Around the In-house

Join hosts Alex Aferiat (Director & Managing Legal Counsel at BCG) and Ruchi Sisodia Shah (Director & Senior Counsel at Boston Scientific) as they sit down with their latest guest--Raquel Webster, Senior Litigation Attorney at National Grid. Raquel talks about the differences of working in a big firm, in government, and in-house; and also shares her advice on giving back to the community through nonprofit board membership.

Join hosts Alex Aferiat (Director & Managing Legal Counsel at BCG) and Ruchi Sisodia Shah (Director & Senior Counsel at Boston Scientific) as they sit down with their latest guest--Jermaine Kidd, Director & Corporate Counsel at Panera! Jermaine discusses his "non-linear path" to the in-house practice and how the strength and importance of his professional and personal network helped him along the way. Jermaine also shares some of his key accomplishments as the immediate past President of the Massachusetts Black Lawyer's Association. Plus, hear how Jermaine's love for Panera as a consumer brought him full-circle to their legal team (and the palpable jealousy of Ruchi and Alex at Jermaine's unlimited access to Panera's baked goods at work!) 

Around the In-house, episode 5 Hosts Alex Aferiat, Managing Legal Counsel at BCG and Ruchi Sisodia Shah, Senior Counsel, Boston Scientific sits down with Cory Lamz, Corporate Counsel at Autodesk. Cory discusses how he tries to "own his work stream", how he shows up for his authentic self every day as an in-house counsel, and how showing vulnerability and humanity makes him a better lawyer, co-worker, and team member. 

Around the In-house episode 4 Hosts Alex Aferiat, Managing Legal Counsel at BCG and Ruchi Sisodia Shah, Senior Counsel, Boston Scientific sits down with Stephanie Lambert, Chief Compliance Officer, NETSCOUT. Stephanie shares what she has learned during her in-house career, some of her best advice and key lessons she has learned. 

Around the In-house episode 3 Host Alex Aferiat, Legal Counsel at BCG and co-host Ruchi Sisodia Shah, Director, Senior Counsel at Boston Scientific sits down with Lan Marinelli, Assistant General Counsel and Assistant Secretary at HubSpot. Lan shares what she has learned during her in-house career, some of her best advice and key lessons, and some great takeout food that everyone will be interested in learning about! 

Around the In-house episode 2 Host Alex Aferiat, Legal Counsel at BCG welcomes Saraa Basaria, Counsel, Employment & Litigation at Radius Health, Inc. Saraa shares the interesting twists and turns of her career path, what sparked her interest to be an in-house counsel, and what she has learned along the way. 

Alex will be back soon with a new episode of Around the In-house with Saraa Basaria, Counsel, Employment & Litigation at Radius Health, Inc. 

Around the In-house is back for season 2! Host Alex Aferiat, Legal Counsel at BCG welcomes new co-host Ruchi Sisodia Shah, Senior Counsel at Boston Scientific to the podcast. Alex and Ruchi speak with Karen Valentine, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at Constellation Pharmaceuticals. Karen discusses her rise from an individual contributor to General Counsel and her thoughts on building a legal department. 

On our series one finale, we flip the script on host Alex Aferiat. It's Alex's turn on the interviewee hot seat! Ruchi Sisodia Shah joins us and takes over hosting duties and discusses with Alex what he has learned from doing a year of podcasts, his important work with DE&I and what he knows now which he wished he knew many years ago about being an in-house counsel. Thank you to all the ACC-Northeast members who have been amazing and faithful listeners to this podcast. We are excited to bring you a second season soon!

Alex Aferiat speaks with Patrick Wu, Counsel at Staples. Patrick discusses how he began his career as an in-house counsel and how his job has evolved over the years. Alex and Patrick speak to how the role of an in-house counsel is changing especially for the next generation of in-house counsel, and the impact their participation in the ACC-Northeast has had on their careers. 

Alex Aferiat speaks with Yalonda Howze, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Codiak BioSciences. Yalonda is a legal industry expert in the biotech and life sciences sectors. Yalonda and Alex discuss Yalonda's career and her recent move to in-house during a pandemic. 

This episode Alex Aferiat speaks with Gemma Dreher, present ACC-Northeast President and Senior Counsel at TD. Gemma and Alex discuss Gemma's career, priorities and recommendations for in-house counsel. 

This episode Alex Aferiat speaks with Craig Hiltz, Senior Principal Privacy Counsel at Nuance Communications. Craig specializing in privacy, corporate information security, and cybersecurity compliance with extensive technology experience in strategy development, international operations and sales. Craig received a BS from University of Connecticut and JD from Suffolk University Law School. 

This episode Alex Aferiat speaks with Cole Barry,  Director and Managing Legal Counsel and Global Head of Employment and Labor Law at the Boston Consulting Group. Cole is a graduate of Ursinus College and Boston University School of Law.  

This episode Alex Aferiat speaks with  Maria Buckley, General Counsel, Joslin Diabetes Center. Maria is alumni of Boston University and received her JD from Suffolk Law School. Maria joined Joslin as their GC in September 2012 after a long and successful career at the Boston law firm of Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP where she was part of the Healthcare and Life Sciences practice groups.  Prior to Nutter, Maria was Senior Counsel at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. She is also the author of several publications on health law and life sciences. She was named the 2015 Leader in the Law from Mass Lawyers Weekly. Alex discusses with Maria her path to GC, how COVID-19 impacted her organization and herself as a GC and her specific passions and causes she supports. 

 This episode Alex Aferiat speaks with Ruchi Sisodia Shah, Corporate Counsel for Boston Scientific.  Ruchi graduated from Trinity College in Hartford and then went on to Emory School of Law in Atlanta, graduating in 2009. She entered the workforce at the height of the great depression. Ruchi quickly found herself in-house working for seven years in the utility industry for National Grid before joining Boston Scientific in 2017.  Ruchi is a fellow member of the ACC-Northeast's Practice & Career Management Committee and is very active in the Women's Bar Association of Boston as well as the children's defense charity, KIND. 

This episode Alex Aferiat speaks with Jennifer Watson, Corporate Counsel at Liberty Mutual Insurance, where she focuses on litigation. Jen hails from New Jersey and is a graduate of Rutgers University and Seton Hall Law School. She was an associate of three prestigious law firms in New Jersey before heading in-house and joining Liberty Mutual's Boston based team. Jen is also the former National Co-chair of Liberty Employees of African Descent and Allies Group, also known as LEADA.

Alex Aferiat, member of the Practice & Career Management Committee. Alex sits down with Bill Gabovitch, General Counsel for Primark Stores, a multinational fast-fashion retailer based in Europe. Bill is a former associate General Counsel at Staples a former associate at two prestigious boston law firms and a graduate of Indiana University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Bill is also incredibly active in the Boston area as a member of three nonprofit boards and a staunch advocate for social justice, diversity and inclusion. 

In today's episode, Bill discusses with Alex his experiences of being a GC and being a team of one. How being a GC of a global company affects how he works and operates. How the pandemic has impacted his role specifically with being a retail company. Bill also speaks to his approach to moving from conversations on diversity to real transformation and what are the things he knows now that he wishes he knew 10-20 years ago.

This week, we’re joined by ACC member (and fellow member of Practice & Career Management committee) Sarah Kmieciak, who is Managing Attorney at American Tower Corporation. Sarah is celebrating her 4th year with American Tower; and prior to that spent three years with a boutique real estate firm in suburban Boston. Sarah graduated from New England Law | Boston in 2013—Alex & Sarah were law school classmates and have remained great friends ever since. So we’re absolutely delighted to welcome her as our first guest!