On February 12th, 2018, the Berkeley Center for Law and Business welcomed attorneys Bill Sorabella and Shawn O’Hargan from Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Kirkland & Ellis LLP advised American chemical manufacturer Huntsman Corporation on its $20 billion merger with Swiss chemical company Clariant. Then, in the final stages of negotiations, there was an unexpected twist, as activist investors abruptly blocked the merger. Sorabella and O’Hargan led the team that crafted the deal, before that deal suddenly fell through.
Recap: “BCLB Law Firm Hot Topic Lunch Talk: Kirkland & Ellis LLP – The Hunstman Merger”
Recap: “BCLBE Leadership Lunch Talk: The Tech Counsel”
On November 6, 2017, the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy (BCLBE) hosted a conversation with attorney Dana Wagner from Square.
Square is a financial services, merchant services aggregator and mobile payment company. Wagner has worked with Square as the leader of their legal, regulatory, government relations, compliance, and security operations department for more than five years and shepherded the startup through the IPO process last year. Wagner was their first lawyer. He helped shape Square into a global public technology company and built one of the very best legal and regulatory teams in the industry. Before joining Square, Wagner led Google’s antitrust and competition practice. At the beginning of his career, Wagner also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of California and as a trial attorney in the antitrust division in the U.S. Department of Justice.
Wagner pursued his undergraduate studies at U.C. Berkeley and received his J.D. from Yale Law School. Contrary to most law students, Wagner did not think of going to law school to save the world or do public service. However, after spending his first summer with the government and his second summer in a law firm, Wagner realized that he enjoyed working for the public sector.
While Wagner was working on cartel criminal cases in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Google reached out to him to create their antitrust division. Wagner had not practiced in such an area for years by then, but managed to quickly acquire the qualifications needed by doing the job itself and by building a team that was able to face antitrust issues that came in every product launch, in the IP strategy and in every partnership.
After four years at Google, Square reached out via e-mail to Wagner to have a conversation when the company was in a very early stage. A combination of elements led Wagner to accept this new challenge: a very good leadership and business model, the fact that he felt that he was not doing legal work at Google anymore, and his thought that you have to run a startup at least once in your life,
At Square, Wagner built his own team from scratch. He looked for lawyers who wanted to do something that would challenge themselves and learn. According to Wagner, another important quality for young lawyers is an ability to take good risks, because there is a lot of risk aversion in the legal world. He wrapped up by stating that risk aversion is something that should be avoided by employees of technology companies.
Recap: “BCLBE Leadership Lunch Talk: So You Want to be a General Counsel?
On October 30, 2017, the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy (BCLBE) welcomed Erika Rottenberg, a Boalt alumni who is on the board of both Twilio, a leading cloud based communications platform, and Wix.com, a leading cloud based development platform, for a talk and Q&A with the law students regarding the practice of law as a general counsel, what a general counsel does, and the differences between being a general counsel and an in-house lawyer.
Besides being on the board of two companies, Mrs. Rottenberg is also a mentor to women, executives, young professionals and students, and advises companies that are scaling globally, particularly in matters evolving global privacy, data security and corporate arenas. Beforehand, she was a very successful general counsel at LinkedIn, and also served as a Consultant of SumTotal Systems and as Vice President of Strategic Development and General Counsel at Creative Labs Inc. During the beginning of her career, she was an attorney at Cooley Godward, practicing corporate and employment lay.
When asked about how she became a general counsel, she mentioned how it is almost the traditional path for law students to leave law school and go to work in law firms. She got a job in Cooley Godward straight after law school, but after a few years decided to change her career and go to work in-house in LinkedIn. Concerning this change, she mentioned how even though she did not have the knowledge in technology matters, she did not want to be just a lawyer at a firm, but rather be part of the business. For Mrs. Rottenberg, if you are a great in-house lawyer, you do not simply give legal advice, but rather become a business partner.
When talking about the difference of environment that is to work in a law firm and a big company, Mr. Rottenberg mentioned how in a law firm, the entire company revolves around the lawyers. On the other hand, on a company such LinkedIn, lawyers are on the expense side, and newcomers need to be aware of the necessity to be humble and accept that engineers and entrepreneurs will be much more on the center of the company’s attention.
Mr. Rottenberg also advised on how it is crucial for lawyers building their careers to always say yes to a project, and to take advantage of any opportunity to rotate around several areas of law. Furthermore, she talked extensively on how important it is for law students and young professionals to know how to make requests and how to be insistent in the appropriate manner in order to achieve their goals. Additionally, she mentioned how young lawyers should not be afraid to apply for opportunities even if they don’t meet the minimum requirements for the position, because what the hiring part is actually looking for is someone who will be productive and helpful.
Recap BCLBE Leadership Lunch Talk So You Want to be a General Counsel (PDF)
Recap: “BCLBE Leadership Lunch Talk – Funding Innovation”
On October 23, 2017, the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy (BCLBE) welcomed Chris Young ‘05, Head of Legal at GoFundMe, for a Q&A discussion about his career, his position as a company counsel at a venture-backed startup, and the crucial role attorneys play in the startup world.
A graduate of SDSU and Berkeley Law, Young began his career as a litigator at Morrison Foerster. After litigating a high-profile class action suit addressing education inequality, Young was asked to join the 2008 Obama presidential campaign as the Deputy Finance Director of Northern California. Faced with a difficult decision between staying at his firm, clerking, or joining the campaign, Young’s mentors encouraged him to take advantage of the opportunity to work for President Obama. He took their advice and served on the campaign until the election, at which point he returned to his hometown of Sacramento to work as Mayor Johnson’s Senior Advisor. Young moved to Washington D.C. shortly thereafter to work in the White House and the Department of Justice. He then returned to the Bay Area in 2010 to work as a Senior Associate trial attorney at Keker, Van Nest & Peters. In 2014, he left to join OpenGov as its head of business development and counsel, until finally starting his current position in November 2015.
Young attributes part of his success to the encouragement and understanding of his mentors. When presented with the opportunity to work for President Obama, he was initially hesitant to leave his firm and defer his clerkship. However, a senior partner pushed him to take it, stressing that Young could always return to big law. The judge also told him to risk it and enjoy the journey. At the end of the day, Young would encourage any law student to “take chances and bet on yourself” when making career decisions.
Those chances eventually brought Young to GoFundMe, where he has served as Head of Legal for two years. GoFundMe, which Young refers to as “America’s company,” is a rapidly expanding crowd-funding platform, experiencing 300% annual growth with 50 million users worldwide since its launch eight years ago. Young said the best part of his job is that every day there is something new on his desk. Whether he is dealing with corporate governance, litigation, contract negotiations, or equity issues, Young said, “you have to have a sense of confidence and a little bit of insanity to think that you can handle everything that comes your way.” He shared that as counsel to a startup, it is important to balance the company’s want for growth with keeping it out of harm’s way, which presents new challenges every day.
Young also loves the public service aspect of his job. He emphasized that GoFundMe is an open platform that helps people from all walks of life, regardless of their location or political beliefs. Young recently started a charity through GoFundMe to directly assist those in need, and was able to raise $6 million to help hurricane, California fire, and Las Vegas shooting victims. Young said that seeing how those funds impacted people’s lives was inspiring, and reinforced the importance of GoFundMe’s role in the world. “When I wake up in the morning, I know that I’m going to work at a company that’s allowing people to help each other out,” Young shared.
Recap BCLBE Leadership Lunch Talk – Funding Innovation (PDF)
Recap: “Leadership Lunch Talk: Ricardo Cortes-Monroy, Nestlé – Sustenance and Sustainability”
On October 24th, 2017, the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy (BCLBE) hosted Ricardo Cortes-Monroy, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of Nestlé.
Nestlé is the world’s largest food company, manufacturing more than 10,000 different products, employing around 330,000 people, and maintaining a presence in over 150 countries. Mr. Cortes-Monroy not only manages the company’s giant legal department, but is recognized as a leader in the legal community for advancing corporate citizenship.
He explained that sustainability and corporate responsibility should be understood as legal issues, and urged this needs to be embraced by other inside counsel. In the past, these concepts were only acknowledged as public relations concerns—indeed many lawyers today view corporate responsibility as nothing more than a marketing fad. Mr. Cortes-Monroy, however, explains these concepts are relevant business considerations. In the food industry, you must maintain trust and a positive reputation to be successful with consumers. But for Mr. Cortes-Monroy, the bottom line is, “It’s not about what is legal, but what is right.”
The paramount example of Mr. Cortes-Monroy’s commitment to this ideal is the Thai fisheries case. In 2014, media outlets and NGOs began reporting on ties between horrific labor conditions on fishing boats in Thailand and Purina cat food, a brand owned by Nestlé. In response to these reports, Nestlé’s legal department commissioned global NGO Verité to investigate its production sites in Thailand. Using supply chain mapping, Verité confirmed a link. In an incredibly dangerous move and despite significant legal risks, Nestlé published the report online, basically admitting wrongdoing. Mr. Cortes-Monroy recognizes, “from a defense lawyer perspective, what we did was crazy.”
Yet, the company was publically praised for disclosing the report and announcing an action plan to combat slave labor in its supply chain. Measures outlined in the plan include commissioning an emergency response team, launching an awareness campaign, training boat owners and captains, and utilizing a traceability system and audits. Nestlé’s disclosure ultimately shielded the company from liability under the safe harbor doctrine in one California class action.
Nestlé’s commitment to corporate responsibility may be having an influence on other companies, as well. Pulling straight from the Nestlé playbook, Patagonia engaged Verité to investigate forced labor in their clothing supply chain and to assist the company with a strategy moving forward.
Nestlé continues to strive for improvement in sustainability. For example, the company has committed to purchase only cage-free eggs by 2020. As Mr. Cortes-Monroy concluded, “Challenges are still there, but there has been remarkable progress in the last few years.”
The presentation also discussed Nestlé’s Summer Internship Program for 1L students. Second year Berkeley Law student Lauren Kelly-Jones was on-hand to share her experience interning in Nestlé’s Legal Sustainability & Creating Shared Value group this past summer in Vevey, Switzerland. Interested first year students may apply for next summer’s program when the application becomes available on December 1st.
Recap Leadership Lunch Talk Ricardo Cortes-Monroy, Nestlé – Sustenance and Sustainability (PDF)
Recap: “From Big Law to Big Business”
On October 18, 2017, the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy (BCLBE) welcomed Aylin Oncel, a lawyer at Stripe, for a Q&A discussion about her career from a big law firm associate and a start-up entrepreneur to an in-house lawyer at a big company, and about the issues she thinks were important during her career.
Aylin received her J.D. from UC Berkeley School of Law in 2012. Passionate about global women’s issues, she once served on U.S. National Committee for UN Women. After graduation, she worked as a corporate attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, specializing in mergers and acquisitions (M&A). She also co-founded a boutique wine gifting company in San Francisco named Vinkind. Now she is an in-house lawyer at Stripe, a US technology company that provides an online payment platform for private individuals and businesses.
“Don’t feel scared to do different things,” Aylin told us through her own experience. She realized that big law was not for her after two-years of M&A work and she wanted to make a change. Then she met her co-founder and decided to run a start-up. After experiencing all these different jobs, she found that an in-house position was the fit for her. Trying different things can help people figure out what they really want.
For her, Stripe is also a completely different world. She had no background in engineering before. “Just learn about a new industry,” she said. However, previous work experience did help in her career like negotiation skills gained through daily interaction with lawyers and clients.
Aylin told us several considerations that are important for a start-up. First, you need money that is a revenue source, like savings or a family sponsorship. Second, you have to choose a partner wisely. For example, personality match and skills are key points to take into consideration. Third, be nice and people will appreciate that. Last but not least, get some basic knowledge such as learning the framework of businesses.
When asked about how she feels working in-house, Aylin said it was an amazing work. People on the team are really smart, efficient and energetic and they respect your time. Everyone is nice and it is a great experience.
Recap: Dom Perella, Snap Inc.
On January 18th, the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy (BCLBE) held a speaker series entitled, “A conversation with Dom Perella, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Snap, Inc.” Perella spoke to Berkeley Law students and faculty on his position at one of the world’s most popular startups, as well as his time at the Supreme Court and Appellate Litigation practice at Hogan Lovells.
Practitioner Speaker Series: Benson Cohen, Sidley Austin
On October 31, 2016, The Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy (BCLBE) hosted Benson Cohen, partner at the New York office of Sidley Austin, to discuss his law practice. Mr. Cohen is a ’04 Boalt alumnus, serving on the Boalt Hall Alumni Association’s board of directors. He is also the current chair of the nominating committee for the New York City Bar Association’s “Diversity and Inclusion Champion Award.” In addition to many other awards, his practice team at Sidley Austin has been awarded first-tier national rankings by the US News—Best Lawyers for Private Funds/Hedge Funds Law and Derivatives and Futures Law.
Event Recap: Ryan Horning, Assistant General Counsel to the Oakland Athletics
On November 2, 2016, the Berkeley Center for Law Business and the Economy hosted a lunchtime lecture by Ryan Horning, the Assistant General Counsel to the Oakland Athletics.
BCLBE Law Firm Hot Topic: Peter Werner, Cooley
On October 24, 2016, Peter Werner, partner at Cooley LLP, spoke about what it’s like to practice in Silicon Valley. It was not a serious speech or boring esoteric lecture which might make you sleepy, but was instead an interesting, easy to understand, and profound sharing of his experiences as a lawyer.