Vol. 8 | The Ever Giving lessons for lawyers 🚢

Hey there!

One ship. That is all it took to capsize ~$54 billion in global trade (+supply-chain delays) until tugboats helped unblock the Suez Canal.

There are two lessons to be learned here:

1. very few world events will not be turned into meme-fodder
2. small lapses can sometimes lead to huge consequences. Like forgetting when a contract renewal is due‍

More on that later. First, let’s dive right into what Harry Borovick, Senior Legal Counsel at LiveRamp said about proactive lawyering and developing commercial awareness in the 3rd episode of #LegalMatters 👇

News In Minutes ⏱️

Bailing Out On Your Mailbox? 🚫 📮

Sending emails is an ordeal. Among many other problems, there is

- difficulty in tracking attachments

- lack of immediacy

- poor interpersonal experiences

Hence lawyers are switching over. Flexible resourcing group Obelisk Support noted a gradual increase in alternative communication channels to the ol’ email - notably WhatsApp, Slack, and LinkedIn Messenger.

Where does communication happen at your workplace? And what's great about it?

Shaky Job Market?  📉

Stat: Even as U.S. non-farm payrolls surged last month, the legal sector lost 1,400 jobs across law-firm lawyers and staff. And the ones who are still on the job are dealing with burnouts and/or increased workloads.

So if you have friends who are finding it hard to look for a job, or are just looking for a change, here’s a list of resources that can help:

1. VF Corporation is looking for a Legal Counsel, Digital and Privacy in Greensboro, NC

2. Greenoaks Capital is looking for a Legal Counsel at their San Francisco, CA office

3. Abound is looking for a Head of Legal & Compliance (remote position)

Parking Ticket 🚦

The Ever Given is free, but the legal drama is a lot better than the memes!

- The owners are suing the operators for this sticky mess, and

- Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority wants a $1B compensation bite from this pie

But for a ship that is registered in Panama, has a German technical manager, is owned by two Japanese companies, and is being leased by a Taiwan-based conglomerate, jurisdiction can get slightly tricky.

Suddenly, this 👇 starts looking a lot better.

Feature Highlight

Speaking of unfortunate faux pas - have you ever had to renew negotiations with an existing customer just because you forgot their renewal date? We hope you haven't.

But tracking all those dates can get messy. So, we built-in a reminder and notification stack that scours through your contracts, finds out renewal, expiry, or due dates, and sends a reminder to you well in advance. This is what being unstuck looks like 🎉

Legal Leader Highlight

“I realized that there is the possibility for great appreciation of legal functions, especially from sales teams, if by being involved at an early stage, legal can support sales strategy and pitches from conception, rather than pitch on one basis and have to come back for iterations.”
- Harry Borovick, Senior Legal Counsel at LiveRamp

What is common between Netflix and high performing in-house teams? It is always more about the people and less about the process.

‍No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Myers is as much for in-house legal leaders as it is about entrepreneurs. The authors dive into Netflix’s unconventional culture at work. Think - unlimited vacations or very generous severance packages. Get your copy on Amazon.

That’s a wrap! If you've read this far, why not spread the ❤️ with your friends? Simply forward this email or send them or send them this link!

As always - stay safe, cautious, and hydrated. Until next time! 👋

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