Heels Of Justice

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 Sve

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

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 t

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 Fa

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 pers

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 h

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 Claire Conner McCaskill who served as a United States Senator from Missouri from 2007 to 2019. She graduated from the University of Missouri and the University of Missouri School of Law. She was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 and was the second female U.S. Senator from Missouri and the first female candidate to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri. She is a political analyst for MSNBC and NBC and a visiting fellow at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.   Key Takeaways [1:32] Sarita welcomes Claire McCaskill to the Heels of Justice and asks her what drew her to the Law and when she knew she wanted to run for office. [4:36] Claire shares how prosecuting arson cases became a way to independence within a restricting firm and how her time in the courtroom more than anything in her career, helped be a better

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 Noreen Farrell whose entire legal career has been dedicated to the pursuit of social justice. Noreen is a nationally-recognized leader on a variety of gender justice issues. She chairs the Equal Pay Today! Campaign, a national campaign led by ERA and 20 other organizational partners closing the gender wage gap in states across the country. She also founded and now chairs A Stronger California Advocates Network, a collaboration of 30 organizations advancing a comprehensive women’s economic security policy agenda. A key victory of the Stronger California Campaign in 2015 was the passage of the California Fair Pay Act, a bill co-sponsored by ERA that is the strongest equal pay law in the country. Noreen also leads national impact efforts to address gender discrimination in schools, sexual harassment, workplace leave and accommodation,

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 Kerry McLean, Senior Vice-President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Intuit. Kerry joined Intuit in 2006, most recently serving as Deputy General Counsel. Prior to joining Intuit, Ms. McLean spent over six years at Wind River Systems, Inc., most recently as the Director of Legal. She also worked as an associate at Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin PC (now Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP).   Key Takeaways [1:43] Sarita thanks Kerry for hosting her at the Intuit offices for the Heels of Justice podcast and asks her to talk about what led her to law. [3:25] From politics to the law, how to choose? … Acceptance letters often accompany other great news! [6:43] Going to law school with a baby, easier or harder than with a job? Kerry did both, learn to prioritize! [9:38] Kerry summarizes her path from pla

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 Sarah Burstein who joined the University of Oklahoma College of Law faculty in 2012. She teaches Intellectual Property, Trademarks, Copyright, and Patents. Prior to joining the faculty, Professor Burstein served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert W. Pratt in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. She also worked as an intellectual property litigation associate in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Professor Burstein has a law degree from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in Art & Design from Iowa State University.   Key Takeaways [0:55] Katherine welcomes Sarah Burstein to the Heels of Justice podcast and asks her to describe the path that took her to the law, from law school to academia. [5:54] Sara shares how her idea to clerk to get perspective and insights on career opportunit

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 Neha Sampat, CEO, founder, coach, and consultant at GenLead|BelongLab, where she focuses on building belonging and true inclusion. Through consulting, training, speaking, and writing, she helps organizations create peak-performance, inclusive teams by addressing hidden barriers to belonging, such as Imposter Syndrome and internalized bias, unconscious bias, and generational diversity.   Key Takeaways [1:09] Sarita welcomes Neha to the Heels of Justice podcast and asks her to describe what she does at GenLead and how. [2:14] Neha talks about what belonging means to her and how it means different things to different people, she adds an interesting caveat to the idea of “fitting in.” [4:53] Neha explains how she hopes the concept of a belonging approach will replace the terms diversity and maybe even inclusion. [8:02] Sarita talks abou

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 Maja Hazell is the Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion at White & Case. She oversees the Firm’s global diversity and inclusion strategy as a member of the Business Services Leadership team. She has led diversity and inclusion and career development initiatives for over twelve years, working for law firms, Fried Frank LLP, as their Director of Diversity and Inclusion, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, as an associate. She also served as an Assistant Dean for Career Development at Pace University School of Law.   Key Takeaways [0:30] Sarita welcomes Maja to the Heels of Justice podcast and asks her to talk about what being head of diversity and inclusion means. [1:15] Considering the increasing resources being invested in diversity and inclusion practices in general, Maja shares the purpose of her role in the organizati

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 Ruby Zefo, Chief Privacy Officer at Uber. Before joining Uber, Ruby A. Zefo served as Vice President of Law and Policy Group and as Associate General Counsel and Chief Privacy and Security Counsel at Intel Corporation. She began her in-house career at Sun Microsystems. Key Takeaways [1:23] Katherine welcomes Ruby Zefo to the Heels of Justice podcast and asks her to talk about what led her to law. [4:28] Ruby shares her experience of law school and why her heart was set on litigation. [5:31] Katherine asks Ruby how pursuing a trial law career was different for her as a woman. [7:25] Ruby left litigation in 1996, and talks us through how she was poached from her firm! [9:02] Katherine asks what the challenges of that firm in-house role were. [10:04] What drove Ruby’s journey from IP to privacy? [13:03] Ruby describes her 15 years at I

The hosts reflect on the last few interviews, in which they discovered stories of some incredibly bold women. They all had very different paths in the law but one thing in common: they all spoke up, persisted, and did one bold thing to move the profession forward.

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 Kalpana Kotagal, Partner at Cohen Milstein, a member of the firm’s Civil Rights & Employment practice group, and Chair of the firm’s Hiring and Diversity Committee. Ms. Kotagal plays an active role in the investigation and development of new matters for the Civil Rights & Employment practice group. Ms. Kotagal is a co-author of the “Inclusion Rider,” referenced by Oscar-winning actress Frances McDormand in her 2018 Best Actress acceptance speech.   Key Takeaways [1:20] Katherine welcomes Kalpana to the Heels of Justice podcast and asks her to talk about what led her to law. [4:22] From steadfastly wanting to be a class action litigator to becoming a class action litigator, were there any moments of doubt? Kalpana shares her call back week of uncertainty. [6:44] Kalpana shares her clerkship experience and learning about the t