MoFo Perspectives Podcast

In the first episode of our new Diversity in Practice podcast series, Director of Diversity and Inclusion Natalie Kernisant sits down with Terra Winston of Next Step Partners to discuss what steps we can take toward being an effective ally and how allyship differs from mentorship and other forms of advocacy.

In this episode of MoFo Perspectives, MoFo partner and Coronavirus (COVID-19) Task Force head David Newman speaks with fellow partners and task force members Miriam Wugmeister, Janie Schulman, and Eric McCrath, to discuss the latest findings in the firm’s Impact Survey: COVID-19 and Easing of Stay-at-Home Orders.

During their conversation, David, Miriam, Janie, and Eric discuss important new findings in the report, including deeper insights into the areas of privacy & data security, employment and labor, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and financial transactions, among others. The MoFo Task Force members offer their insights on these and other key issues to help clients understand how the next stages of the global COVID-19 pandemic will impact their businesses in the immediate and long-term.

In this episode of Impactful Conversations, Michael Santos, a social-enterprise- and impact-investing associate in Morrison & Foerster’s San Francisco office, interviews Rodney Foxworth, the CEO of Common Future. Based in Oakland, California, Common Future tackles wealth inequality nation-wide by focusing on the needs of communities that have been the most negatively impacted by injustice, extraction, and exploitation.

To address the wealth gap, Rodney and Common Future are committed to confronting the structural oppression that leaves many communities out by shifting capital towards community investment.

Common Future envisions an economy owned by people of all races and ethnicities. Rodney believes in having communities assume a position “as not just a stakeholder but as a literal shareholder that is able to voice an opinion, has a vote, and is able to influence and determine what types of businesses and enterprises and economic development projects are invested in,” says Rodney. “That is power.”

In this episode of Impactful Conversations as a part of MoFo Perspectives, Jesse Finfrock, a San Francisco-based associate in Morrison & Foerster’s Social Enterprise and Impact Investing Group, meets with Ken Doctor, the founder of Lookout Local, to discuss how he has incorporated Lookout Local’s mission into its corporate form in electing to become a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC).

A PBC requires balancing the traditional fiduciary duties owed to stockholders with the social or environmental benefit that is written into the corporation’s charter documents. In this case, Lookout Local’s mission is to provide the news and information needs for the local communities it serves. “The main thing I want to do is change the conversation and repopulate these news deserts,” says Ken Doctor, so finding a corporate form that embraced his company’s values was the first step.

In this special shelter-in-place edition of “Impactful Conversations” podcast, MoFo fund-formation lawyer Sean Byrne interviews Buckhill Capital General Partner Henrik Jones about collaborating with MoFo to create a new investment term, the Carried Interest by Verified Impact Calculations (CIVIC). The CIVIC links a fund’s carried interest to quantifiable impact metrics, and thus has the potential to create billions of dollars of incentives for institutional investment managers to pursue impact goals alongside financial returns. This project is a finalist for NYU’s Grunin Prize for Social Entrepreneurship.

Gareth Rees QC and Howard Morris discuss critical steps corporate senior management must consider now with regulators circling to pass judgement.

London Lawyers Alistair Maughan and Edward Downer share, explore and discuss the current issues faced by our clients during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This soundbite covers trends and reoccurring questions from our clients, from fundamental business considerations, such as cash flow, to duties as directors and governmental relief.

This pragmatic and informative discussion is designed to help our clients navigate the months ahead. It’s an easy listen of substantial and practical value.