Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Transcription

1 Boys & Girls Clubs of America Kristine Morain General Counsel Kristine Morain serves as general counsel to Boys & Girls Clubs of America, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Boys & Girls Clubs of America, a nonprofit youth organization celebrating its centennial this year, that helps serve more than 4.4 million children at over 3,700 club locations throughout the United States with 44,000 trained professional staff. Prior to joining Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Ms. Morain was general counsel of Barton Protective Services, now AlliedBarton Security. Before joining the ranks of in-house counsel, Ms. Morain was a partner at the law firm of Hawkins & Parnell where she specialized in defending legal malpractice claims, mass tort litigation, products liability claims and general commercial litigation. Ms. Morain received her undergraduate degree in engineering from GMI Engineering & Management Institute and her law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law. Q&A with Kristine Morain What advice would you give a young woman considering a career in the law today? I think it is important for a young woman to appreciate the many rewards of a law career, but also to respect the demands that a law career has on all attorneys, especially women. For this reason, I would advise a new female attorney to have a big-picture game plan to achieve a balance in her life and career, because I have seen a lot of women put their personal lives on hold, marriage, family, friends, etc., while they are striving to make partnership or other career-related goals, and it makes it more difficult to catch up or achieve a balance later. Have you personally experienced any advantages or disadvantages in the legal industry because of your gender? I have actually experienced both, although gender has generally proven to be advantageous. My early career was at an excellent law firm, Hawkins & Parnell, where I found there was a definite advantage to being a female, because the firm appreciated dedicated and competent female attorneys and were willing to reward efforts regardless of gender. When I moved into the corporate legal world, I would say that there was a slight disadvantage in that many of the board members and/or stakeholders are conditioned to expect a gray-haired male as a general counsel, so it took a little bit of time to earn trust and respect as a younger female. What is the best way to gain that kind of trust and respect? The best way to do it is to perform beyond expectations. Once you show that you can perform, you can gain comfort in your advice and counsel. There is no reason you cannot earn that respect but it does take patience and time. I think it s all performance-based Vault Inc.

2 Boys & Girls Clubs of America What kind of steps have law firms and other legal employers taken in the last few years to create a better working environment for women? What else do you think needs to happen in this area? A lot of law firms at least in Atlanta are exploring different tracks that allow females to take some time during the critical period of their careers and address their personal responsibilities related to marriage and family. Some of the big firms have even adopted on-site child care for their staff, and I ve noticed a lot more support groups for female attorneys to talk about the issues that confront female attorneys. In my opinion, one area that needs to be addressed is that there is still a stigma associated with the Mommy Track that needs to be diminished so that when female attorneys either choose an alternative work life or come back to the working force, they are not having any negative effects. Employers need to consider what can be done to support and accommodate their female attorneys. What impact has a career in law had on your personal and family life? Do you have any special techniques, methods and philosophies that help you maintain a work/life balance and be a successful lawyer? Let me answer that by telling you a funny story. When I was pregnant with my son Blake I was on trial four times, and my son was actually born in the middle of a trial, which certainly intrigued the jury. So, as much as I loved my law firm and my partners, the reality of being a litigation partner caused me to consider other career options. And while I still miss my law firm, the predictability of an in-house position has allowed me to have more balance. I think the keys to a balanced work/life are focusing on efficiency and productivity while at work, finding child care or a school that allows for flexibility, and good communication with your family and your employer. I am blessed with an incredibly supportive and understanding husband, who is also an attorney and therefore appreciates the demands of practicing law. It is also critical to make sure the time you do get to spend with your family is quality time and that you are not afraid to ask your employer for flexibility to do so. How did you get involved in the Boys and Girls Club of America? I was also blessed with this opportunity, which came at a perfect time in my life. I highly advocate for the intangible rewards of working for a nonprofit organization, especially one that is helping kids. What is interesting is that the legal work is very similar to the work I did as general counsel at a for-profit company. This demonstrates how the law allows you to mix your interests with a legal aspect and really enjoy your work. How did you decide on a career in law? My undergraduate [degree] was in engineering and I recall that I decided halfway through undergraduate, that I wanted to get an advanced degree, and the desire for a job with more of a people aspect led me to a law career. If you were not practicing law and you could not be a lawyer, what would your dream career be now? I would likely be drawn into some sort of human resources position, or something that allows me to advocate for people. Being at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America allows me to really do both. As I mentioned earlier, a law career can have so many dimensions, if you have an interest, you can almost always find a legal application for that interest. How do you expect the practice of law will change in the next ten years? I think with technology improving there s going to be a lot more flexibility for all attorneys. The importance of face-time is going to be diminished, which should allow for more alternative career paths. As far as the type of law, certainly the compliance aspect in corporate America will [be] critical and the various regulatory changes and tort reforms are going to change the focus of law, but there s always going to be a need for attorneys and it is always going to be a lucrative, rewarding career choice. I think that the legal community will stay plentiful and strong for many years to come. Visit the Vault Law Channel, the complete online resource for law careers, featuring firm profiles, message boards, the Vault Law Job Board, and more. 59

3 Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Linda A. Willett Vice President Linda A. Willett is a vice president and deputy general counsel in Bristol-Myers Squibb s legal division. She joined the company in November of 1996 and prior to that was a partner at the law firm of McCarter & English in New Jersey, handling the defense of mass tort litigations. Before joining McCarter & English, she was in-house counsel and a commercial attorney with the International Pharmaceutical Group at Pfizer. Prior to that she was employed at American Cyanamid where her various positions included work at the Lederle and Shulton divisions as a research director and, later, manager of new product development. Ms. Willett is chair of Legal Momentum, the oldest advocacy group for women, and is on the board and executive committee of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and on the Board of Learni. She is the editor of the Law, Ethics and Gender column in the journal Gender Medicine. She is also a member of the Legal Advisory Council of the National Legal Center for the Public Interest and is the author of U.S.-Style Class Actions in Europe: A Growing Threat? written for that publication. Ms. Willett is a member of the bars of New Jersey, New York and the District of Columbia. Q&A with Linda A. Willett What advice would you give a young woman considering a career in the law today? I would strongly advise that anybody spend at least three to five years out of law school in a good law firm, before considering a move to any place else: a government or corporation or whatever. By that, I mean a firm that would have a practice that would be of interest to the person, a reputation for training associates, a reputation for giving good quality assignments to associates, and one that has a good client base. Have you personally experienced any advantages or disadvantages in the legal industry because of your gender? I know that there are arguments on both sides, that women in certain careers or fields can be disadvantaged because they are women, or they can have an advantage because they are women. But I have never felt that. I ve had two fairly successful careers and I ve always felt that whatever rewards I have received or whatever recognition I have received has always been merit-based, and had very little if anything to do with gender. And on the opposite side, if there were things to which I aspired and did not achieve, I didn t think that was due to gender either. What kind of steps have law firms and other legal employers taken in the last few years to create a better working environment for women? What else do you think needs to happen in this area? Well, let me talk about corporations first, and specifically my company. We do have flexible work options that women and men can take advantage of when necessary. Those options are particularly helpful to new parents or people whose families are Vault Inc.

4 Bristol-Myers Squibb Company growing. They can arrange through their supervisors to have flexible work hours that will permit some of the day care or child care things that have to be done early in the day or late in the day. Additionally, we have several on-site child care centers that enable employees to bring their children to the child care center and know that they are cared-for and in a learning environment that will relieve any concern about the child s care. They are long-term day care centers, limited only by space but we ve built an addition to one in the past few years. We certainly have a generous leave policy and of course people can receive additional unpaid time under the Family Leave Act. We ve won awards as one of the best companies for working mothers, and in part I think it s because of the flexible work schedules. In firms it s more difficult because firms are service-based. Clients can call any time of the day or night, and it s a little more difficult. But I see firms attempting to provide flexibility for lawyers around the child care issues. And I think they re making some good strides. What impact has a career in law had on your personal and family life? Do you have any special techniques, methods and philosophies that help you maintain a work/life balance and be a successful lawyer? I became a lawyer later in life. I was a research director for a health care company before I went to law school, and I had to adjust the tempo of my day from being a fairly regular and scheduled type of day to being a day that required more flexibility. I ve had to rearrange certain things so that in any given 24 hours or seven days of the week, I can be as flexible as possible. I think planning ahead and good organization are critical. There certainly is a different tempo in a corporate law department than there is in a law firm, but that doesn t necessarily translate into more flexibility. Companies can have their crisis situations or requirements for work beyond what one would consider a normal work day or work week. If you plan ahead, stay as organized and focused as possible, that really helps. I rely heavily on my assistant, who is absolutely outstanding. And we work as a team; my assistant does all of my scheduling. So it s important if you have an assistant to utilize the resources and skills of that person, and the more technology you can rely on to keep you organized, the better. What other careers and life choices did you consider before deciding on a career in the law? If you were not practicing law and you could not be a lawyer, what would your dream career be now? I actually came to law as a second career. I started out as a biochemist. When I knew that my company was going to be bought out by another company, and I didn t necessarily want to move, I thought it would be fun to study law. I had always wanted to study law. Actually I wasn t at all certain that I would practice law. However I did and I enjoy it tremendously, and I ve worked both in a law firm as a partner and also in a corporation as a manager of legal functions. I think if I left the law, I would want to do something more entrepreneurial and possibly own my own business. How do you expect the practice of law will change in the next ten years? Well because of the consolidation of companies, law firms have had to deal with a changing client-base and deal with more conflict issues than they ve had in the past. I think the economic environment, where corporations are looking for every opportunity to do work effectively but in a very cost-efficient manner has forced firms to think about more creative ways to help share the risks that their clients face the economic risks. And that means an increase in cost-sharing arrangements, an increase in putting together alternative-types of teams to address issues. Visit the Vault Law Channel, the complete online resource for law careers, featuring firm profiles, message boards, the Vault Law Job Board, and more. 61

5 Bristol-Myers Squibb Company The traditional partner at the top with junior partners and associates working on a matter may not be the model of the future. I think that firms will need to consider better ways to resolve issues for companies than the traditional playing out every aspect of a case and really think about a full case-resolution strategy at the beginning of a matter. The practice of law has been evolving and will continue to evolve. I think there will be challenges that United States firms face because many companies are outsourcing legal work to foreign countries Vault Inc.

6 Bristol-Myers Squibb Company I think the economic environment, where corporations are looking for every opportunity to do work effectively but in a very cost-efficient manner, has forced firms to think about more creative ways to help share the risks that their clients face the economic risks. Linda A. Willett Vice President Visit the Vault Law Channel, the complete online resource for law careers, featuring firm profiles, message boards, the Vault Law Job Board, and more. 63