You may be thinking, "not another episode on AI! Haven't we covered that already?" Well, you're right. The Legal Department has covered AI, but we haven't talked practically or tactically about how you would actually use AI in an in-house legal department. In this episode, Sterling Miller, the OG of In-House, shares practical tips on how in-house departments can safely use AI.

Other discussions include: 

• How to deal with confidentiality and attorney client privilege with AI tools
• Practical, step-by-step suggestions for drafting prompts for different tasks
• AI use-cases for in-house lawyers
• How to navigate e-discovery

Sterling also shares his favorite AI tools for legal departments–put together after 2 years of research, so you don't have to!

This is an episode you won't want to miss. Bookmark it and listen on a flight so you can take notes!

New to a global company? Working with lawyers in different parts of the world and struggling to connect? It's not just about understanding the language: to work cross-culturally, you need to understand the other party's culture. In this episode, Juliana Calil, former in-house attorney at Google, Intel, Disney and other big name companies shares her experience as a Brazilian lawyer learning how to practice in the US and eventually taking that experience back to Brazil. As Juliana shares, working internationally takes more than being bilingual. She shares how many of the in-house fundamentals are still key in international roles and how being curious about the other party's culture ensures success. We also tackle key differences in how US and Brazilian companies handle IP issues. Estou empolgado com isso!

2 GCs and a Law Firm Partner answer YOUR questions. Kate Dugan and Joe Glynias return to join Stacy Bratcher in The Legal Department and share their views on maintaining and getting the best value out of in-house relationships. They talk about managing remote teams, crisis communications, and how to get up to speed managing a new function. Joe also reflects on the first year of Husch Blackwell's "HB In-House" program, including some hot takes about what it is like to be in-house counsel.

Got a burning question for Office Hours? Reach out at [email protected]

Y Combinator is the tech incubator that has launched many of today's largest companies–Airbnb, DropBox, Door Dash, Open AI and many, many others. Jonathan Levy, Managing Director and former GC of YC had a role in many of them. On this episode of The Legal Department, Jonathan shares how legal can support start-up companies and help shape the future. He talks about adopting a CEO's mindset, keeping your opinions (and attitude) in check and not letter fears of what might go wrong prevent you from seeing what might go right. YC is also seeding several legal tech companies–Jonathan shares his thoughts about some of these and why they might disrupt the current market leaders. Join us for another episode on how lawyers support innovation.

Ever wonder what the board of directors wants from their legal team? Or how you can move from the legal department into a board position? In this episode, triple-threat Jeanine Wright--former GC turned tech-company founder, former COO of podcast giant Wondery, and current board member at several companies--is in The Legal Department to help lawyers how to be great in the board room. Find out the 4 things board members want in their lawyers. Jeanine also shares her journey from legal into business roles and the practical advice that helped her reach the board room and offers advice on how you can get there too.

If this episode doesn't wake you up about what it means to be a business enabler, nothing will. Mick Ebeling, three-time award winner of Time Magazine's Best Invention of the Year, has literally changed the world. Through their "help one, help many" approach, Mick and his team of innovators at Not Impossible Labs have built technology that has changed countless lives:

Their inventions:

• Return the joy of music to the deaf
• Helped a paralyzed artist draw again
• Provide affordable, ongoing access to prosthetics for those most in need, and off-the-grid, in war-torn South Sudan.
• Connect the hungry with sustainable sources of food

In this conversation with Stacy Bratcher, Mick shares why understanding the big picture and connection with humanity is fundamental for innovating. Put down your red pen, turn off track changes, and learn how to be the lawyer who helps turn the impossible into reality.

Lawyers are busy! In-House lawyers don't need to do "extracurriculars," right? Think again. In this episode of The Legal Department, SVP and Senior Managing Counsel Kelley Barnett shares how building a nonprofit to help women lawyers helped her become a better lawyer and leader.

She also shares how making what became a viral LinkedIn post spurred a conversation about bullying women on maternity leave, which also helped her build influence inside her organization and out.

Kelley and Stacy share tips for making time for career development activities outside of your 9-5, while raising a family.

Additionally, Kelley addresses a listener's Office Hours question about how to get management experience in a flat legal department.

If you've been wondering whether you need to be "out there," this episode is for you.

Curious about compensation trends for in-house legal roles? What are the different components of private company compensation, how do private equity companies structure equity, or how to evaluate a compensation offer? John Gilmore is a veteran executive recruiter. His firm, Barker Gilmore, conducts one of the industry's most comprehensive surveys on in-house compensation. In this episode, John pulls back the curtain on compensation trends and how GC compensation benchmarks against other roles. He also shares strategies for negotiating compensation and how to nail tough interview questions about comp and other topics.

In this #OfficeHours episode, 3x general counsel and author Sterling Miller joins Deborah Solmor, 3x General Counsel and Founder of Ready Set GC to answer listener questions about life in #TheLegalDepartment. 

Topics include: the transition from Deputy GC to General Counsel, how to advocate for budget and headcount, how to set goals, how to get board experience when you're not the GC. Deborah and Sterling also tackle a sticky political issue in the c-suite.

If you have an Office Hours question, please contact The Legal Department at [email protected]

Too often, legal departments are on their heels defending litigation and managing unwieldy litigation budgets. Legal departments can generate an ROI for their companies by engaging in affirmative litigation. But who has the budget for that?

At 20 years old, Eva Shang figured out how to turn litigation into investment returns and is now running a tech-enabled investment firm focused on litigation funding. Legalist, the company she co-founded with Christian Haigh at Y Combinator, now manages $1.5 billion in alternative investments in litigation funding, bankruptcy, and government receivables. In this episode, Eva, now the firm's CEO, shares how litigation funding works, how Legalist's "truffle sniffer" technology sources litigation cases for her team of in-house attorneys to underwrite and evaluate for investment. Eva shares insights on how to evaluate cases and "pick a winner", how to get litigation counsel to set and stick to a budget, and how her team that a "win" will be collectable at the end of the day.

And as a bonus, Eva shares insights of what the CEO wants from their lawyers. Turns out, mitigating risk isn't at the top of the list.