Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste: Leadership and Lessons Learned During a Pandemic

As part of its partnership with the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), Faegre Drinker served as a leading sponsor of the organization’s virtual “General Counsel and Chief Legal Officers Summit” on September 17, 2020.

Faegre Drinker partner Mary Devlin Capizzi facilitated the discussion titled “Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste: Leadership and Lessons Learned During a Pandemic,” with panelists Neena Patil, General Counsel of Jazz Pharmaceuticals, and Lola Lin, General Counsel of Airgas. Designed for general counsel and top legal officers, the presentation served as an informational training session on organizational crisis management.

Each serving in critical leadership roles for their respective organizations, the speakers focused the discussion on the role that general counsel have played in helping companies manage the current crisis, and discussed lessons learned, emerging opportunities and other ways in which the crisis will have a long-term impact on businesses.

Faced with the challenge of shifting their workforces to an entirely virtual environment, the speakers offered insight on how they managed and empowered their employees, while also developing and handling the onboarding process for new team members during the pandemic. The speakers also shared how their organizations addressed issues of racial injustice and how companies can commit to long-term transformation.

Additional members of the ACC, including Lisa Fleischer, Chief Legal Officer of DLL, contributed to the discussion, offering important takeaways from their experiences.