MoFo Perspectives Podcast

Recent extreme weather events have further raised global awareness of climate and environmental issues, concerns that will top the agenda at COP27 and other upcoming climate summits.

In this episode of the Fellow subseries, SEO Law Fellow, Keatrice Robertson hosts a discussion with DC Financial Services Partner, Maria Earley, and MoFo’s Chief Diversity + Inclusion Officer, Natalie Kernisant, about the importance of having diversity in the partnership ranks and how the creation of focused D+I management strategies aimed at recruitment and retention and interrupting bias in talent management systems, can assist in this effort.

The third episode in our series focused on “delivering an authentic approach to sustainability” with Aron Cramer, President and CEO of BSR, interviewing Rose Stuckey Kirk, the Chief Corporate Social Responsibility Officer at Verizon. Rose provided insights on how she provides values-based leadership to address social needs in a way that enhances and leverages Verizon’s business. She spoke about her experience engaging and activating Verizon’s leadership, setting a strategy for achieving genuine impact, and ensuring authentic approaches that resonate with customers, investors, employees, and society. Rose also discussed how Verizon’s efforts take into account the current environment, with economic volatility, a polarized public, and a changing public policy environment.

In this episode of MoFo Perspectives, Morrison Foerster partner and co-chair of the firm’s Global Privacy & Data Security practice Alex van der Wolk speaks with associate Whitney Lee about her pro bono work with CYREIN, The Cyberstalking Resource Initiative. Whitney founded CYREIN in 2018 to support victims of cyberstalking and cyber harassment after graduating from law school.

After several years of negotiation following the invalidation of the Privacy Shield by the European Court of Justice (CJEU), on October 7, the president signed an Executive Order, and the attorney general issued regulations, implementing the agreement between the U.S. and the EU announced earlier this year to replace the Privacy Shield framework. The European Commission (EC) has issued a statement that these actions will “address the concerns raised by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Schrems II decision.” The EC is expected to make this framework the basis of an adequacy finding that the U.S. provides privacy protections that are essentially equivalent to European law.

In this episode of Diversity in Practice, as part of MoFo’s observance of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Natalie Kernisant leads a discussion with David Cross—chair of the firm’s Antitrust Litigation practice, Disability Affinity Network liaison, and an active member of the Diversity Strategy Committee—about his personal experience navigating the legal industry as an attorney with a disability. Later in the episode, they are joined by Caren Stacy, Diversity Labs CEO, and Carlos Terrazas, Disability Inclusion and Global DE&I manager at McDonald’s Corporation, to discuss how MoFo is partnering with Diversity Lab and their newest initiative—the Disability Inclusion Advisory Group.

In this episode of the Above Board podcast, partner and host Dave Lynn speaks with Miriam Wugmeister, partner and co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Global Privacy and Data Security Group, and Alex Iftimie, partner and co-chair of the firm’s Global Risk and Crisis Management Group, on cybersecurity exposure preparedness for board members.

The second episode in our series focused on “climate beyond compliance” with Suz Mac Cormac, interviewing Tim Mohin, a globally recognized sustainability and ESG executive. The discussion focused on the coming obligations for ESG (specifically climate) disclosures and how companies can prepare. As companies and investors consider how to measure, benchmark, and report on their ESG initiatives on a global scale – having the correct data, structures, and management systems in place to capture, aggregate, and disseminate this information is more crucial than ever. Tim provided insights from his experience leading sustainability strategies for some of the largest tech companies and offered perspectives on future challenges.

In this episode of the Above Board podcast, Morrison Foerster partner and host Dave Lynn speaks with partners James Koukios, former DOJ prosecutor and Senior Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section in Washington, D.C., and Stacey Sprenkel, a skilled investigations attorney with decades of experience conducting corporate internal investigations and global risk assessments, on the importance of an effective ethics and compliance program for corporations and how the board of directors plays a critical role in that area. The board's role in overseeing the ethics and compliance function at companies is discussed, with a particular focus on the reporting structure from a Chief Compliance Officer to the board, how the board can assure itself that it is getting the right information at the right time, and how the board can positively impact compliance function. The speakers also share their top compliance tips and takeaways for board members.

The first episode in our series focused on how companies and investors can distinguish between “ESG activities and true impact” with MoFo and BSR in a discussion on the importance of building real business solutions that offer the biggest opportunities for meaningful change. The discussion offered insights on how companies can act holistically to create change, not just on their own but also by working with value chain partners, markets, policymakers, and systems – and how these ambitious and comprehensive approaches can achieve both more impact and more value for a company.