Location & Start Date
Online
Self-PacedCourse Launch:
August 12, 2024
Content Access: 5 months
Time Commitment: ~ 15 hours of mandatory content
Who Should Participate
This course is for all legal professionals, including:
- First-time General Counsel and Chief Legal Officers
- In-house Legal Professionals (Attorneys and Legal Operations Professionals)
- Outside Counsel
- Legal Service Providers (e.g., search firms, consulting firms, legal technology companies)
Course Structure for GC University
Course Format
GC University is a self-paced online course.
Course Lectures
This course consists of eight modules (plus two optional modules), each containing a set of 10- to 15-minute videos. In the videos, instructors Seth Jaffe and Mark LeHocky use visual presentations to demonstrate the legal department’s responsibilities and expectations, the GC’s management of internal and external relationships, and legal’s role in business transactions such as mergers & acquisitions and IPOs. The videos also cover crisis management, ethical leadership, and how to make use of behavioral science.
Practitioner Perspectives
These course-exclusive interviews feature leading general counsel and corporate executives from companies such as Amazon, Gap, Intel, Toyota North America, Uber, and more.
Curated Readings
With new articles being published each day, it is difficult to navigate the vast amount of literature concerning in-house legal practices and operations. In this course, we have curated, and continually update, a selection of studies, surveys, and articles.
Live Office Hours and Networking Sessions
Optional live, online office hours with course instructors and facilitators, as well as online and in-person networking sessions (often featuring special guests), provide participants with the opportunity to ask questions and bring up topics for discussion.
GC University Course Modules
Below is a list of the course modules. For a detailed overview of the learning outcomes, format, course design, and modules, please download the GC University course syllabus.
Module 1
Roles and Expectations of the GC and Legal Department
- Discuss the evolution of the general counsel role
- Highlight the GC role as corporate strategist and leader using a hypothetical case study
- Identify the attributes of a successful GC
- Discuss criteria and models of legal departments
Expert Contributors:
- Sandra Phillips Rogers, Senior Vice President, Corporate Resources, General Counsel, Chief Legal Officer, Chief Diversity Officer & Corporate Secretary at Toyota North America
- Rishi Varma, Senior Vice President & Chief Legal and Compliance Officer at Cargill
Module 2
Making Use of Behavioral Science
- Discuss the GC’s role in improving decision-making
- Examine studies of handicapping errors
- Learn to identify overweighting, underweighting, and hypertrophying
- Consider the role of time in resetting perceptions
- Identify strategies to set expectations and reset perceptions, using real-life examples
Expert Contributor: Adine Varah, General Counsel at SFMOMA
Module 3
The GC’s Role with Boards and Shareholders
- Discuss the role of the board
- Outline the GC’s work with the CEO and the board
- Discuss stakeholders vs. shareholders
- Consider what can go sideways and what could be learned from those situations
Expert Contributor: Julie Gruber, Executive Vice President & Chief Legal and Compliance Officer at GAP
Module 4
Managing Outside Counsel Relationships
- Outline the different roles of inside and outside counsel
- Identify why and when to hire outside counsel
- Discuss outside counsel selection and deselection
- Examine fee models and law firm economics
- Consider how to create and improve the inside-outside counsel relationship
Expert Contributor: Mike Tang, Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary at Emerson
Module 5
The GC’s Role in Crisis Management
- Discuss how to define and measure a crisis event
- Identify key responsibilities for governance, communications, and litigation
- Consider the decisions to make today vs. tomorrow
- Identify who to bring in as partners and when
- Examine the progress of a crisis
Expert Contributor: Tony West, Chief Legal Officer at Uber
Module 6
Leadership
- Discuss what makes great leaders
- Learn how to create and maintain a high-performing team
- Discuss ethical leadership
- Examine psychological issues for the GC and their team
- Learn how ESG impacts the roles of the GC, executive team, and the board
- Discuss corporate activism
Expert Contributors:
- Minnie Alexander, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at REI
- Danielle McCoy, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at Fannie Mae
- David Zapolsky, Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy & General Counsel at Amazon
Module 7
The GC’s Role in M&A and IPOs
- The GC as strategist and board advisor
- Choosing deal counsel
- Adapting to corporate cultures
- The GC’s role in IPOs
Expert Contributors:
- Trâm Phi, Senior Vice President, General Counsel at Databricks
- Robert Schlossman, Chief Legal Officer at Zscaler
- Kristin Sverchek, President at Lyft
Module 8
Managing Disputes
- Identify the stages of disputes and the GC’s role
- Discuss setting and resetting expectations
- Examine the common mistakes in managing disputes and how to avoid them
- Consider how to manage outside counsel throughout a dispute
- Discuss handling global agreements and disputes
Expert Contributor: April Miller Boise, Executive Vice President & Chief Legal Officer at Intel
Module 9
GeoLegal Risk (Optional)
- Discuss geopolitics and the modern GC, how expectations are shifting, and what new skills are needed
- Provide a global tour of the world’s political hotspots and flashpoints
- Examine how sustainability, diversity, and other values criteria are becoming political hot-button issues
- Dive into politics and regulation of AI as it affects the legal sector
- Outline the GeoLegal Risk Tool Kit – a practical set of take-home skills designed to be implemented immediately
Expert Contributor: Sean West, Co-Founder at Hence Technologies
Module 10
In-House Careers (Optional)
- The role of the general counsel and the legal department
- When companies should hire a general counsel
- Later-stage general counsel (i.e., public company GCs)
- Additional (external) GC responsibilities
- GC career paths
- Various in-house roles and building your legal team
Expert Contributor: Clint Smith, Chief Legal Officer at Discord
Scholarships
Berkeley Law Executive Education has awarded 140 full and partial scholarships to underrepresented members of the legal community for General Counsel (GC) University. The scholarship application is now closed. Recipients were notified on May 20, 2024.
Tuition & Discounts
General Tuition
$1,500
Berkeley Law Alumni and Government, Nonprofit, and University Employees*
Applies to past participants of paid Berkeley Law Executive Education courses.
$1,275
Save 15%
Partner Organization Members*
$1,275
Save 15%
Group Rate*
Available for groups of three or more people from the same organization
$1,275
Save 15%
*For all special rates (i.e. UC Berkeley alumni and government, nonprofit, and university employees; groups; or partners), please email [email protected] for instructions to access your tuition category. To register a group, please email [email protected]. All special rates are discounted off of the general tuition.
Sallie Mae Financing
If you are interested in financing this course, Sallie Mae provides competitive education loan programs for credit-qualified borrowers. For more information and to apply, visit the Sallie Mae website. If you decide to pursue such financing, please submit your application to Sallie first and then contact us at [email protected]. We will provide additional instructions on completing your registration.
Professional Development Sponsorship
If your employer provides professional development opportunities and funding, we highly recommend asking them to subsidize the cost of tuition for the course. This certificate program is an excellent professional development and networking opportunity, and your employer may be willing to cover some, or all, of the costs. You are welcome to customize this template for your purposes.
Certificates & MCLE
Certificate Type
Certificate of Completion
Participants who complete all required course elements will receive a certificate of completion from Berkeley Law Executive Education.
MCLE
15 Hours
This program has been approved by the California State Bar to offer up to 15 credit hours of MCLE (exact amount to be confirmed after the course launches). Attorneys from other states will need to contact their local bar to verify their own certification requirements.
Expert Contributors
Minnie Alexander
General Counsel at REI
Bradford Berenson
Partner and General Counsel, TPG Capital
Julie Brush
Founder and CEO at Solutus Legal Search
Jason Breeding
General Counsel at ValueAct Capital
Casey Gordon
Executive Search Consultant at Russell Reynolds Associates
Paul Grewal
CLO at Coinbase
Julie Gruber
Chief Legal and Compliance Officer at Gap Inc.
Allie Hastings
Lead Product Counsel at Airbnb
Scott James
Partner and COO at Goodwater Capital
Mark Kahn
General Counsel at Oakland Ballers
Karen King
Managing Director and Chief Legal Officer at Silver Lake
Danielle McCoy
General Counsel at Fannie Mae
April Miller Boise
Chief Legal Officer at Intel Corporation
Trâm Phi
General Counsel at Databricks
Sandra Phillips Rogers
Chief Legal Officer at Toyota North America
Brian Savage
Associate General Counsel, Corporate at Airbnb
Robert Schlossman
Chief Legal Officer at Zscaler
Shana Simmons
Chief Legal Officer at Zendesk
Clint Smith
Chief Legal Officer at Discord
Kristin Sverchek
President at Lyft
Mike Tang
SVP, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary, Emerson
Adine Varah
General Counsel at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Rishi Varma
Senior Vice President and Chief Legal and Compliance Officer at Cargill
Carol Warren Simon
Partner at Major Lindsey & Africa
Sean West
Co-Founder at Hence Technologies
Tony West
Chief Legal Officer at Uber
David Zapolsky
General Counsel at Amazon
Lead Instructors
Seth Jaffe
Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley (Former General Counsel of Levi Strauss & Co.)
Mark LeHocky
Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley (Former General Counsel of Ross Stores)
Course Facilitators
Irene Liu
CA Senate AI Advisor & Executive in Residence at Berkeley Law
Adam Sterling
Assistant Dean at Berkeley Law
Program Partners
Accessibility
For disability accommodation requests and information, please contact us at [email protected]. Please attempt to make your service request with as much advance notice as possible.
