1. Patricia Kim Laura Maechtlen Tim Phillips
Lawyer or Leader
Patricia Kim Laura Maechtlen Tim Phillips
This is the Seyfarth Shaw PowerPoint Template.

2. About You
AGC in the 10 person legal department for GoSlow, a company with 5,000 employees in five states
the litigation group and have 3 direct reports (2 lawyers and 1 paralegal)
Started 4 years ago when there were 2 people in the legal department
LJM: added info re: number of overall employees in first bullet

3. Company background
GoSlow is a global company featuring products for the self-driving transportation industry. It is in a fast growing segment of the economy but still has a bit of a “start-up” culture where people feel they can make a mark on the company and rise to leadership. The legal department has been growing steadily as the compliance and risk issues continue to multiply as the company expands. The CEO has just hired a new GC and things are starting to change. The GC comes from a much larger company and is used to a different culture than GoSlow, one that is more “corporate” in nature.
You are the AGC in the 10 person legal department for GoSlow. You supervise the litigation group and have 3 direct reports (2 lawyers and a paralegal). GoSlow is a global company featuring products for the self-driving transportation industry. It is in a fast growing segment of the economy but still has a bit of a “start-up” culture where people feel they can make a mark on the company and rise to leadership. The legal department has been growing steadily as the compliance and risk issues continue to multiply as the company expands. You started 4 years ago when there were 2 people in the legal department and now, the CEO has just hired a new GC and things are starting to change

4. Direct Report 1: Mary attorney early 50’s
has been at GoSlow since the beginning
very competent at her job and comfortable in her position in the legal department

5. Direct Report 2: John attorney in his late 20’s
joined GoSlow about a year ago
spent two years in an outside law firm
ambitious and impatient
diverse

6. Direct Report 3: Tom paralegal in his mid-30’s highly competent
has low tolerance for the attorneys

7. Scenario 1: Personal, generational and workload conflicts within the team
Tom approaches you for an “in person” and proceeds to tell you that Mary is not getting work done, in fact, she is giving Tom all her significant work and just “appearing” busy. He details her delegation and indicates that he is “tired” of doing her job and his too. You note that he has recently snapped at Mary in staff meetings and they seem to have a relationship that is increasingly tense.
You ask to meet with Mary. She tells you that her work is under control and thanks you for allowing her to work remotely 3 days a week. She says that it helps her take care of her elderly parents. You ask her for a status on a number of her matters. She seems to bristle and tells you that she has been an attorney for over 20 years and can manage her own matters.

8. Scenario 1: Practical / legal considerations
How do you handle this?
With Tom?
With Mary?
Are there legal risks or considerations?

9. Legal overview
Age / generational bias – Tom’s concerns and Mary’s years of experience
“Bullying” v. harassment – harassment is based on a protected status
Working remotely may be required by local / state laws
Time off to care for an elderly parent may be required by Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), state equivalents, or other leave laws

10. Scenario 2: Generational and competitive conflicts
John makes as appointment with you to discuss his “career plans.” You have tried to make time for these discussions with your staff but have not really effectively managed to sit with them. You are grateful that John has reached out. You take him out to lunch, which is the first time you have really taken one of your subordinates out of the office. You have a great time with him and connect in many ways.
During the lunch, John makes two “asks”:
He wants you to consider him as a leader of a new specialty practice group on compliance.
He wants to move his office closer to you
You want to allow him to do both and tell him that you will “make it happen.” He is a young, ambitious attorney and you want to keep him motivated.
When you tell Mary and Tom about the changes, they are very disappointed and Tom tells you that John is a “problem” in the office.

11. Scenario 2: Practical / legal considerations
What now?
Do you “walk back” the promises to  John?
How do you keep John motivated?
How to you handle the issues with Mary and Tom?
Are there legal risks or considerations?

12. Legal overview
Lack of consistent review process and performance feedback can lead to risk
Social time with subordinates in certain circumstances can create appearance of impropriety when subordinates are treated favorably
“Asks” could form basis for an employment claim – failure to follow through on “approval” could be argued as an adverse act by John
Co-worker disappointment signals feelings of unfair treatment and/or favorable treatment of an underperformer who does not deserve workplace “perks”

13. Scenario 3: Generational conflict and managing up
Your GC is new but relatively experienced. He has called you in to review the pending cases and talk about upcoming issues. He tells you that you need to focus on managing Mary out of the Department. He has observed that she is never there and tells you that “he doesn’t like her attitude.” He also tells you that he prides himself on being “a bit of a control freak” and tells you that is how he manages. He is proud of his track record as a GC at other companies.
You agree to work with Mary and you tell him about elevating Tom’s profile.
He tells you that Tom is too inexperienced and wants you to think about an outside hire.
You hear him on the “control freak” comment and you have sensed that in him. You want to be left alone with “light” supervision.

14. Scenerio 3: Practical / legal considerations
What are your next steps?
Are there legal risks or considerations?

15. Legal overview Termination of Mary may carry risk:
Mary is deemed competent
Mary is over 50 (protected status), and the oldest in her group
Planned hire
Protected absences should not form basis of termination
Perception of “attitude” could reveal unlawful bias

16. Scenario 4: Colleague conflict and competition
Alexander is in charge of the transactional practice and is annoyed that he was passed over for GC. He now seems to want to consolidate “power” within the legal department and has asked for 2 new hires to accommodate the growth of the company. This will make his group larger than yours and you are concerned about your position.
Alexander has also told you that he wants a broader role that would include legal operations. You are very concerned about this as he would then have greater control over you and your group. He wants to implement a matter management system and you know members of your team will not be happy with this.
He has approached the GC with a plan to keep “metrics” on the legal department. You are very concerned about this because you are concerned they may make you look less efficient than Alexander.
Not that you don’t have enough trouble managing your direct reports, you also have issues with co-workers.

17. Scenerio 4: Practical / legal considerations
How do you handle Alexander?
Are there legal risks or considerations?
LJM: No legal overview slide here because the practical considerations outweigh the legal

18. Scenario 5: You are now the new GC
As the new GC for GoSlow, you have observed that the legal staff works too independently with very little oversight from the AGC’s.  You want to run this ship a little tighter.  You have a conversation with Joan, the AGC for Litigation, about managing Mary out of the department because she has a bad attitude and is out of the office most of the time.  Joan expresses some reluctant to do so given Mary’s broad experience with the company.  Mary is the only one with specific knowledge of important legal matters that might affect the future of GoSlow.  Joan believes that the rest of the staff is not experienced enough to fill the gap.
During your conversation with Joan she expresses some concern that her colleague, Alexander, the AGC overseeing the transactional practice, is broadening his role without the GC’s knowledge. Although you support Alexander’s desire for more metrics, you would like to control the department’s legal operations and you are not keen on delegating this to Alexander or expanding his role.

19. Scenerio 5: Practical / legal considerations
How do you handle Joan’s concerns with Mary and Alexander?
Are there legal risks or considerations?
No legal risks slide because issues covered previously

20. Additional Information

21. Questions