K&L Gates Client Conversations

In this episode, we interview Abhijit Mukhopadhyay, the president (legal) and company secretary at the Hinduja Group, based at the group’s headquarters in London. The Hinduja Group is a transnational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India. Listen to how Abhijit’s experience working for several multinational companies in different industries and his drive for continuous improvement helped propel him into his current role.

In this episode, we interview Matthew Maletta, executive vice president and chief legal officer of Endo Pharmaceuticals. Matthew was appointed in May 2015 to these roles at Endo Pharmaceuticals, where he has global responsibility for all legal matters affecting the company.  Prior to joining Endo in 2015, he served as vice president, associate general counsel, and corporate secretary of Allergan. In this position, he served as an advisor to the chief executive officer and board of directors and supervised several large transactions, including the $70 billion acquisition of Allergan by Actavis in 2015.

In this episode, we interview Thomas Smith, Direct Energy’s General Counsel and Executive Vice President, North America. Thomas joined Direct Energy from BG Group plc in Houston, where he managed a team of 45 lawyers and professionals in Houston and in five international locations. Previously, he served as an attorney at Vinson & Elkins LLP. Thomas is known to lead by example, actively encourage teamwork, foster an environment that is open and collaborative, and inspire greatness both within and outside of his office. Listen to how his experience growing up across the United States, his passion for history, and curiosity have led him to garner the respect of his team and others around him.

With early family roots as coal miners in Pennsylvania, Bill Farrell’s father was able to go on to become president and CEO of one of the largest U.S. trade organizations. By watching his father’s success in both business and family matters, Bill was able to learn lessons and emulate a goal of integrity, self-reliance, and humility. Bill had a successful law firm career, but before that Bill was a prosecutor in Cook County, Chicago, Illinois, at the time described by some as the “murder capital of the world.” He later transitioned his people-listening skills and strength in understanding client motivations on a very personal level into his commercial litigation work, culminating in his role in the founding of Longford Capital, a litigation funding company.

In this episode, Craig Budner interviews L. Song Richardson, the Dean and Chancellor’s Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, with joint appointments in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society and in the Department of Asian American Studies.  When she was appointed in 2018 as dean of the UCI Law School, she was the only woman of color to serve as dean among U.S. News & World Report’s top 30 law schools. Growing up with her father, an African-American and a lieutenant colonel in the Army, and her mother, a Korean immigrant, she was an accomplished pianist who chose Harvard over Juilliard. Listen to how she leads with empathy by sharing her impactful research on implicit bias and racial and gender anxiety in the legal community and beyond.  

In this episode, Craig Budner interviews Dr. Heidi Gardner.  Growing up just outside Lancaster, Pennsylvania in Amish Country, Dr. Gardner went on to live and work on four continents, including as a Fulbright Fellow, and for McKinsey & Co. and Procter & Gamble. She earned her B.A. degree in Japanese from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree from the London School of Economics, and a second master’s and Ph.D. from the London Business School. Over the past decade, she has conducted in-depth studies on numerous global professional service firms and performed empirical research on organizational collaboration. Dr. Gardner published the results of her work in Smart Collaboration: How Professionals and Their Firms Succeed by Breaking Down Silos in January 2017. Listen to how collaboration, especially during crisis, enables proactive leadership and offers better client solutions.

In this episode, Craig Budner interviews Maria Varsellona, General Counsel & Company Secretary Member of the Group Executive Committee of ABB Ltd, Switzerland.   The Covid-19 pandemic has caused disruption around the globe. As the legal, commercial and personal implications continue to evolve, Legal Departments have been assisting their companies to navigate the fall out of the pandemic. While working to support our companies, we also have to prepare for the day after as it seems that this day is getting closer.  Listen to some of the lessons learned, improvements to be made and strategies to implement from a global legal perspective.

In this episode, Craig Budner interviews Ken Hersh. Working alongside Richard Rainwater, Ken co-founded and was the former CEO of NGP Energy Capital Management (NGP), a premier private equity investment franchise in the natural resources industry managing over $20 billion of cumulative committed capital since its inception in 1988. Until 2016, Ken served as NGP’s CEO. He currently serves as Senior Advisor to The Carlyle Group’s natural resources division.  Ken is also the CEO of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas and sits on the board of the Texas Rangers Baseball Club.  He owns Envy Gaming, Inc. which is the operator of the global esports franchise Team Envy and the Dallas Fuel franchise in the Overwatch League. Listen to how Ken, working alongside Richard Rainwater, (regarded by many as the father of modern private equity), was able to find success in business but also approach life’s challenges as opportunities and give back to his community.    

In this episode, Craig Budner interviews Rich Nichols, who grew up in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the son of factory workers at the height of America’s racial tensions in the 1970s.  He made his way to Dartmouth and was a two-time All-American runner.  He went on to earn his masters at Stanford, and then, while in his third year at University of California, Hastings College of the Law, he made the U.S. Track and Field team.  Listen to how Mr. Nichols was able to combine his passions of sports, politics, and law into a tremendous and diverse career.  KEY TAKEAWAYS: A Law Degree Gives You Options – At the time, you may not have a clear desire to practice law, but a law degree provides options and can have an impact on legislation. Trusted Advisor – While initially advising Marion Jones on her endorsement deals, Mr. Nichols ended up becoming her trusted advisor throughout both the good and difficult situations. He worked with her during the BALCO investigation. Truth to Tell: Tell It Early, Tell It All, Tell It

In this episode, Craig Budner interviews Brett Walter, General Counsel at A. H. Algosaibi & Bros.  Listen to how this Wyoming native, turned from being a sociologist to a big-law-firm attorney, and then went in-house to a Saudi Arabia company.  Brett is currently guiding the company through the “Bernie Madoff of the Middle East” crisis situation while utilizing his unique skill set built along his career path.   Key Takeaways: 1. After obtaining your degree, be ready for unexpected career opportunities: What you plotted as the path when you started law school might look very different. Be open to the pivot. 2. Mentor - Learn from a mentor who expects you to be good at your job but also knows you probably don’t know what you are doing, which is OK. Try to have a mentor who helps you look for solutions rather than just spotting the issues or problems. 3. Go to court - Try to "go to court" even though you might not be quite ready. Take chances, learn from your mistakes, and try not to be overly cautious. Hav

In this episode, Craig Budner has a conversation with Mo Bunnell of the Bunnell Idea Group.  The Bunnell Idea Group (BIG) teaches professionals a practical methodology for being great at business development.   We focus our conversation on how the Coronavirus pandemic provides the unique opportunity to support, help guide and respond to our clients positively in a crisis. 

Interview with Hans Albers - President at ACC Europe and Chief of Staff & Associate General Counsel International Legal Services at Juniper Networks Featuring Craig Budner, Global Strategic Growth Partner at K&L Gates Key Takeaways: 1. Hans Albers on his role model 2. Learning from failure 3. Finding "your voice" and moving up the career ladder 4. Importance of in-house counsel asking questions 5. Leaders must "set the tone" for work/life balance 6. Challenge of moving from Europe to the US 7. A cultural difference between European and US lawyers 8. Leading a multicultural team 9. Moving from a law firm to an in-house role

In this episode, Craig Budner interviews Anna Tichborne, General Counsel of Megaport. Megaport was founded in Australia by industry expert and entrepreneur Bevan Slattery, who aimed to create a platform that gave customers  access to elastic interconnection services. Slattery wanted customers to have greater simplicity, control, and choice over how they connected to and between the services, applications, providers, and networks they needed for their businesses.  Their mission is to take everything we know about traditional networking – flip it and reverse it – and put the power back into the hands of the consumer.  Their product offers consumers network connectivity with global availability, right-sized bandwidth, and on-demand consumption. KEY TAKEAWAYS: Career/life paths aren’t always straight: Lean into discomfort sometimes to learn something new. There is strength in numbers: Building a strong network provides growth opportunities and potential career opportunities. Be humble: Relate to all levels o

In this inaugural episode, Craig Budner interviews Lynn Moore, Jr. President and CEO of Tyler Technologies and former lawyer at Hughes & Luce, the predecessor firm for the K&L Gates Texas offices. Key takeaways from their discussion include: Share Lessons Learned: From big law to in-house General Counsel, President, and now CEO of a billion-dollar company over the past 20 years, this is one story of an interesting path to business success. Stick to Commitments: Try not to oversell, but execute on the commitments made to build credibility, specifically with investors. Know Your Client’s Business: Clients want you to use your legal skills to help them make good business decisions.  Think ahead about issues and opportunities that may arise with your client and anticipate the desired end-results as you advise them. Go the Extra Mile: The willingness to go above and beyond others will set you apart. Team Values and Mission Statement: Share your values and mission statement with your employees and cultivat

Craig Budner, K&L Gates' Global Strategic Growth Partner, introduces the firm's new podcast, Client Conversations.