Becoming the GC

Transitioning from a traditional legal role to a trusted business leader requires mastering high-stakes decision-making and executive acumen. Surviving the hot seat in the C-suite means moving beyond standard legal answers to provide proactive, high-impact guidance. In this episode, the host sits down with Chaka Patterson, founder and CEO of Chaka Strategy and former General Counsel at Adtalem Global Education. Drawing from his extensive leadership experience and his bestselling book, The Hot Seat: Mastering the Public Company General Counsel Role, Chaka shares actionable strategies for earning peer trust, building a versatile leadership toolkit, and thriving at the intersection of law and business.

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Meet Lisa Harrington, the ultimate portfolio career architect in the legal world. From top litigator to multiple General Counsel (GC) roles, a public company board member, and now the CEO seat, Lisa has mastered the art of continuous professional evolution. In this powerful conversation, she reveals the secret to her success: networking as a superpower. We dig into how to turn an 'odd' early job (like insurance defense) into a hidden advantage, how GCs confidently step into broader business and board roles, and practical strategies for managing a career inflection point. Whether you're an aspiring GC or wondering what's next, discover how to build your own unstoppable career infrastructure.

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The role of the modern GC has evolved from being a technical gatekeeper to a strategic business partner who must balance the "speed of light" provided by technology with the "speed of right" required for sound judgment. Noah Popp, Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Enerpac Tool Group, joins the show to trace the transformation of corporate practice—from the era of hand-carried SEC filings and physical corporate seals to the current age of AI-assisted due diligence and global compliance. Noah shares candid insights into navigating the 2008 financial crisis, the shift toward "mile-wide" generalist expertise, and why a GC’s value is actually enhanced, not diminished, by the rise of ChatGPT and data-driven decision-making. This conversation is essential listening for aspiring legal leaders looking to build the pragmatism and global perspective necessary to lead in an increasingly fractured and automated world.

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Technology will only evolve as time passes by, and you cannot afford to be left behind. You have to grow alongside it and use it wisely to your career advantage. Joseph Schohl sits down with Ritesh Patel, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Viant Technology, a publicly traded advertising technology company. He shares the role of tech innovation in his job as an in-house counsel, particularly AI-powered tools like GC AI. Ritesh also explains why adopting new technologies is now non-negotiable for lawyers, which allows them to handle even a ton of overly complex and highly confidential data.

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Jamie Anderson, CLO of Virta Health, is not your typical General Counsel. She's a high-impact leader who has navigated a non-linear career path—from politics-obsessed DC student to Big Law at Aiken Gump, scaling teams at the healthcare giant DaVita, and finally leaping to the GC seat at the metabolic disease reversal startup, Virta. She also brings a deeply personal connection to her work as someone who has lived with type 1 diabetes her entire adult life.

In this exclusive interview, Jamie offers a masterclass on what it takes to thrive in modern healthcare law. She reveals why legal professionals must move beyond mere compliance to become true strategic partners, how she is rapidly scaling a small legal department using AI and automation (tools like GCAI are essential!), and the critical importance of being embedded with the business. If you’re an in-house counsel, aspiring GC, or simply passionate about the intersection of purpose-driven business and law, you won't want to miss her candid insights on building a successful, efficient, and deeply satisfying legal career in a fast-changing landscape.

What does a “retirement” career look like for a Big Law antitrust partner? In this exclusive interview, we speak with Mike Sennett—former antitrust partner at Jones Day—about his unconventional transition to General Counsel of the Water Quality Association (WQA). After decades handling complex global deals, cartel cases, and evolving regulatory challenges, Sennett found a rewarding “second act” he jokingly calls his retirement years. He shares insights on the evolution of U.S. antitrust law, why qualitative arguments matter beyond the HHI index, and the skills needed to navigate global regulation. Most importantly, Sennett reflects on how senior lawyers can find meaningful GC roles that offer impact and responsibility—without running a massive legal department. Tune in. This is a thoughtful blueprint for experienced lawyers looking to scale back without stepping away.

Navigating a dynamic general counsel career demands an almost James Bond-like dedication, a hands-on leadership with the ability to embrace the unknown. Host Joe Schohl reconnects with seasoned GC Ben Huddleston, whose path spans from advising fast-growing, pre-IPO companies to building and leading group legal teams at a $6B+ enterprise like DaVita. Ben shares his candid, real-world advice on managing major M&A at Quorum Health and ultimately becoming the first General Counsel for a complex group of 28 international businesses. He dives into pivotal moments, explaining how to learn new industries on the fly and the secret to maintaining attorney-client privilege while acting as a trusted business partner. Ben concludes by detailing the vital role of equanimity and continuous improvement in leadership, including his unique internal time-tracking method for accountability across multiple entities.

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The path to becoming a top executive in in-house legal leadership is rarely conventional, but always a masterclass in career agility. David Shapiro, the General Counsel who shaped legal strategy and culture at major companies like DaVita, Vail Resorts, and Ibotta, sits down to share his remarkable journey. He reveals why accepting a massive pay cut to join the Department of Justice was the pivotal move that changed his entire career trajectory. You'll learn about the intense process of leading the billion-dollar acquisition of Whistler Blackcomb at Vail Resorts. You'll also learn what it takes to guide a company like Ibotta through its IPO process. David shares his invaluable, non-traditional advice for aspiring GCs: the power of "collecting experiences," building a unique professional brand, and learning to bring "calmness to a chaotic world."

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To excel in your professional spaces, you must not only learn how to do your work with persistence and determination. Being yourself at all times without trying hard is also key. Joseph Schohl sits down with Margaret Howell, a general counsel in the fertility space, to talk about the power of showing up in your authentic self. She shares how this mindset allowed her to help expand a business internationally after just one transaction. Margaret also explains the benefits of having a good contract management system and talks about her passion as an ultra-distance cyclist.

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Michael Geroe’s legal journey saw him work from the West Coast to the East Coast, as well as a good chunk in the middle of the country. This taught him a ton of powerful career lessons, which greatly helped in building his own startup. He joins Joseph Schohl to look back on his story so far, filled with learnings about resilience, reinvention, and fulfillment. Mike also shares how he shaped himself to become an effective problem solver for his clients and found the best opportunities in the most unexpected places.

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