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.

Tricia Montalvo Timm rose to the top of her game in The Legal Department, hiding her true identity as a Latina and mother of two. For years, she led legal teams and served on the executive teams of several companies "passing" as white, but not realizing the impact this would have on her. All that changed when she interviewed for a general counsel position at data analytics company, Looker, and allowed her true identity to shine through. A natural leader, Tricia started the company's diversity and inclusion program, serving as its executive sponsor. After leading a $2.6 billion transaction to sell the company to Google, Tricia wrote "Embrace the Power of You, Owning Your Identity at Work," to help others live their true identity and flourish in their careers in life.

In this episode, Tricia shares advice for:

• How to create an environment that supports all employees and builds a cohesive team;
• How to be a sponsor and help others reach their career aspirations; and
• How the General Counsel can address inappropriate comments and navigate uncomfortable situations

Now a board member at top SaaS company, Salsify, Tricia shares how lawyers can overcome the identity of "lawyer" and land a corporate board seat. She also answers a sticky Office Hours question about how to deal with friction between a GC and their C-suite peer.

Do you ever feel like you're speaking another language when you're talking to your sales team? Why can't they see the risks? How did they get this far into the deal without involving Legal?

In this episode, Alex Su helps us understand the sales team and how to talk the talk and improve our company's results. Alex left a career in litigation to join the sales team of a legal tech start-up and has since been in sales for more than 14 years. A rare breed who understands what drives sales people and what makes lawyers tick, Alex helps us understand how to serve this important part of the business.

Bonus: Alex answers an Office Hours question for a law firm partner trying to build their book of business.

AI and legal tech vendors are selling a new world where lawyers' work will be streamlined, more efficient, and more productive while also cutting down on legal fees. Most tools for in-house lawyers focus on improving workflows, contract review, and other transactional tasks.

In litigation, news reports highlight the latest embarrassments—or even sanctions—of lawyers who relied on AI bots to write briefs with hallucinated, made-up cases. In this episode, Alex Alben, a two-time tech GC and the former Chief Privacy Officer of the state of Washington, helps us understand how AI tools can be used responsibly in litigation. He also shares how in-house counsel can ensure law firms are using them appropriately and provides clues for identifying AI-generated content before it's filed.

Alex also discusses how law firms can use their own data to evaluate performance in different courts, assess the effectiveness of arguments, and more. He suggests firms "mine their own data" and consider hiring a data scientist to access this untapped resource.

Tune in to hear about the potential for AI to improve litigation outcomes.

Do you avoid tough conversations? Frustrated when your team doesn't deliver the work product you expected? Or did someone tell you to work on "executive presence" and you don't know how? In this episode, executive coach and Forbes contributor, Hanna Hart is in The Legal Department with a framework for giving and receiving feedback. Lawyers avoid feedback because they're busy, uncomfortable, or want people to like them. This is counterproductive. This episode provides concrete suggestions for making a feedback conversation something that helps both parties improve and build a better relationship.

S is for soft skills—but what do they really mean for in-house counsel? In this episode, Inside Counsel Academy founder Joe Schohl joins Stacy Bratcher in The Legal Department to unpack executive presence—what it is, why it matters, and how to develop it for leadership success.

Plus, in this special Office Hours segment, Joe tackles a tricky listener question: What should you do if your boss gives the board incorrect advice?

Get expert insights and practical strategies from Inside Counsel Academy to strengthen your in-house legal career.