Features June 2017

Building a legal career in construction and engineering

Est. reading time: 7 mins

Ask a lawyer, especially a young one, what’s the biggest headache to working at a firm, and the answer may well be the pressure from above to rack up 2,000 billable hours in the course of a year. The overhead at the professional associations tends to be huge, and so the high-handed ideals that might […]

Seeing clearly in vertical markets

Est. reading time: 5 mins

Some insights can only come from weathering 17 years in the legal hot seat. That, says Suzanne Niemeyer, just about sums up her role as general counsel and managing director at Actua Corporation, a Radnor, Pennsylvania-based public company that owns and operates private businesses offering cloud-based software to customers in vertical markets, or markets that […]

Value-driven GC oversees 23 acquisitions in seven years

Est. reading time: 4 mins

It’s a well-known perk of the construction industry: workers get to see the fruits of their labor. That’s not limited to the field staff driving nails or the superintendents watching buildings rise, though. The benefit is true for general counsels in the construction and engineering realm, as well. General counsels, like Richard Tong, see the […]

Lias J. “Jeff” Steen – Oil States International Inc.

Est. reading time: 5 mins

A man of high spirits, Lias J. “Jeff” Steen laughs when remembering how, upon being hired as an assistant general counsel at Houston-based Camco International Inc. in 1988, a graduating classmate at South Texas College of Law told him, “too bad you couldn’t get a real job.” That may have been what passed for conventional […]

Word’s out about triple teaming in PR’s digital age

Est. reading time: 5 mins

Three can indeed be company, even when the trio comprises companies that used to compete with one another in the high-stakes public relations world.  But they’re adding up to one integrated entity under Chicago-based PR heavyweight Cision, with much credit due the lawyer well-versed in hi-tech and the corporate legal world. Kristie Scott already had […]

Depth, substance and professionalism always surface

Est. reading time: 5 mins

When VHB was looking for a deputy general counsel in 2008, someone it could groom for the top spot, it emphasized a technical background. Someone well-versed in civil engineering might have been ideal. That wasn’t quite Khristopher M. Gregoire’s specialty, but one might have thought he was overqualified. For prior to graduating from the University […]

An unlikely angle for activism: architecture

Est. reading time: 5 mins

Like many lawyers, Juli Faris Bruce chose the legal path because she was an idealist; she wanted to make the world a better place. While the reality of the legal field—the grind, the competitive edge, the win-lose nature—can break some once-idealistic attorneys, Faris Bruce has found a way to contribute to the greater good. That’s […]

Judi Otteson – NeoPhotonics

Est. reading time: 5 mins

Judi Otteson’s big advice sounds simple: Don’t be a jerk. Be gracious and listen to people. But because traits like kindness and compassion are sometimes confused with weakness, Otteson has learned to lead with conviction, while staying true to her naturally easy-going personality. She’s an attorney who can be both friendly and effective. “[There are] […]

An approach that’s par for any course

Est. reading time: 5 mins

As every golfer knows, you’ve got to play by the rules: Where you can drop a second ball after hitting the first into a pond or the woods. How you may address a ball in the bunker. Whether conditions allow for preferred lies. About mulligans: None, at least not while playing for keeps. Joe Nauman […]

Offering defense solutions on both sides of the pond

Est. reading time: 4 mins

Defense contractors navigate a sea of regulations—it comes with the territory of handling sensitive material for nations and militaries. And the more a contractor grows, the more it must reconcile its increasingly complex business structure with the regulations that govern it. In charge of that task for U.S.-based Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions (CAES) is Bruce […]

Testimonials

I was honored to be the subject of an article. I enjoy reading Vanguard articles and seeing how other attorneys got to their positions and see their jobs. It's also interesting to see how different law firms partner with the subjects of the articles.
– Henry Marquard, in-house counsel, Stanley Consultants Inc.
The piece highlighting my company, Bob Baker Enterprises, Inc., came out fabulous. Our company is in the new and used car sales and service industry. Everyone was great to work with and extremely professional. They produced a high-quality product and have provided expert assistance and guidance post-production of the article.
– Wade Poulson, General Counsel, Bob Baker Enterprises Inc.
It was a great honor to be featured in Vanguard Law. Working with every member of the team, from the initial interview with Erin Clark, through production with Victor Martins, writing the article with Taryn Plumb and creating the final content with Dave Gushee, was a true pleasure. Everyone was very professional, enthusiastic and supportive, and their creative approach and positive attitude clearly came through in the final product.
– Kevin C. Rakowski, Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Compliance with Radian Group Inc.
As promised in advance, my feature in Vanguard has increased my visibility within the profession and prompted more than a few people I have not communicated with recently to reconnect. One of the Italian law firms I have used in the past is now in the process of interviewing me for an article on their website and tweeting out the feature story. Activity and the number of people connecting with me on LinkedIn has soared, which is great. The Vanguard writers and editorial staff were great to work with—highly professional and made the effort to make the experience both fun and rewarding (they were also respectful of the time pressures and demands all lawyers face). I was very pleased with the experience and the final outcome. Needless to say, I have been very pleased. All in all working with Vanguard has been a very positive experience which generated good publicity for both Shawcor and myself. My sincere thanks.
– Tim Hutzul, General Counsel, ShawCor Ltd.

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