Morrison & Foerster Alumni News - Winter 2020

7 | MoForever Winter 2020 alumna Laura Stein, who is an inspirational leader. We strive to ensure many different voices and views are heard in our department. Inclusion and diversity play a huge role in how we hire, as well as how we work as a team. Earlier this year, our entire company participated in training to alert us to different types of bias that can influence decisions. For example, with experience bias, you rely only on your own experience to reach a conclusion. Or with expediency bias, you may be prone to reaching a quick decision rather than gathering and considering the input of a broader group. As a result of the training, we’ll be in meetings now and a business colleague might say, “I feel like I’m seeing expediency bias in how we’re reaching a conclusion,” or “I’m seeing experience bias. Should we pause and reconsider how we’re looking at the problem?” How can outside counsel better assist in-house teams? Our law firm partners need to understand our business extremely well to ensure their advice is attuned to our needs. They should let us know how other companies address challenges, such as increasing workloads, so we can validate or challenge our own approach. And, this may sound funny, but just letting me know about a recent case, regulatory pronouncement, or other development is helpful. We’re inundated with information. When trusted outside lawyers alert me to something, they serve as a helpful filter. Were there one or two cases at MoFo that were particularly meaningful to you? There are so many wonderful cases I’ve worked on with different colleagues. Jim Brosnahan coached me on how to handle my first witnesses at a federal trial. Standing in front of a jury, asking questions of a witness, and getting answers felt empowering. And we won the trial. Another case with Jim was a long and hard-fought extradition proceeding with many twists and turns. It involved investigating a murder in Northern Ireland. We visited “MOFO IS ONE OF THE GREATEST FIRMS I’VE WORKED WITH, BOTH WHEN I WAS THERE AS A PARTNER AND NOW WITH MOFO AS ONE OF OUR OUTSIDE COUNSEL.”