more with less” has become an industry cliche in recent years.
But this doesn’t mean these lawyers’ aspirations should be dismissed.
Regardless of its success as a recruiting strategy, any effort to create an attractive, balanced working environment will ultimately benefit current legal team members as well.
One consistent complaint, especially from associates who work remotely, is the blurring of the line between work hours and personal time. Even the anticipation of having one’s personal time interrupted by work can lead to significant stress and burnout, according to a study conducted in 2016.
The study’s authors recommend that managers “establish formal policies and rules on availability for after-work hours, such as weekly ‘email-free days’ or specific rotating schedules that will allow employees to manage their work and family time more efficiently.”
A key aspect of making these policies work is putting the burden of enforcing them on leadership.
“Supervisors — regardless of how close they are to the C-suite — represent the organization at large in the eyes of their teams,” write professors Marcello Russo and Gabriele Morandin for Harvard Business Review.
“They have the power to encourage (or discourage) employees from using family-friendly policies through their attitudes and behaviors, which can signal (or not signal) that there will be consequences for those who prioritize or provide equal importance to family and work responsibilities.”
Listen, Learn, and Act Accordingly
In addition to seeking work-life balance, many associates also say they’re looking for a workplace where they feel heard and respected by more senior team members.
An important (but often neglected or only superficially addressed) issue likely related to that feeling of having one’s concerns dismissed is the near-universal relative lack of job satisfaction felt by women and people of color when compared with their male or white colleagues.
As one female associate put it in the ATL report, “I have raised my concerns to a couple of partners and have been told some version of ‘that’s how this business is.’”
The ATL survey laid out a high-level demonstration of these disparities: Women rated every area of job satisfaction covered by the survey lower than men did, and not a single Black or multiracial respondent said they intend to stay at their current firm to become a partner.
To address these disparities, legal department leaders should prioritize impactful, easily accessible support for career advancement and professional development.
For example, establishing a robust mentorship program can play a huge part in fostering the relationships that make attorneys — including those belonging to historically marginalized groups — want to stick around at a law firm.
“Mentoring programs provide associates a personal connection to the firm when someone is charged with keeping an eye on their work assignments and work environment,” writes attorney-turned-consultant Ida O. Abbott for the Minority Corporate Counsel Association.
“Too many minority associates run into problems early in their law firm experience that, if left unattended, lead to high rates of attrition,” she adds. “A well-designed and carefully implemented mentoring program for minority lawyers, with clear, specific, and realistic goals, can support a firm’s objectives of retaining and promoting more lawyers of color.”
For law departments, it is essential that GCs create real progress and demonstrate leadership’s understanding and concern for the issues raised by less senior attorneys — especially those whose voices have historically been ignored in and out of the workplace.
Focus On Your Team, Too
Despite the large number of associates looking to move in-house, many legal departments are experiencing high levels of turnover as well.
According to a report from Wolters Kluwer, around 70 percent of current in-house attorneys are looking to leave their current positions.
So while opportunities abound to recruit top Biglaw associates, retaining talent should also be a key concern for GCs.
Many attorneys already working on an in-house team share the concerns voiced by law firm associates, and the Wolters Kluwer report highlights the importance of career development opportunities and feeling heard by leadership for legal department team members
In-house attorneys also consistently value the effective use of legal technology. 87 percent of respondents say it’s “extremely” or “very important” to “work for a legal department that fully leverages technology.”
To make the most of new tech, general counsel should consider bringing on experienced help. Alternative legal service providers (ALSPs) are frequent early adopters of new technologies such as blockchain and AI, and they are increasingly valued for this expertise.
“ALSPs are no longer merely low-cost providers of services for firms and corporations to outsource, such as document review,” says Lisa Hart Shepherd, VP of Research Strategy at Thomson Reuters. “The focus of ALSPs on technology innovation gives them a critical edge and makes them ideal partners to take on increasingly important tasks, such as project management and consulting on legal technologies.”
What GCs Learned In 2022 (And How They Can Hit The Ground Running In The New Year)
/in Articles alternative legal services|employee handbook|legal industry insights|lifehacks|women in law/by competenowIn the past year, corporate legal leaders largely rose to the challenge of navigating a “new normal” characterized by extreme volatility — and the dust may not settle in 2023.
What traits are critical to managing a legal department in this environment?
First and foremost, preparation and flexibility — whether that means using technology to soften the impact of increased workloads or taking extra time to foster the relationship between a legal team and the company it supports.
“Now is the time for right-sourcing — getting the work done the right way, by the right people, at the right cost,” says Trista Engel, Paragon’s CEO. “Spending each dollar in its most productive way.”
Read on to discover four takeaways from the past year, as well as suggestions on how best to prepare for 2023.
Recession or Not, You Should Embrace Uncertainty
Are we experiencing a recession? Has a recession already come and gone? The answer seems to depend on whom you ask.
One thing is clear, however: In-house legal teams have navigated a precarious end to the year, with layoffs already hitting legal departments in the tech sector.
GCs have shown they can handle increased workloads with fewer resources, however. And there’s still time to adapt and prepare for a potential recession.
Corporate legal departments should begin by optimizing their budgets, and figuring out how to streamline processes via automation while reevaluating those processes that still require human oversight.
Getting a clear picture on how work is divided up among members of the legal department is a critical step.
If the reevaluation process seems daunting, consider bringing in an outside consultant with expertise in legal operations.
When outside help isn’t in the cards, employees who joined the team recently might be able to provide insights with a fresh perspective.
Flexible counsel, who typically bring widespread experience to an embedded role within your team, also can help ensure your team is following best practices in your industry.
You Must Stay Flexible
In an era of uncertainty, flexibility should be a priority for any GC looking to keep their team afloat and functional.
Maybe you face a one-time legal project you know you should get done but your team doesn’t have the bandwidth? For example, do you need to set up privacy compliance, draft or update an employee handbook, or research and implement a contract management system?
Might small legal issues pile up during the day, and you find outside counsel doesn’t get back to you quickly enough?
Outsourcing is one way legal departments can bolster their ranks and grow their business while addressing these types of challenges. In fact, 93% of legal or compliance departments have outsourced work in the past three years, according to a Wolters Kluwer survey of 100 legal executives.
The flexible counsel model often offers the perfect arrangement for adapting the size of a legal department to fit the needs of the moment.
These attorneys can tackle anything from document review to contract drafting and legal research — typically at a fraction of the costs associated with outside counsel, and without the commitment of a direct hire.
When looking to work with flexible counsel, GCs should develop a specific, clear understanding of the needs the attorneys will be asked to address.
The process and budget reevaluations suggested above are a great place to start.
Make ‘Robust Communication’ Your Mantra
As GCs continue to navigate turbulence into 2023, proving the legal department’s worth as an investment should be a top priority to ensure intradepartmental stability.
Proactive, robust communication is the integral first-step in achieving this goal.
A recent webinar sponsored by LinkSquares and Above the Law dove into these types of emerging challenges for legal teams.
Titled “How the Legal Team Can Grow The Business and Get the Credit They Deserve,” the panel dug into specific ways law departments can support company goals while building their internal brand.
Ashlyn Donohue, LinkSquares’ Legal Director, particularly noted the importance of a “listening tour” as well as constant communication, in which the legal department seeks to understand the goals of the company leaders and keep up with them as they evolve.
“Our partners move quickly, and things might pivot and change,” she says.
“So you want to be proactive in building and fostering those partnerships, and trying to make sure the strategy you have for your team in place is really going to help further what they’re looking to do.”
Providing this type of best-in-class service also means keeping your best-in-class team intact.
For young lawyers, work-life balance is repeatedly demonstrated as the key concern for finding and leaving a job.
Of course, corporate law departments are facing ever-increasing workloads themselves, to the point that “do more with less” has become an industry cliche in recent years. As a result, they may not always be the solution for private practice lawyers seeking better work-life balance.
But this doesn’t mean these lawyers’ aspirations should be dismissed.
In addition to seeking work-life balance, many associates also say they’re looking for a workplace where they feel heard and respected by more senior team members, according to a recent Above the Law survey of more than 500 associates.
Results like these demonstrate that establishing policies to encourage feedback — and to demonstrate that management is responsive to any concerns — is also a critical component of keeping a productive team intact.
You Really Do Need to Revisit Your Tech Stack
Investment in legal technology now could pay huge dividends down the road — especially if the current trend of asking corporate legal teams to do more with fewer resources continues into the coming year.
Technology solutions ranging from AI-assisted document analysis to e-discovery software and cloud-based document management all have the potential to reduce the amount of time attorneys spend on administrative tasks or busy work.
This frees up their time to focus on the essential parts of the job that call for human creativity and input.
Still hesitant about legal tech or unsure of where to start?
Take a look at Above the Law’s Non-Event for a no-nonsense dive into how legal technology has the power to change your department from the ground up.
Aimed at “perplexed lawyers who hate trade shows,” the Non-Event has robust sections on legal operations topics including contract lifecycle management and spend management tech.
The pages also feature the Non-Eventcast — a tongue in cheek podcast featuring leaders in these fields — as well as the Legal Tech-to-English Dictionary, which manages to be both informative and entertaining in discussing tech topics.
A ‘Glaring Reality Check’ — And How GCs Should Respond
/in Articles alternative legal services|employee handbook|legal industry insights|women in law/by competenowCorporate law departments may have a perception problem, according to a recent survey commissioned by the technology company Onit. But there are also widespread opportunities for them to correct misunderstandings and ensure they get the recognition they deserve.
The Enterprise Legal Reputation Report reveals that organizations often fail to see the full value the legal department brings. And this reality could be impacting GCs’ fundamental business relationships.
A few highlights:
The study drew on 4,000 enterprise employees and 500 in-house legal professionals in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and France. (Read the full study here.)
As Onit CEO Eric Elfman put it in a news release: “The ELR Report reveals a glaring reality check on the full spectrum of how Legal is perceived by their enterprise organizations.”
In light of these metrics, here are some steps to consider today, which will help ensure individuals throughout your organization remain aware of what your team delivers.
Prioritize Tech Adoption …
According to the Onit report, 79% of employees say they do not see Legal as a modern operation.
One way Legal can refute this idea is by continuing to embrace and implement technology. Many of these tools can modernize interactions between Legal and other departments, strongly demonstrating that the law department is in fact a modern operation.
AI and workflow automation can address inefficiency and responsiveness complaints and help with increased workloads and understaffed teams, especially when working remotely, for example.
New tools can streamline workflow intake and workflow management, and self-help tools can automate responses from the legal department to common questions it might receive.
These types of tools will also allow you to compile data on the work your department is performing. You can use this data to demonstrate your department’s value to the organization, make effective management decisions, and demonstrate budget needs.
… But Move Deliberately
It’s key to do the upfront readiness work in implementing any of these types of tools — start slow, and work from process maps.
“Maybe you want to start with automating NDAs,” Stephanie Corey of UpLevel Ops said in a recent webinar we sponsored. “You’ve got to understand what your templates are, make sure they’re harmonized, make sure you’ve got only one or two or three instead of 87, and really reduce the number of templates you’re using, and do that upfront readiness work.”
“That’s what’s going to make the automation so much more simple, and thus, the reporting and information you’re getting out of it more simple.”
And with the modern solutions available, bringing this type of technology on is easier than ever.
Focus on Partnership
Above all else, Legal is there to play by the rules — and that’s why the vast majority of respondents in the report view their law departments as stellar business protectors.
But remaining a good business partner is a separate challenge.
Of course, there are times when a lawyer must push back on a risky idea. But even then, responding with suggestions and alternatives will help you be viewed as a team player.
A better approach, though, is to always be on the lookout for ways to drive these conversations before they occur.
Take the time to keep everyone in the know with companywide status updates on key objectives or projects.
Proactive communication will keep you more visible, and it will keep your department in a positive light.
Consider the ALSP
These advances in technology, operations, and business philosophy are also accompanied by new staffing options — particularly flexible counsel.
Consider, for example, how you may approach a special project or work surge.
You could simply ask your staff to take on the extra work — but putting too much on their plates could lead to burnout.
You could hire another staff attorney — but that means onboarding a new person and trying to wring an additional salary from your budget.
You could kick the work to an outside law firm — but their rates continue to rise, even as budgets continue to fall.
With flexible interim counsel, law departments can access high-quality support without overextending their resources.
Not only do these attorneys have premier credentials and work experience, but they’re also able to seamlessly fit into your legal department — and offer big wins to GCs.
Lead From the Front
While much of the Onit report could be jarring, the news wasn’t all bad.
Take the following excerpt, for example:
The ELR report found that Legal has a direct and positive impact on various functions from sales, revenue, and renewals to the corporate brand, R&D, and innovation. Legal can use this opportunity to lead from the front and transform beyond a traditional, back-office function.
Through updated policies and processes, embracing tech, and focusing on partnership, Legal does have the power to be viewed as a leader.
Ultimately, these steps will help you better protect the company, be an integral part of the future, and garner respect from all within the organization.
Keeping In-House Counsel In-House
/in Articles alternative legal services|employee handbook|legal industry insights/by competenowAs a whole, corporate legal departments have long provided superior work-life balance when compared with the Biglaw lifestyle.
But even with an increasing focus on benefits other than compensation in the industry, a new survey suggests that corporate law departments are not immune to a downward trend in workplace satisfaction.
Here, we share some steps for your department to consider in light of this data.
The 2022 Future Ready Lawyer report from Wolters Kluwer reveals that 86% of legal departments reported experiencing “very” or “somewhat significant” impacts from the Great Resignation — and that 70% of in-house lawyers are likely to leave in the coming year.
The latter statistic puzzled many industry watchers — including our own CEO.
“If 70% of lawyers are moving, where are they going?” Trista Engel wrote on LinkedIn.
“Are they taking the leap with other companies? Taking a break altogether? Taking interim positions to test a new company before committing? This should be eye-opening for any in-house leader hoping to avoid serious churn.”
Tend to Your Career Paths
One step legal department leaders looking to retain their current attorneys can take is to place a greater emphasis on career advancement — investing both time and money in the development of those attorneys and strengthening the case for a particular department to be a long-term home.
Only 39% of corporate attorneys believe their organization does a “very good” job of delivering on these goals, according to the report.
This might look like, for example, demonstrating a high level of confidence in an attorney’s capabilities by assigning that attorney to a specialized, complex project that is best suited to someone with knowledge of the inner workings of the corporation — the type of project where good in-house counsel can shine.
Legal departments interested in this approach might consider an alternative legal services provider like Paragon, which provides interim in-house counsel to major companies like Apple and Dropbox.
ALSPs can alleviate some of the pressure that comes with staying on top of today’s workplace demands, allowing permanent in-house counsel to focus on the most pressing, most intricate matters their team is facing at a given time.
Communicate and Listen
Regular reevaluations regarding compensation, benefits, and potential promotions or other leadership opportunities can give this strategy an extra boost by demonstrating a concrete investment by the company in the well-being of its legal team — in or out of the workplace.
Additionally, legal department leaders should keep an open mind when it comes to internal culture — especially when it comes to remote work.
“The pandemic changed how and where corporate lawyers work,” Wolters Kluwer reports. “69% expect to work remotely from home all or part of the time going forward.”
Allowing for greater flexibility in terms of work environment is another way organizations can not only align their policies with attorney expectations, but also show concrete investment in the well-being of a company’s legal department.
Focus on Tech
Of the challenges currently faced by corporate legal departments, the most pressing may be the acquisition and implementation of new technology.
While the focus is often on technology’s ability to help a department meet ever-increasing demands and complexity, less attention is paid to its role in retaining lawyers and staff.
That may be a mistake.
According to the Wolters Kluwer report, 87% of in-house attorneys say it’s “extremely” or “very important” to “work for a legal department that fully leverages technology.”
The majority of attorneys expect their in-house legal departments to find ways to use new technology — including process automation and artificial intelligence solutions — to decrease the impact of increased demand on the well-being of in-house counsel.
And fully leveraging technology to aid in-house attorneys doesn’t just mean investing in new tech, journalist and legal industry consultant Richard Tromans writes in the Wolters Kluwer report.
“It’s vital that firms — and clients — do not see tech in isolation,” he says. “No more than a company that makes cars should see welding machines in isolation from the processes, raw materials and skilled people needed to make the ‘production line’ effective and efficient.”
While the report focuses on lawyers, its lessons for leadership and management can apply across industries. Read the full report here.
Paragon Attorney Spotlight: David DeBord
/in Spotlights alternative legal services|employee handbook|legal industry insights|lifehacks/by competenowDavid DeBord is Senior Legal Counsel at Paragon, focusing on antitrust and corporate matters.
In the latest Paragon Attorney Spotlight, David discusses emerging trends for in-house law departments, the attorney he looked up to as an 11-year-old, and what children’s archery tournaments can teach you about work-life balance.
David DeBord, Senior Legal Counsel at Paragon
What initially got you interested in law?
I met my first attorney when I was 11 at my parents’ divorce mediation. She was the mediator and, even at that age, I could tell she was extraordinary at her job.
She was brilliant, empathetic, and utterly in control of the hearing, including my parents’ disputatious counsel. That’s the first time I remember consciously thinking, “I want to grow up to be like that adult.”
Can you talk a bit about your career progression? Was there anything in particular that made you gravitate toward your current areas of practice?
I started out as an antitrust associate at a great firm, working with some amazing people who taught me how to be a lawyer.
After about eight years at that firm, I got the opportunity to go in-house at a Tier 1 automobile manufacturer. My boss and co-workers there taught me how to be an effective in-house lawyer. Looking back, I appreciate their grace and patience every day, because I had plenty to learn.
Over the years, I kept up my antitrust specialty, while also developing the toolkit of a corporate generalist. I’ve been blessed to work in-house both as part of a large corporate department and as the sole lawyer for a company.
What do you like about working in the flexible counsel arena at the moment? Can you name any specific challenges and rewards during your time with Paragon?
Being embedded allows me to get a detailed view of a client’s operations that would be considerably more difficult to get if I were at a traditional law firm. This allows me to be much more effective in supporting the client and helping its team members solve problems.
Being interim also means that I get to work with a variety of people with different backgrounds, which helps me see how different attorneys and companies are solving similar problems. This better equips me to share effective practices with my own clients.
The initial challenge with any client is IT onboarding (my thanks to all the tireless IT professionals out there), and other areas of focus emerge based upon the client’s needs.
Some legal departments are well-oiled machines that simply need a temporary replacement, while others need help building the airplane while it’s in the air. I find both situations to be rewarding in different ways.
What led you to Paragon and what’s it like working here?
I hadn’t heard of Paragon when they approached me with an opportunity for one of their clients. Once I understood how their model worked, I got very excited very quickly about the opportunity.
Paragon’s people always make time to help with whatever issue I need addressed. Interacting with other Paragon attorneys also helps me build my network.
Each client is different, of course, but I appreciate the consistency of support from Paragon to ensure that the fit works for both the client and me.
What was your favorite Paragon engagement you worked on? Why?
Can a parent pick a favorite child? Of course not, and that’s how I see each of the engagements I’ve worked on.
On what Paragon project were you able to provide the biggest impact for the client? How?
In terms of measurable impact on a company’s financials, the client I’m currently providing commercial support for just finished a record-breaking quarter where they closed the most deals and had the highest total sales in their 10-year history.
I actually think, though, that Paragon attorneys provide “the biggest impact” for each client we serve by reducing the burden on existing in-house attorneys and helping them serve their clients more effectively.
What skills have you learned at Paragon and how have you applied them to future roles?
I believe the skill I’ve improved the most since joining Paragon is effective communication, which is a lifelong improvement process for attorneys.
I strive to quickly make an impact and add value for Paragon clients.
For me to do that effectively, I have to be a great listener and hone in on the unique parts of each client’s business. I’m often working with people for the first time, and I need to understand what they’re looking for while being clear on what I can deliver.
What were some of your most notable experiences as an embedded lawyer through Paragon?
I find that I get to work on a lot of unique matters in addition to whatever issues I was hired to work on — at least once a month or quarter, some new project comes along with issues no one in the department has ever dealt with before. Paragon clients often give me these challenges rather than having their internal people build new skillsets.
One particularly notable example was when a large online retailer and multimedia provider approached the organization I was working with about a brand new business line it was selling, and we had to figure out how everything was going to work together.
What stands out to you, if anything, about the Paragon experience?
It may sound like a cliche, but for me it’s the people at Paragon. There are a lot of good people and places to work out there, but for sheer pleasantness I don’t think the Paragon team can be beat.
What have been your impressions of how diversity and inclusion efforts have progressed throughout the legal industry during your career?
According to the World Bank, in the year I was born there were 4.2 billion humans on Earth. In 2020, there were 7.7 billion. That’s an 83% increase.
I bring that up because, just by sheer numbers alone, we have to be better today than we were then at effectively working with others. Some great lawyers are born that way, but most are made, through access, mentoring, and opportunity.
I think diversity and inclusion efforts have made great strides, but that there are still historical and structural impediments to those efforts and we should always be looking to improve.
What are your passions outside of work?
My partner and I love to travel and see and do new things. I’m a voracious reader, as well as a new convert to the sport of pickleball. While walking the dog or working out, my newly discovered soundtrack is The Rest Is History podcast — I’m going to be slightly morose when I catch up on the backlog.
Work-life balance is a popular topic, especially since the pandemic. How do you balance top-level legal work with other pursuits?
I’m one of those insufferable people who likes to think I’ve evolved past work-life balance. From my perspective, work is a part of life until it isn’t.
My approach is to devote my personal energy to the things I care about, and to try to minimize the energy I devote to things I don’t care about. I also try to keep my mindset at a high enough level of categorization that I view otherwise unpleasant parts of my work or life as part of a process that I do care about.
For example, do I like traipsing through the muddy woods on scorching hot days to support our kid as she competes in archery tournaments? No. But, I do love the enjoyment she gets from the sport and what it has meant for her development.
So as I swat away flies, I remind myself of the larger goal. I try to bring the same mindset to work. Delivering value to Paragon clients is the larger goal, and staying focused on doing that generally solves the work/life balance issue for me.
How do you see the legal industry evolving in what will likely be a workflow that includes some remote component?
The legal industry has a reputation for a certain level of technophobia, and I think there’s significant truth to that.
The pandemic demonstrated the pluses and minuses of remote work. People who couldn’t have imagined working effectively remotely learned to do so, while others who thought they’d like to work remotely forever missed aspects of being in the office.
I think the firms and departments that engage with what their people want are going to come out ahead. My instinct is that the hybrid model will become the default for the industry over time.
What legal trends do you think will be important in the second half of 2022 and heading into 2023?
Privacy, including potential federal legislation, will continue to be a hot-button topic. IT security issues will also remain significant.
As an antitrust attorney, I would remind everyone that we often see price-fixing schemes in down or flat markets, so if the U.S. does head into a recession, there could be significant enforcement activities.
Also, for those companies that still haven’t figured out their return to work (or not) approach, I think they’ll continue to wrestle with that issue.
Paragon, UC Hastings Launch Diversity Program For Corporate Lawyers
/in Career Connect, News alternative legal services|employee handbook|legal industry insights/by competenowParagon Legal, UC Hastings College of the Law, and Bay Area technology companies Affirm and Dropbox have teamed up to create an innovative program to bolster talent and diversity within in-house legal departments.
In the inaugural year of the Paragon Legal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) Career Connect program, Paragon will place recent UC Hastings graduates at Affirm and Dropbox in commercial roles that will give them exposure to both legal and business aspects of being an in-house lawyer.
Paragon has an innovative model in the legal industry, supplying attorneys on an interim or on-demand basis to in-house legal departments. The Career Connect program represents an exciting partnership between a legal services innovator and cutting-edge companies, which allows recent graduates to work on high-level, impactful projects.
Candidates for the program provided statements about why Paragon’s DE&I mission and goals resonated with them, and they discussed how they would bring their unique perspectives to in-house legal teams, as part of the selection process.
“From the founding of Paragon, diversity, equity and inclusion have been at the heart of our culture,” said Paragon CEO Trista Engel. “Our hope is that this program will help advance a new generation of strong talent in the legal industry.”
“Your first job out of law school can have a profound impact on your career. Paragon and UC Hastings recognize the importance of a meaningful legal experience for young lawyers upon graduation, especially underrepresented students and those committed to diversity” said Fairuz Abdullah, Director of Employer Relations at UC Hastings. “Paragon has created an exciting opportunity for our students to have entry-level in-house legal experiences which are usually inaccessible for recent graduates. We are thrilled to be part of this momentous partnership and look forward to collaborating to select the next class of future attorneys.”
Program participants were interviewed and selected during the past year, and they begin their engagements in September.
Paragon is a premier legal services firm providing interim in-house counsel to businesses with growing legal services needs as well as Fortune 500 corporate legal departments in a wide range of industries.
Paragon’s unique model provides legal professionals with meaningful work outside of the traditional path, while also supporting its clients in everything from backfilling maternity leaves and hiring gaps to just general overflow work — all in a cost-effective and flexible manner.
Interview Prep Guide
/in Reports/by Kristen PoorWhy Psychological Safety Is Critical to Business Success
/in Articles alternative legal services|employee handbook|legal industry insights/by competenowAny strong relationship requires mutual trust, and when trust is lacking, the relationship is bound to suffer. When the relationship in question is among the members of a workplace team, the gradual erosion of trust can negatively impact a business for years to come.
Companies have largely figured out the importance of building supportive teams, as anyone who’s ever participated in a corporate trust fall exercise can attest. But the kind of trust that can make or break a business — psychological safety – could never be learned in a trust fall. Psychological safety is about creating an environment that allows for mistakes made in good faith.
At Paragon Legal, we believe the mental health and well-being of employees is paramount to building a successful company. When employees experience psychological safety, they’re less stressed and more engaged. Here are some concepts we are keeping in mind.
What Is Psychological Safety?
Renowned Harvard researcher Amy Edmondson defines it as “a shared understanding by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.”
At its core, the idea of psychological safety revolves around believing that you won’t face negative consequences to your status, career, or self-image if you make a mistake. In a work setting, it’s a shared belief among employees that it’s a safe environment for taking risks, knowing that your words and actions won’t be used against you if you don’t succeed (as long as your intentions are good).
Psychological safety is increasingly being recognized as a cornerstone of high-performing, successful teams and businesses.
A key aspect of psychological safety is prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion, because this allows all employees to be themselves at work, freely speak their minds, and be creative without fear of repercussion.
The Benefits of Psychological Safety
The idea of psychological safety may seem fluffy or New Agey at first glance. In reality, psychological safety offers a myriad of tangible benefits that help businesses succeed.
Companies that engender psychological safety among their employees see:
Ultimately, you could have a team of the most talented individuals, but if everyone is a silo or scared about honestly sharing their ideas, you are missing out on huge potential and opportunities.
Psychological safety has also been shown to help businesses fully see the benefits of diversity. An environment where employees feel free to speak with candor without fear of negative consequences sets a framework where inclusion is not just a goal, but a reality.
According to the Harvard Business Review, a psychologically safe environment shakes team members out of their natural fight-or-flight response and into the “broaden-and-build” response, “which allows us to solve complex problems and foster cooperative relationships.”
How to Create a Psychologically Safe Work Environment
There’s no one right answer when it comes to fostering psychological safety in your workplace. It’s an ever-evolving process.
There are certain things you can do, though, to set yourself on the right path:
How to Identify Areas of Focus
To truly get a sense of psychological safety in your workplace, a thorough assessment must be undertaken, which could include anything from hiring a formal, outside consultant to giving employees an anonymous survey.
But first, it’s important to conduct an honest self-assessment of the work environment to identify the most glaring obstacles to psychological safety.
Asking the following questions will help to establish a general baseline:
These questions are not exhaustive, of course, but without asking them, you may already be creating a psychologically unsafe environment without even realizing it.
The sooner you start addressing your psychological safety and creating a healthy work environment, the sooner you’ll start reaping the benefits, including more employee engagement, an increased ability to handle tough problems, and overall better employee performance.
Paragon Attorney Spotlight: Tracy Scanlan
/in Spotlights alternative legal services|employee handbook|legal industry insights|women in law/by competenowThe flexible counsel model is continuing to gain popularity as legal professionals seek rewarding career alternatives. Paragon is striving to give those professionals meaningful work outside the traditional path by providing the highest quality talent and service to leading corporate legal departments.
Tracy Scanlan is a former embedded attorney at Paragon who now serves as the company’s Vice President of Client Development and Legal Affairs. We recently sat down with Tracy to discuss what it’s like to work in a corporate role at Paragon, why she’s so passionate about work/life balance for Paragon’s attorneys, and more.
Tracy Scanlan
Can you tell us a bit about your background and career progression?
I graduated from UC Hastings College of the Law in 2007. Right after law school, I got a job as a legal research assistant at the San Francisco Superior Court.
I had always wanted to be an advocate and be more in the mix, so after a few years, I went to work for a class action law firm. After that, I took a little break from the law and went to work at a startup on the business side.
I then went to work at StubHub, which is where I first came across the idea of being an in-house counsel. I got a really great opportunity to work for a small employment law firm, and then finally at Paragon.
I had read about Paragon years before, and I thought it was such a unique, cool model, so I was really excited to work there.
What was it like working as an attorney with Paragon and then as a member of the corporate team?
It’s been great. Things happen really fast. I came into the office, I met some people, and I got a ping the next day with a potential role. I interviewed with the client and then was onboarded super quickly. It was really just a great experience. I worked in-house at a tech company with a really cool legal team and I felt very included both on the client side and with the people at Paragon who were checking in on me.
At one point Paragon reached out to me about a corporate role. I haven’t had a very straightforward legal career, which actually made me a good fit for it. I had good project management skills, I was organized. When they decided to look in-house for the role, I felt it was a great opportunity. I felt lucky to be in the right place at the right time.
The more I learned what it would be like on the inside, the more I was attracted to working for Paragon in this capacity. At the same time, I still got to practice law through Paragon. So, it’s been a very good mix of legal and business experience, working with people and working on processes.
What are you most passionate about in your work?
I just love it when we make a great match. I really like introducing people, and I think I’m good at spotting good matches, so my favorite thing at work is finding that perfect match and advocating for why we think someone is a good fit. I love drawing on our resources to provide an ideal team member to a client and giving the attorney that opportunity, because I feel like Paragon gave me that opportunity.
I really believe in Paragon’s goal of providing work/life balance to people, not just for parents, but for anyone that has outside pursuits. I think what the past few years have shown us is that we all spend a lot of time at work. You give up a lot to go to work and so it has to matter, right? You should enjoy your work and feel good about it.
What business trends do you think will be important in the second half of 2022 and into 2023?
There’s a lot of talk about recession. We’ve already seen a lot of companies rescind offers or lay people off, so we need to keep an eye on that. It always creates a lot of uncertainty in the market and clients are being really mindful of cash flows.
I think a lot of times our job is to let the clients and the candidates know what we’re seeing in the market and reassure them when we can. We do what we can to stay ahead of any trends and help both our clients and our lawyers adapt and navigate the market.
We can’t change how things may develop at a macro level, but those we work with don’t have to face these trends alone.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens. Right now we’re seeing a lot of movement in the market.
What are you most hopeful for about the future?
I’m hopeful the past couple years will be the push that corporate culture needed in order to shift the way they think about working. I think there’s been a reckoning amongst everyone about how they want to be treated at work, how tied up their lives have to be with work, and how it fits in with their outside life.
I’m looking forward to the next few years to see how that landscape changes. I’m hopeful it will change for the better and that people are able to have the time and money they need to support their lifestyles.
Paragon has been in front of that for many years.
I believe our leadership in this area also helps our clients. We help clients retain embedded team members so their workers don’t get burned out, and we save them from spending their time on recruiting, for example.
In the end, this helps them ensure they’re retaining the best talent.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I like to read when I get the chance. I have two kids who are pretty fun, a 6 year old and a 4 year old, and I like to hang out with them. Also, I’m very into crafting and DIYing, so I watch a lot of YouTube for ideas. I do some yoga.
Sometimes I think of my hobby as developing new hobbies – I really like to try new things, so I’m always looking for something new to do.
What are your favorite vacation spots?
Probably Greece. I’ve only been there once — it was for my honeymoon and it was a ton of fun. I love to see other cultures and go to places where there’s a combination of things to do and to learn.
Paragon Attorney Spotlight: Carolyn Samiere
/in Spotlights/by competenowSenior Counsel Carolyn Samiere has been with Paragon for seven years, serving technology, life sciences, and pharma/biotech clients in the areas of compliance, contracting, licensing, and corporate governance. Her impressive legal career has spanned corporate, litigation, and regulatory work, and now she brings that wide skillset to her Paragon clients.
We recently sat down with Carolyn to discuss what she loves about working at Paragon, the ever-elusive work/life balance, future trends in the legal industry, and more.
Carolyn Samiere
What initially got you interested in law?
For me it started in sixth grade – I guess I was a very young activist. I began to see myself as a lawyer championing the causes of people who didn’t have a voice, and I think even at that tender age, I could see inequities in our social systems.
I saw barriers to justice that affected immigrants, people with low income, people of color. Through academic life, I took an even stronger interest in social justice causes and realized that the field of law could be a vehicle to effect change.
Was there anything that made you gravitate toward your current areas of practice?
Initially, my focus was on entertainment and sports law. I worked for a variety of boutique law firms in San Francisco and Los Angeles in those areas, but along the way I developed litigation skills and my career drifted more toward trial work than transactional work.
I then returned to the Bay Area and took a position with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Toward the end of my tour at the SEC, I felt that my place was inside the corporations, where I could best help prevent the irregularities and catastrophes I’d seen at the SEC, the kinds of things that threaten the viability of otherwise really good corporations.
After leaving the SEC, I took a position at a major national university, supporting their research and development business, and then moved to a private research and development corporation in Silicon Valley with a very robust, federally supported research program.
This gave me great exposure into the world of technology, and I started learning everything I could about it, particularly in the biotech and life sciences sectors. Eventually I started my own solo law firm in this area.
The big geek in me loved everything that came with that area — the lectures, meeting rockstar scientists, and being able to work around laboratories. Being in that environment is a little bit of a Disneyland for me.
What led you to Paragon and what is it like working there?
I enjoyed working for my own clients at my solo firm, but I missed the buzz and excitement of working for an innovative firm, the diversity of work you get working in technology, and being a witness to cutting-edge innovations.
I’d been watching Paragon’s growth for several years and I was really attracted to their model. I completely identified with Paragon’s mission of achieving a greater balance between work and lifestyle. I have to say, working with Paragon was the first time in my law career that I began to truly enjoy practicing law.
Generally, the workday is eight hours. With a few exceptions, you don’t work on weekends, and then only if you want to. Paragon works really hard to understand what my preferences are, what I’m interested in, and how many hours I want to work. Then they carefully call out several projects and present them to me. If I show an interest, we go forward with the client to see if there’s a match.
Even after I’m on a project, I have a say in how I work, what my hours will be, and how I do them throughout the day.
There’s also so much more to Paragon than just the work that I do in the office. There’s a whole lifestyle around being a Paragon member, from fabulous parties to annual outings to CLE-eligible presentations.
I can’t overstate how much I enjoy the Paragon community life. It’s refreshing and makes me feel very supported. Paragon goes out of its way to make me feel that I’m wanted and valued there.
What was your favorite Paragon client or engagement you worked on and why?
Several years ago, I took on a project working with a large company’s privacy, legal, and data teams to map its data paths throughout the company. I learned a great deal about the lifecycles of data that are regularly generated by companies and the myriad places where data can copy itself, plant those copies, and hide in those systems.
This type of analysis is integral to corporations’ compliance with evolving privacy regulations, particularly for corporations in California. Coming out of that project, I gained not only nearly expert-level experience in data, but also a useful practical knowledge of what compliance really looks like for corporations.
Every project I’ve taken on since then has included some aspect of privacy and data management.
In what Paragon project were you able to provide the biggest impact for the client? How?
One project has a special place in my heart. I was working with a drug and device development company and was asked to join a team focused on distributing life-saving therapies and services throughout the world, particularly for women in developing countries.
I worked with the company’s senior executives, scientists, and doctors in negotiating the distribution deal. The services and therapies were expected to reduce mortality rates among women and young children living in those countries.
It really put my client on the map as a huge contributor to the welfare of people in underserved communities.
What are your passions outside of work?
My greatest passion is dance. Since my youth I’ve invested a lot of time in it, and working at Paragon allows me to slip out and take evening dance classes. I also like to garden, and I’ve kept up my interest in social justice issues and access to law.
I’m able to do some pro bono work, including mediations for cases in our local courts. Paragon allows and encourages its attorneys to seek out their preferred pro bono activities.
How do you see the legal industry evolving in what will likely be a workflow that includes some remote component?
I think the reality is that the hybrid workplace is here to stay. Employees are demanding it, not just in law, but in other sectors as well. We all now know that it’s manageable. As software and tech companies develop more effective apps and programs, it’s becoming easier to work securely in remote places, and this feeds the lifestyle objectives of employees.
This also brings with it some issues that have to be tackled. Attorneys have to maintain confidentiality and privacy, so the markets are certainly going to seize on this opportunity and develop solutions for that. I also think that attorneys will have a greater opportunity to participate in meetings and choice projects, because everyone has the same availability, whether working in the office or remotely.
At the same time, I think it’s important for law departments to stay vigilant in ensuring that individual attorneys’ advancement potential isn’t stunted by working remotely. This does place the questions about remote work front and center in the issue of pay equity and how remote work can play into the metrics for determining pay equity.
I also think that moving away from remote work would cause a lot of disruption and an even greater exodus from the workforce. Remote work is a competitive advantage for corporations in recruiting, because employees now have options on how they work.
What legal trends do you think will be important in the second half of 2022 and heading into 2023?
I think there are several big ones. The first is privacy. As new technologies are developed for the transfer of sensitive data, there are always concerns about security breaches, and how they can be prevented. Covid vaccination campaigns have also raised all new privacy concerns. Companies and organizations that have never touched sensitive private data are now collecting it, so I think we’re going to see an uptick in the development of technical products for storage and security of that data.
Another is the exodus of corporate employees and how companies are now forced to fill those seats with a mix of permanent and temporary employees and outside consultants. It’ll be interesting to see if this new composite workforce generates significant changes in the labor law and whether labor standards will loosen or tighten.
Diversity and inclusion is still a very hot topic, and I think it’s going to remain so for the foreseeable future. Again, this is another recruiting advantage. Employees are demanding a diverse and inclusive workplace. The pandemic shifted the spotlight to new categories of disenfranchised employees and how remote work impacts them. I think we’ll see robust corporate diversity and inclusion policies and strategies. They’re no longer just nice to have, they’re now essential for corporate survival.
Finally, I think we’re going to see louder conversations about government sustainable and renewable energy mandates, especially in this coming year. To meet the legislative deadlines for elimination of fossil fuels that many states have implemented, there has to be early action. I think we can expect corporate responsibility initiatives to emerge.
Since corporations are the largest energy consumers, this movement has implications for corporate lawyers. It’s going to bring with it the need to restructure corporate policies on internal energy management and generate new business contractual provisions that require providers and vendors to adopt climate control strategies and use renewable energy sources in providing services.