Katherine and Sarita discuss the highlights from the first three amazing guests of the season.

Sarita and Katherine share their appreciation for the lawyer mom wisdom of past HOJ guests and some lawyer mom tales of their own. Happy Mother's Day!

Welcome to Heels of Justice; these are the stories of women lawyers who are trailblazers in their field and paved the way for the rest of us.

Today, The Heels of Justice welcome Kristin Sverchek, General Counsel for Lyft. She is an award-winning lawyer with an incredible career. She shares a wealth of tips and advice from hiring to juggling time, motherhood, and big egos.

Kristin Sverchek has led Lyft’s legal team and strategy as General Counsel since November 2012. In that time, she has helped Lyft grow from a private to a public company and an IPO and currently leads a legal team of more than 130 people. Kristin started her career working in private practice as a corporate transactional lawyer at both Gunderson Dettmer and Silicon Legal Strategy before going in-house at Lyft in 2012. Sverchek majored in Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley, graduating in 2004. She received her law degree in 2007 from UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.

Key Takeaways

[1:07] Sarita welcomes Kristin Sverchek to the Heels of Justice and asks her to talk about herself, where she grew up, how she came to law from an undergrad in molecular and cell biology.

[4:01] Kristin touches on how the scientific thought process and that of law are similar in their rational linearity.

[5:37] From law school to becoming the GC of Lyft, Kristin walks us through losing her first job and joining a small silicon valley corporate transactional practice where she met the Lyft founders.

[9:55] Kristin speaks to the insecurities of becoming a GC so soon out of law school and why she decided to go for it! She also breaks down the reasons why she thinks she got the job. (Tune in for tips!)

[12:26] What kinds of surprises does the GC position hold? Kristen shares a few times her position revealed the differences between in-house and outside counsel.

[15:52] What makes Lyft, Lyft?

[17:04] Going from being a one-woman legal team to having a team of about 130 people is a challenge; Kristin shares some pointers!

[19:07] How do you hire for a successful startup, from private to public and IPO? Finding agile candidates goes by way of how they handle their own mistakes.

[22:02] Diversity and inclusion at Lyft are very intentional — Kristin shares how her initial insecurities turned into hiring practice.

[24:07] Kristin put together the parental leave policy at Lyft and how it evolved during her own maternity leave!

[27:50] Employee growth is now part of company culture and it started with the first people Kristin hired who got a ton of executive exposure and aligns with the legal team’s specific vision, mission, and values.

[30:21] Kristin speaks to the challenges she has faced in her career both as a woman and as a GC.

[32:32] What time management skills is Kristin hiding!? It just maybe, in part thanks to Tom.

[35:22] Thinking long-term can prevent burnout, Kristin talks about the written advice she’s been sharing. She shares what her own long-term vision is.

[38:15] Big egos are run of the mill in the tech industry, Kristin shares how she chooses to interact (or not) with those individuals.

[40:39] Kristin advocates for herself in a few ways but the trap she chooses to avoid is misunderstanding: be very clear about what you do, want, need, and expect. She shares an example.

[43:40] Kristin and her husband carpool every day, thanks to Lyft.

[44:33] Sarita thanks Kristin for sharing so much of her story and expertise on the Heels of Justice podcast and she signs off until next time.

That’s it for this episode of Heels of Justice; if you like the stories we’re telling, please visit our website. You can join our mailing list, learn more about our guests, and see what we have planned for the future.

You can also follow us on Twitter, on Instagram, and on Facebook.

Disclaimer: The opinions you have heard are ours or our guests’ alone. They’re not the opinions of our employers, or our clients, or our bosses, and not our husbands, kids, or pets, or anyone else’s.

More about the Heels of Justice hosts Sarita Venkat, and Katherine Minarik

Heels of Justice on the Web

Heels of Justice on Twitter

Heels of Justice on Instagram

Heels of Justice on Facebook

Sarita Venkat on LinkedIn

Katherine Minarik on LinkedIn

Katherine Minarik on Twitter

Katherine Minarik at cleverbridge

More about our guest

Kristin Sverchek on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode

Lyft

Welcome to Heels of Justice; these are the stories of women lawyers who are trailblazers in their field and paved the way for the rest of us.

Karyn A. Temple, Senior Executive Vice President and Global General Counsel for the Motion Picture Association joins the Heels of Justice to share her steadfast journey into copyright law.

Tune in for a fascinating discussion about the journey in and out of governmental and private law practice as well as the evolution of work conditions for a woman of color in a largely white-male-dominated profession.

Key Takeaways

[:47] Katherine welcomes Karyn A. Temple and asks her to share the story of how she found her way into law school as well as how she found out the practice of law was her calling.

[4:00] Karyn shares how enjoyable law school was for her in both the differences and similarities to her expectations as well as seeing a path to copyright law.

[8:35] From clerking on the Sixth Circuit to working at the Department of Justice (for a short time, alongside her mother!) and joining Williams & Connolly, Karyn shares her formidable private and government experience.

[14:53] Karyn speaks to her first in-house role at the Recording Industry Association, and how her proactive interest in entertainment cases at Williams & Connolly helped her in that role. She shares one particular case she had to tackle there.

[18:59] Looping back into the DoJ! Karyn shares what brought her back on the policy side — hint, it was a specific administration. She shares her roles and responsibilities as the Senior Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General of the United-States.

[21:55] Joining the Copyright Office was a full-circle experience and Karyn takes a moment to explain how copyright operates and how it affects so many aspects of our lives.

[26:21] Karyn shares two wonderful experiences where she was asked to go to Beijing and Marrakesh and negotiate treaties on the behalf of the United-States and explains what a copyright treaty is.

[28:47] So beyond being very cool, what does the title of United States Register of Copyrights, Karyn breaks down what the position entails and the teams that rely on its leadership.

[30:27] Reaching the pinnacle of copyright law was a huge pride point for someone as steadfastly focused on copyright law for her entire career! Karyn shares her most memorable achievement in the role.

[31:19] General Counsel of the Motion Picture Association is Karyn’s current role; she touches on what it is they do — you know those ratings? It’s them!

[30:32] Being a black woman in a notoriously undiverse profession, Karyn shares her daily experience of discrimination in its various forms, as well as her hope for the future and the conversation we need to have as a society. She also touches on how the current trend to speak openly about these issues is affecting the way she chooses to lead.

[34:39] Failure is part of how we learn; Karyn shares her perspective on what that means for lawyers and how you can move forward from your mistakes. She shares a moment when she advocated for herself in her career.

[49:31] Katherine thanks Karyn A. Temple for all of her insight and openness to share her experience and signs off until next time.

That’s it for this episode of Heels of Justice; if you like the stories we’re telling, please visit our website. You can join our mailing list, learn more about our guests, and see what we have planned for the future.

You can also follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Disclaimer: The opinions you have heard are ours or our guests’ alone. They’re not the opinions of our employers, or our clients, or our bosses, and not our husbands, kids, or pets, or anyone else’s.

More about the Heels of Justice hosts Sarita Venkat, and Katherine Minarik

Heels of Justice on the Web

Heels of Justice on Twitter

Heels of Justice on Instagram

Heels of Justice on Facebook

Sarita Venkat on LinkedIn

Katherine Minarik on LinkedIn

Katherine Minarik on Twitter

Katherine Minarik at cleverbridge

More about our guest

Karyn A. Temple is Senior Executive Vice President and Global General Counsel for the Motion Picture Association. One of the world’s leading authorities on copyright, Ms. Temple will oversee all of the Association’s legal affairs and content protection efforts around the world.

Prior to joining the Motion Picture Association, Ms. Temple served more than eight years in the U.S. Copyright Office, most recently as the Register of Copyrights, where she led the 400-person agency and its eight divisions representing law, policy, international affairs, financial operations, registration practice, public records, and outreach and education. In this role, she testified multiple times before both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate and oversaw the Office’s policy and legal activities among others.

Find out more about Karyn A. Temple at the Motion Picture Association

Mentioned in this episode

Williams & Connolly LLP

Recording Industry Association

U.S. Copyright Office

Personal stories (edited)

“The fact that we're all copyright owners and copyright creators and generators is something that we often don't realize, but every time we take a picture, that’s a copyright that we own. Every time we decide to write a poem or create a new song to sing to our children to go to sleep, that’s another copyright. Often in the press, you see a lot just about big companies being copyright owners, but the fact that is that all of us as individuals are also creators in almost every aspect of our lives and have ownership of our work and rights under copyright law to be able to decide how that work should be distributed. We can also make money off that work if we so choose and I think it’s great to emphasize: all of us are creators in our own right.”

“I’m very proud that we got rid of our backlog of registration claims. We get hundreds of thousands of individual claims every year, and we have limited resources. We were able to secure some additional funds to hire more staff and work really closely with the head of the registration program — and all of the wonderful staff that we have in registration on developing ideas — to try to address our backlog so we can more quickly get those registration certificates out to people.”

Welcome to Heels of Justice; these are the stories of women lawyers who are trailblazers in their field and paved the way for the rest of us.

The Honorable retired Judge Ann Claire Williams is a trailblazer and leader devoted to promoting the effective delivery of justice worldwide, particularly in Africa. She has partnered with judiciaries, attorneys, NGOs, and the U.S. Departments of Justice and State to lead training programs in Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. She also has taught at the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

Judge Williams has led a brilliant career heading a series of firsts for both women and persons of color, she joins the podcast today to share her trailblazing stories and experience. Tune in for an insightful discussion about the ever-changing and evolving world we live in and the pivotal place lawyers take in it.

Key Takeaways

[1:00] Sarita welcomes Judge Ann Claire Williams and asks her to share a little bit about where she grew up, why she began teaching so early, and how she started law school on a dare!

[4:34] Though she had no idea what law school would be like, Judge Williams shares the insight she had that led her to believe she actually could be a lawyer: teachers teach and lawyers teach.

[8:06] Judge Williams shares advice for young aspiring law students from what it means to get a great grade point on your first year, to asking the questions to get the answers you need, getting mentors and sponsors to get recommendation letters, joining the Moot Court and affinity groups, and much, much more! Fifty percent of the game is believing in yourself.

[17:50] Starting her legal career was partly thanks to having made an impression on the Dean at law school, Judge Williams shares how she came to clerk, for whom and how she changed his hiring practice. She shares the three lessons she learned from getting that position:

1- You never know who is looking at you and evaluating you

2- We are not in the rooms where decisions are made so you need allies and mentors to pitch for you

3- Mentors come in all colors and ages

[21:04] Judge Williams talks about how she started as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and the conversation she agreed to have with Marianne Jackson that sparked her interest in the AUSA. She shares her experience there and the sensitivity she hopes to have brought to the position.

[27:11] Sarita lays out the long list of “firsts” that Judge Williams has had the courage and grace to accomplish for all those who came after her. Judge Williams shares what these have meant to her.

[30:33] Judge Williams shares what it is that judges want, and what you should avoid at all costs — don’t ruin your own credibility: you want an assumption that the arguments you’re making are strong and to the point. Also, “Judges talk, just like lawyers, and we talk about lawyers!”

[35:45] Having loved being a trial lawyer and a trial judge, our guest shares what pulled her from the bench. She touches on the differences and challenges in tackling the Court of Appeals cases.

[39:39] Judge Williams speaks to having begun her work in Africa in 2002, what that burgeoned into over the years and what personal dream she was able to fulfill by doing so. She opens up about the kind of work she has been able to do through her current counsel practice at Jones Day.

[46:32] Having had the opportunity to work on multiple continents, Judge Williams shares some of the differences and similarities she’s had the pleasure of witnessing first hand. One common thread linking most is a belief in the rule of law and the accessibility of law for the people of their countries.

[48:25] The amount of work Judge Williams had done outside of her “job” is impressive; she speaks to the reasons that drove her to accomplish this much and launch these organizations.

[55:00] Judge Williams explains how she started the bar review program. One person can make a difference and you shouldn’t let your robe get in the way of your humanity.

[1:01:08] George Floyd.

[1:10:03] A salient career moment, Judge Williams shares a story of Judge Hugh Will and how he encouraged her to go to a particular meeting where — unbeknownst to her — he had decided to make her treasurer of the Federal Judges Association which put her on track to become the first person of color to become an officer and eventually president.

She also shares a beautiful personal story about having the privilege and honor of introducing President Obama as well as having her mother meet him.

[1:15:50] Judge Williams shares her mantras going through COVID-19.

[47:10] Sarita thanks Judge Williams for sharing so much of her story and experience on the Heels of Justice podcast and she signs off until next time.

That’s it for this episode of Heels of Justice; if you like the stories we’re telling, please visit our website. You can join our mailing list, learn more about our guests, and see what we have planned for the future.

You can also follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Disclaimer: The opinions you have heard are ours or our guests’ alone. They’re not the opinions of our employers, or our clients, or our bosses, and not our husbands, kids, or pets, or anyone else’s.

More about the Heels of Justice hosts Sarita Venkat, and Katherine Minarik

Heels of Justice on the Web

Heels of Justice on Twitter

Heels of Justice on Instagram

Heels of Justice on Facebook

Sarita Venkat on LinkedIn

Katherine Minarik on LinkedIn

Katherine Minarik on Twitter

Katherine Minarik at cleverbridge

More about our guest

Judge Ann Claire Williams on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode

Jones Day

Just The Beginning

Equal Justice Works

Black Women Lawyers’ Association

Minority Legal Education Resource

Sarita and Katherine kick off Season 2.

Rest In Power

Sarita and Katherine catch up about what the coronavirus has changed in their lives and how they are actually doing as they try to navigate it all.

Welcome to Heels of Justice; these are the stories of women lawyers who are trailblazers in their field and paved the way for the rest of us.

Today, Katherine and Sarita ring in the New Year with a glimpse of the upcoming Season 2! They also share some stories from the time they took to plan it.

Key Takeaways

[:22] Sarita and Katherine welcome listeners to this Season 2 teaser episode — Happy New Year listeners!

[:59] During their hiatus, Katherine was asked if she had listened to Sarita’s podcast!

[1:35] Sarita shares her own hiatus story — students were surprised and relieved by the sisterhood.

[3:19] Katherine and Sarita invite listeners to listen to the episodes they may have missed from Season 1 and prepare to launch Season 2!

That’s it for this episode of Heels of Justice; if you like the stories we’re telling, please visit our website. You can join our mailing list, learn more about our guests, and see what we have planned for the future.

You can also follow us on Twitter, on Instagram, and on Facebook.

Disclaimer: The opinions you have heard are ours or our guests alone. They’re not the opinions of our employers, or our clients, or our bosses, and not our spouses, kids or pets, or anyone else’s.

More about the Heels of Justice hosts Sarita Venkat, and Katherine Minarik

Heels of Justice on the Web

Heels of Justice on Twitter

Heels of Justice on Instagram

Heels of Justice on Facebook

Sarita Venkat on LinkedIn

Katherine Minarik on LinkedIn

Katherine Minarik on Twitter

Katherine Minarik at cleverbridge

Welcome to Heels of Justice; these are the stories of women lawyers who are trailblazers in their field and paved the way for the rest of us.

Today, Katherine and Sarita wanted to take a moment to reflect on how their interviews with such amazing guests have resonated with them so far, both personally and professionally.

Key Takeaways

[1:05] Katherine and Sarita welcome listeners to this third special episode of the Heels of Justice podcast and explain what about these discussions resonated with them the most.

[1:25] Sarita begins the conversation with the Ruby Zefo interview since both she and Katherine received emails about it!

[2:52] Katherine talks about how the leaps of faith from Ruby’s interview were echoed in her Sarah Burstein interview as well.

[4:28] Kerry McLean on feeling valued and Neha Sempat on belonging both gave Katherine the words she needed to talk about how she wants to be a better boss.

[6:04] Intuit wins the best place to work worldwide! That’s not trivial and hearing the insider perspective was one of Sarita’s high points.

[9:51] Maya Hazell’s dedicated work on diversity and inclusion is a great example of the progress and changes being made in big firms.

[10:33] Change seems to be a theme and Sarita asks Katherine’s perspective on Noreen Farrell’s work on equal pay as well as the big shift that the MeeToo movement facilitated.

[12:15] Claire McCaskill and Noreen’s Farrell’s similar panel experiences! Ambition is awesome, own it — Katherine shares a personal work experience on being criticized about it!

[16:23] Susan Henderson Moor is a contact of Sarita and the whole reason why Senator McCaskill was even on the podcast (what an incredible honor!)

[17:07] Listener feedback opens up the discussion on failure, nonlinear career paths, being comfortable with being uncomfortable and Katherine and Sarita share their own supportive spouse stories.

[21:34] Sarita’s husband's question for Kerry McLean was the one that resonated most with Katherine.

[23:38] This podcast is done on free time, Katherine and Sarita thank their families and each other for all of the volunteer work they’ve all done to get this out.

[24:2] Editing is important — Sarita shares the drinking game potential: every time she said “you’re amazing!”

[24:21] Sarita and Katherine wrap up season 1 of the Heels of Justice and thank their listeners for all the feedback.

We’ll be back soon with season 2!

That’s it for this episode of Heels of Justice; if you like the stories we’re telling, please visit our website. You can join our mailing list, learn more about our guests, and see what we have planned for the future.

You can also follow us on Twitter, on Instagram, and on Facebook.

Disclaimer: The opinions you have heard are ours or our guest’s alone. They’re not the opinions of our employers, or our clients, or our bosses, and not our husbands, kids or pets, or anyone else’s.

More about the Heels of Justice hosts Sarita Venkat, and Katherine Minarik

Heels of Justice on the Web

Heels of Justice on Twitter

Heels of Justice on Instagram

Heels of Justice on Facebook

Sarita Venkat on LinkedIn

Katherine Minarik on LinkedIn

Katherine Minarik on Twitter

Katherine Minarik at cleverbridge

Mentioned in this episode

Ruby Zefo

Sarah Burstein

Kerry McLean

Neha Sempat

Maya Hazell

Noreen Farrell

Claire McCaskill

To listen to all of these episodes, and more, visit the Heels of Justice website.

Welcome to Heels of Justice; these are the stories of women lawyers who are trailblazers in their field and paved the way for the rest of us.

Today, the Heels of Justice interview co-host Sarita Venkat. Sarita is a lawyer, Board member and diversity advocate. She has held various in-house roles heading up technology transactions at ServiceNow, litigating at Apple Inc. and at Abbott Laboratories. She is a registered patent attorney, has a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Psychology.

She is the co-creator and co-host of Heels Of Justice as well as one of the leaders of ChIPs, and serves as a Board member for the South Asian Bar Association and World Arts West. She has been named one of Recorder's Women Leaders in Tech Law, a Corporate IP Star by Managing IP and has been presented with the Corporate Counsel award by the South Asian Bar Association. She is admitted to practice in Illinois, California, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Key Takeaways

[1:16] Katherine welcomes her co-host, Sarita Venkat to her own podcast, and launches the interview at the very beginning: where did Sarita grow up? From a rickshaw in the Ashram to riding her first escalator!

[5:52] Sarita talks about the journey that took her from integrating a new culture during her formative years to becoming a lawyer. Constitution day and becoming a U.S. Citizen was a key moment in sparking her interest in law.

[9:00] Katherine asks Sarita to unpack her highschool experience, when she began building her confidence back up from the low point it had hit during her first experience as a minority.

[11:02] From law firms to in house work at various multinational companies, Sarita shares the two key things she has found that great lawyers have in common.

[16:01] Sarita’s work ethic evolved through working with great attorneys worldwide and integrating their best practices into the way she works, bettering how she understands what the clients need from her as a lawyer.

[20:52] Sarita remembers the first time she remembers feeling like a minority and a woman in her journey in the Law and some of the eye opening moments that followed.

[24:11] Why did Sarita want to launch this podcast? She recounts when she looked for a podcast on the great people in law and the first 30 interviewees were men despite her being around great women lawyers all the time!

[26:14] Sarita answers the question everyone is asked on the podcast: how does she advocate for herself? It turns out asking that very question to so many great women through the podcast has encouraged Sarita to dig deeper. She shares a very emotional answer.

[26:36] One thing people don’t know about this interview is that it’s Katherine’s 3rd attempt at interviewing Sarita!

[29:50] What would Sarita tell her 11 year old self? She shares how her dad showed her the importance of relationships.

[32:16] Katherine thanks Sarita Venkat for sharing so much of her stories and expertise on the Heels of Justice podcast and she signs off until next time.

That’s it for this episode of Heels of Justice; if you like the stories we’re telling, please visit our website. You can join our mailing list, learn more about our guests, and see what we have planned for the future.

You can also follow us on Twitter, on Instagram, and on Facebook.

Disclaimer: The opinions you have heard are ours or our guest’s alone. They’re not the opinions of our employers, or our clients, or our bosses, and not our husbands, kids or pets, or anyone else’s.

More about the Heels of Justice hosts Sarita Venkat, and Katherine Minarik

Heels of Justice on the Web

Heels of Justice on Twitter

Heels of Justice on Instagram

Heels of Justice on Facebook

Sarita Venkat on LinkedIn

Katherine Minarik on LinkedIn

Katherine Minarik on Twitter

Katherine Minarik at cleverbridge

Personal stories

“I remember defending a really, really famous music producer, I was so excited and I had been waiting for his deposition for 2 months. I was sitting there with the counsel on our side, and on the other side and after a really short deposition he stands up and says “Y'all have boring jobs!” And I was so crushed because it was like the most exciting thing that had happened in my whole career at the time! But the thing is that usually people — like eventually he did! — will go from that perception to giving me a hug next time they see me or chit chatting or sharing their personal lives with me, because I don’t ever want to be that lawyer that walks in and is greeted with a groan: I work at not being that lawyer.”

“9/11 happened when I was in Law School and I remember the shock, like everyone else. But the next morning I woke up and my dad had put all these american flag stickers all over our cars because he was really afraid for our family that being brown in our college town may cause some backlash. Nothing happened, but it was another jolt to me that not everything is rose colored glasses, and what is being perceived about you is something that you have to understand and keep in mind.”

“I went to the place I grew up in, and one of my older cousins who played a big part in raising me, she looked over at me at one moment and she said “To go from here, to the place that you are right now it’s mind boggling to me!” So looking back at my journey sometimes, and figuring out how far I’ve come plays a big part in how I advocate for myself, and it’s not about advocating to someone else: it’s about owning and living up to my own story so that I can bring my best self and understand the value that I am bringing to the table from a legal, mental and emotional perspective.”