A Brief Look at Mergers

 

Jamie Hurewitz is an experienced lawyer who has represented and helped startups grow. In 2022, Jamie Hurewitz was appointed General Counsel of eSSENTIAL Accessibility. While working at the company, she led companies through a merger.

A merger is a corporate approach or strategy that involves two or more companies coming together to form one business. The businesses that consent to a merger often have comparable sizes and operational scopes.

Businesses usually enforce mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to broaden their client base, enter new markets, or increase market share. The goal of all of these actions is to raise shareholder value. Companies frequently adopt a no-shop provision during a merger to stop acquisitions or mergers by other businesses. Mergers also help companies to improve management and reduce tax liabilities and operational costs.

Most mergers are executed or supervised by an investment banker who secures the deal, predicts outcomes, and estimates the worth of both companies. They also advise all parties accordingly on a deal that works best.

Travel Destinations for Tech Enthusiasts

 Jamie Hurewitz is an accomplished legal executive with over 15 years in the technology industry and has worked remotely in several companies, including eSSENTIAL Accessibility and Mattermost. Away from work, Jamie Hurewitz is a Techstars UHC mentor, and she also enjoys traveling.

Traveling is a way of experiencing new things and places. People often travel to areas with something of interest, which can apply to people in tech or those with interests in tech.

Many of the biggest high-tech companies in the world are based in Silicon Valley, such as Apple, Google, Cisco Systems, eBay, Facebook, Tesla, Paypal, and Twitter. However, tourists can only visit four areas of Apple park, Apple’s futuristic headquarters - an Apple Store with Apple-branded merchandise, a cafe, an exhibition space, and a roof terrace overlooking Apple Park. Tourists can also tour Googleplex, Google’s headquarters, if their tour guide is an employee.

Seoul, South Korea, also known as Seoul Special City, is another excellent destination for techies. It has the highest average Internet rate of 26.1 Mbit/s and the highest prevalence of fiber-optic bandwidth globally. The city is one of the Internet access champions in the world. It has tourist attractions like the 15,000-square-foot drone arena and the Yongsan Electronics Market, which features thousands of market booths offering nearly every form of technology imaginable.

Berlin is known as Europe's startup capital due to its many top tech firms. Tourists can see the German Technology Museum, which focuses on transportation technology and Konrad Zuse's early computers. The GSC Game Science Center also offers an interactive future museum to introduce visitors to future technologies.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

 Jamie Hurewitz is a longtime corporate attorney who worked at Level Access (formerly eSSENTIAL Accessibility), guiding aspects of operations such as legal, compliance, and business strategy. A core focus of Jamie Hurewitz’s role was on ensuring that mandates such as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are met.

Developed by the World Wide Web Consortium, WCAG rules help ensure maximum inclusivity across the Internet, and also assist in meeting legal mandates set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Among the core elements of Section 508 are Accessible Design elements, which include talking books for those who are blind and closed captions for those who are deaf. Electronic content is included within this matrix. For example, web pages should be designed such that information conveyed through color is also accessible without color, whether by markup or context. One key insight is that it is far easier to bake accessible content into websites as they are created than to remediate content afterword, and it is coordinating this across varied materials and mediums that makes dedicated management services essential.

Benefits of Having an In-House Legal Counsel for Your Business

 A strong legal strategy is key to protecting your business's interests and assets in today's highly competitive market. However, many businesses struggle with the decision of whether or not to hire a full-time in-house legal counsel. While it may be tempting to outsource all legal matters to an outside firm, having an in-house legal counsel can provide tangible benefits worth considering.

An in-house legal counsel can help identify outdated, inefficient, or nonessential processes to streamline. They can advise on any applicable industry regulations and compliance requirements that can affect the restructuring process. Additionally, they can assess potential risks and recommend safeguards to help minimize them in case of any losses resulting from the modifications.

Having an in-house lawyer who is familiar with your business can ensure that all contracts, policies, procedures, and documents are up to date and accurate at any time. An experienced lawyer who understands your company inside and out can also help you avoid any potential issues before they become serious problems requiring costly outside assistance. In addition, having someone on staff who specializes in understanding the complexities of labor laws can help ensure compliance with federal and state regulations related to employee rights, avoiding costly fines down the line.

A reliable, experienced in-house lawyer can provide comprehensive, proactive advice to safeguard your interests. You know the facts of your business inside-out, which helps them quickly identify the critical issues and find the best solution for you. By having an in-house legal counselor's assistance and guidance, you benefit from knowing that your business can anticipate and respond effectively to any legal challenge at any step.

With in-house legal counsel, businesses benefit from increased security and assurance. Their operations are more organized, compliant with applicable laws and regulations, and protected from outside threats and risks. A legal counsel offers professional services and knowledge, which is invaluable to organizations looking to achieve financial success and longevity. For the business's stakeholders, having an in-house legal counsel guarantees peace of mind because they know that all legal requirements are handled by capable, dependable specialists who have the organization's best interests at heart.

A company's advantage in working directly with its attorney is the ability for attorneys to discuss issues about specific business practices and procedures and review confidential documents without involving a third party. Additionally, this type of collaboration between in-house and outside legal representation provides for an exchange of information that is productive, authoritative, and conversational. This approach enables companies to benefit from personalized service and better understand the unique aspects of their issue from different perspectives.

Finally, an in-house legal counsel can help identify, strategize, and realize opportunities for long-term benefits, such as advancing business goals, increasing competitiveness, resolving issues promptly, and addressing other related matters. Having an in-house legal counsel brings expertise that can ensure efficient management of your company's legal affairs while helping to create significant risk mitigation and cost savings opportunities. An in-house legal counsel will ultimately add strategic value to your business.

A Strange Loop Wins Best Musical at the Tonys

 Jamie Hurewitz is a legal professional based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Beyond her law career, Jamie Hurewitz enjoys Broadway theater.

Each year, the Tony Awards are held to honor writers, composers, producers, and actors for their work in the theater industry. In the 2022 ceremony, the musical A Strange Loop was nominated for Tonys in multiple categories. The show is about a young artist struggling with self-identity. It features a diverse cast, known for their humor and blunt delivery. A Strange Loop went on to win Best Musical. The show also won Best Book of a Musical, written by Michael R. Jackson.

The musical received 11 total nominations, including Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Jacquel Spivey, along with several other actors and actresses nominated for their featured roles. The behind-the-scenes workers were also nominated for Best Scenic Design, Best Lighting, and Best Sound Design. Stephen Brackett was nominated in the Best Director category, and the music by Charlie Rosen was nominated for Best Original Score and Best Orchestration.

The Purpose of Corporate Governance

 An accomplished legal practitioner with a career spanning over 15 years, Jamie Hurewitz serves as general counsel and member of the executive team at eSSENTIAL Accessibility in Toronto. In this role, Jamie Hurewitz provides business strategy and market operations advice to the company, as well as overseeing its commercial contracting process, risk strategy, and corporate governance.

Corporate governance refers to the system by which a corporation is directed and controlled. At its core, an effectively implemented corporate governance system ensures the long-term operation and growth of a company through accountability to shareholders, transparency, and reassurance that all actions taken align with the best interests of the shareholders. For this reason, corporate governance is essentially the duty of the board of directors.

Each member of the board undergoes auditing and is appointed based on a binding contract that involves them pledging to adhere to federal laws as well as corporate rules specified by the shareholders and provide pertinent reports for scrutiny as and when due. If the rules contradict the opinion or incentive of the board of directors, the board must voluntarily comply regardless. This gives business owners and investors the peace of mind that the business is operated in their best interest.

Corporate governance spawned from the need to mitigate financial risk to shareholders due to the actions of the board of directors. In the past, some businesses failed due to malpractice by the board of directors that was sometimes unknown to shareholders until significant lawsuits emerged. It appears that the shareholders are the ones who feel the adverse effect of these penalties the most.

Fourth Floor’s Back Room Gives Women Access to Private Investment

 Since 2012, Jamie Hurewitz, an attorney from Minnetonka, Minnesota, has served as counsel for various businesses. In addition to her work as an attorney, Jamie Hurewitz is also involved with the women’s networking group, The Fourth Floor.

One opportunity that women who are involved with The Fourth Floor can participate in is the Back Room. The Fourth Floor’s mission is to make a place for women on boards and to increase the number of women-led start-ups, with the purpose of empowering women and making sure they have access to capital.

The Back Room is a private club for women who launch startups. Here, women can network with fund managers, angels, and other sources of capital. It also provides opportunities for funders to connect with one another and with women interested in becoming limited partners (LP).

The organization states that not a lot of women have check-writing power, and the ones who do, do not have access to LPs/capital. Moreover, not a lot of women are angel investors or venture investors. With that in mind, the whole purpose of creating this opportunity is to make it possible for more women to access capital and have the ability to write checks, so they can fund more female founders.

The Advantages of Remote Working

Remote working is a working style where professionals can work outside their regular office space. It allows employees to telework (work from anywhere) because it functions on the belief that work does not have to be done in a specific location to be effective.

Remote working allows employees to work comfortably, as long as the work gets done. Most of the time, employees set up workspaces in their homes or comfortable spaces. Although, it can be other places since there are several methods in which people can work remotely. People work in places like coffee shops, libraries, or wherever they choose. The transition to remote working is growing exponentially, allowing both employees and employers to maximize the advantages.

The benefits of remote working revolve around empowerment for many employees. Working from home allows employees to have the best work experience. Remote working gives flexible schedules, which boosts the work rate of employees. Employees can carry out tasks without interruptions or organizational politics or activities (time-consuming meetings). Remote employees have more time which allows them to focus on performance.

Employee morale and contentment grow as a result of remote working. There is an increase in productivity when employees successfully maintain a work-life balance. Working from home eliminates the stress from physical jobs for both the employees and the companies. Employees have more time to concentrate on their personal life or activities that make them happy without the burden of commuting and having control over work hours. At the same time, companies have more time to focus on their services.

Further, remote working allows companies to embrace diversity and inclusion by employing more people from different backgrounds. Employees from different socioeconomic, regional, and cultural groups and people with diverse opinions come together to work under one company providing the same services. Normally, this would be difficult because recruiting is limited to a single location. However, hiring remote staff eliminates the time and geographical differences, allowing people to work from areas where they feel safe and supported. It also benefits people who have difficulty finding employment, such as those with impairments or who require flexible hours.

Most employees tend to trust and remain loyal to organizations that give them the freedom to work anywhere. The liberty in these jobs reflects in their work ethics or readiness. Due to this, there is an increase in retention rate in workplaces and a reduced percentage of absenteeism. More employees will be less motivated to move employment, fostering a sense of loyalty and devotion.

Nevertheless, remote working allows employees and employers to save money. Companies can save money on expenditures such as rent, utilities, and office supplies by working remotely. Remote working enables companies to operate using a cloud-based system or small physical spaces. More businesses may save money on operational consistency. Also, employees who work from home can save more money on transportation, food, and clothing.

Another advantage of working from home is that employees spend less time commuting. Remote workers spend less time transporting and more time working. According to the report from Auto Insurance Center concerning commuting, commuters spend over 100 hours every year transporting themselves on buses or trains, with others spending even more time due to traffic, depending on their location.

According to further research, spending a significant amount of time commuting every day raises stress and anxiety levels. It is also related to specific health conditions such as higher cholesterol, raised blood sugar, and an increased chance of depression. Working from home allows employees to save time while improving their emotional and physical wellness.

In addition, remote labor largely contributes to a wide range of sustainability. Reduced commuting leads to increased financial development, more sustainable cities, and climate change. Cities suffer less congestion, pollution, and traffic if more people work from home.

Impact of Tech. on the Legal Profession

Technology has undoubtedly significantly impacted work-life in many industries and sectors. Its penetration is not just felt in the business sector but has found its way into the legal profession. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the growth of alternative methods and approaches to practicing law and increased the adoption of technology.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced courts to rethink their approach to the administration of justice to make it more efficient and quick. The pandemic halted public hearings because of social distancing and other health protocols. This led the courts to adopt virtual hearings where cases are heard remotely.

Corporate law firms have adapted legal technology (LegalTech) to make their processes much easier and faster. LegalTech has also enabled firms to be more efficient and agile. Sole practitioners and small law firms can also now compete with more established firms by deploying enabling technology such as digital research tools in their processes.

Advances in technology have created the demand for individuals, who are not necessarily lawyers, who can navigate technology and use it within the legal sphere. For example, the legal data scientist's role is to manipulate data to be used in legal systems and processes. The interesting thing is that they don't necessarily have to possess a legal qualification as they only need to have a good understanding of how the legal sector works. Those with a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) qualification fit the role of legal data scientists.

With the increase of remote working, the need to adopt file sharing solutions has grown. Knowledge management (KM) software assists law firms and solo lawyers in communicating with clients, polishing, organizing, and sharing opinions. Sharing important legal documents such as transaction files and judgments is now much easier. Popular KM software being deployed by lawyers include Dropbox, Citrix ShareFile, and IBM Aspera.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has also found its place in the legal profession. It has altered how legal teams conduct their research and other routine tasks like document review. For example, lawyers use AI to create contracts and facilitate signature collection. These technological developments are giving lawyers more time for case preparation and litigation. For instance, with the help of AI tools, lawyers can perform due diligence to uncover background information on a case, leaving the lawyers more time to focus on other tasks that require human input or cannot be delegated.

The online footprint of legal firms and attorneys is rapidly expanding with technology offering new methods of working which are more accessible, higher quality, and affordable. Many lawyers have already embraced technology in their practice. For example, billing and accounting software has made work much simpler and easier by providing financial tools that a lawyer can use to manage books of accounts, monitor financial performance, and track profit and loss.

For many years, law firms and lawyers have leveraged the marketing benefits of social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. A technology trend gaining much traction among lawyers is using podcasts to reach current and potential clients. Podcasting can help establish a lawyer's credibility, authority, reputation, and expertise. As the lawyer's authority increases, other opportunities may come, such as being invited as a guest speaker at industry meetings or conferences.

How Can a Startup Protect Trademarks?

Trademarks reflect a company's identity and reputation, and no business, particularly a startup, can afford any trademark infringements. A trademark could be a logo, word, phrase, shape, color, or anything that distinguishes your products from other products and identifies their source. A trademark may be as valuable as one of your large clients, so you must have competent means for its protection. Whether registered or not, protecting your trademark requires planning, diligence, and constant vigilance.

As a startup, before you apply to register your trademark, search to ensure that the logo, symbol, names, or phrases you want to use aren't already taken. This is essential as it ensures that you are not infringing on someone else's trademark. This is particularly critical if that exposes your business to legal action by the legitimate trademark rights holder. If you are applying in America, this is done through the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

If you have not formally registered intellectual property, including trademarks, you have very little legal recourse if you fall victim to brand abuse. Counterfeiters would have a field day without the protection offered by trademarks registration. Once your search confirms that your mark cannot be confused with others, it's essential to register everything around your preferred trademark. This includes company names, product names, slogans, and logos. In addition, anything that makes references to your trademark should also be registered for added protection.

Protecting your trademark is an essential tool in marketing as it distinguishes your products from those being manufactured or marketed by your competitors. In addition, consider whether you can also use the same mark, registered in your home country in other markets or countries. This may involve conducting an international screening search when you are developing a trademark to help you avoid unpleasant surprises when you try using it in a foreign market. To prevent brand piracy issues, it's better to apply for trademark registration in all countries you intend to target. For instance, a trademark registered in Mexico doesn't mean it's also registered in the US or France. Each country has a separate trademarks register.

Rogue websites are created with malicious intentions to infringe a company's IP. You may need to seek guidance from an IP expert to learn which areas of your business might require IP protection. An IP expert will also help you overcome potential objections during the examination process. You can also seek the assistance of a trademark agent to avoid potential pitfalls. When you protect your IP, you also protect your trademark, copyrights, designs.

Watch services are hired to help dig and find copycats or anything dubious surrounding your marks in different trademark registries. Also known as domain name watchers, watch services also investigate the trademark violator's websites for hidden tags and text that might be abusing your trademark. The trademark abusers may be ripping off your registered trademark by selling similar products to yours.

Signing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with your principal partners is essential. Agreeing to work with other companies or businesses without instituting robust protections for confidential information can put your brand or trademark at considerable risk.

Reasons Why Start-up Needs a Lawyer

Starting a business requires a lot of organization and planning—asides from sourcing funds from private federal or state authorities. While you might need to get employees that will help run your business. It is equally important that you hire a lawyer to guide you through the legal intricacies of running a start-up.

They usually advise on the necessary documentation that the company must file with the government before the business is duly registered. In instances where a company or a start-up is not required to be registered, the lawyer will oversee the process of acquiring the requisite perm and licenses from the government and other regulatory bodies.

A business or a start-up can take different forms under law. The business form adopted by the founder will determine whether the company will assume the legal personality and whether the founder's liability will be limited or unlimited. The lawyer then advises the founder on the most appropriate business form. The business could be registered as a limited liability company (LLC), a corporation, a sole proprietorship, and a partnership.

A lawyer understands that a corporation is a legal person and is distinct from the founder. This means the corporation has the power to go about its activities separate from the founder's identity. Similarly, an LLC is a corporation with limited liability. This means that the founder will not be held responsible or liable for the company's activities.

As a registered company, your start-up has a corporate personality. This means that it can enter into contracts, sue, and get sued. So it is essential to have lawyers who review contracts and agreements to ensure that they are not contrary to the law.

Because the United States is a federation and different states have different laws regulating startup-ups and small businesses, it is essential that you ensure their no loopholes in your legal compliance. Lawyers go to the core of a start-up because they are key in the formation process. They play an essential role in registering the business with the appropriate government agencies and regulatory bodies.

Seeing that tax evasion is illegal, individuals and businesses must pay tax either to federal, state, or local authorities. When a business fails to file tax returns as they ought or in instances where they fail to pay a specific amount, they might enter into legal disputes with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Therefore, it is important that you employ a start-up lawyer to acquaint you with the various tax obligations and responsibilities that you might have under the law. This is important because it helps you save valuable time and costs that might come from litigation and penalties from the IRS.

Further, a lawyer can play a very important role in helping a start-up organize its insurance liabilities. This is important because start-ups are prone to many insurance liabilities. For instance, if the start-up is into logistics, they might need to insure their automobiles and understand the rights and liabilities from such insurance.

Similarly, lawyers ensure that a start-up's products are adequately protected from competitors. For example, lawyers ensure that the company's intellectual property is adequately protected. When companies do not enforce mechanisms that protect their copies, trademarks, and inventions, they will be exploited by competitors.

BETA and Tech.mn's TCSW

By utilizing her expertise as an attorney, Jamie Hurewitz serves as Mattermost’s head of legal. Even in her spare time, Jamie Hurewitz helps small businesses in her community grow by public outreach and speaking engagements via events like the Twin Cities Startup Week (TCSW).

Held by local businesses BETA and Tech.mn, the TCSW provides St. Paul and Minneapolis entrepreneurs opportunities than just venues like meeting investors and free access to mentorship. The event celebrates aspiring and successful small business owners and their importance to the local economy. Via information sessions focused around topics chosen by the attendees and residents, BETA and Tech.mn invest heavily in creating a successful event. TCSW is one of the largest events of its kind. It hosted over 19,000 total attendees and staff in 2019.

TCSW occurs during September of the given event year. Asides from the free events, like the information sessions and art and culture exhibitions, dedicated supporters can purchase the BETA Pass to gain entry to BETA’s Slack channel, more intimate events, and networking opportunities. Out-of-state entrepreneurs could apply for the Fly-In program, which not only included a BETA pass but a curated event list.

Techstars’ 2021 UnitedHealthcare

As Mattermost’s head of legal, Jamie Hurewitz helps small businesses create scalable work-from-home models and assists companies transition from in-person to remote work more broadly. One program that Jamie Hurewitz mentors is the UnitedHealthcare Accelerator (UHC), created by Techstars.

One of Techstars’ many accelerators catered toward startups, the UHC Accelerator teaches applicants the skills needed to hone their idea, obtain funding, and operate the business efficiently. Applications opened on February 12, 2021, and ran for about 10 weeks. Within eight weeks of the closing date, Techstars contacted the final applicant pool. Like their prior two UHC Accelerators, in 2019 and 2020, Techstars placed increased emphasis on choosing entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds, like women or members of racial or ethnic minorities.

The 2021 UHC Accelerator began on September 7, 2021, ran for 12 weeks, and contained 10 companies from a candidate pool representing 36 countries. The organization admitted candidates representing technology-oriented solutions to healthcare issues at all process steps. Examples included Confidant, at-home mental health services, Medzoomers’ home prescription delivery service, and Ruth Health, which assists pregnant women with at-home resources.

Regulatory Compliance in Business

Longtime Minnetonka, Minnesota resident Jamie Hurewitz serves as head of legal at Mattermost, where she is responsible for developing the legal and compliance framework for the early stage startup. Jamie Hurewitz's expertise includes employment and intellectual property law, as well as business regulatory compliance.

Compliance is the act of a business obeying rules and regulations pertinent to safe, legal operations in a region, state, or country. Examples of such rules are health standards and data security.

By being compliant, a business acts to maintain its reputation and prevent legal disputes. If a business contravenes any of the rules, it may be subjected to fines or even face charges for non-compliance, becoming vulnerable to financial losses in legal processes. Also, customers naturally tend to distrust entities with a history of noncompliance.

Regulations are not unnecessary obligations, and the majority of these rules contribute to helping businesses achieve better working environments. The purpose of these rules is to protect customers, businesses, and employees, among others. Some of these rules bring about more than one benefit. For instance, safety and security rules help protect workers from harm by reducing accidents and injuries in the workplace that would also directly or indirectly result in financial loss.

SOC 1 Reports Help to Ensure Regulatory

An accomplished legal executive based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, Jamie Hurewitz leverages nearly two decades of legal experience in the technology field to serve as head of legal at Mattermost. Jamie Hurewitz has extensive expertise guiding businesses through mergers and acquisitions, as well as overseeing all aspects of compliance.

Service Organization Controls (SOC) reports are a compliance mechanism that enable businesses to prove their service delivery and control competence to customers. Among these reports, the SOC 1 is required for certain B2B companies that function as service providers. Examples of these businesses include data centers, software-as-a-service providers, and payroll processing businesses.

SOC 1 is crucial because it helps a business ascertain as well as prove that the financial data of its clients is protected. It also supports the internal control over financial reporting process for the business. An SOC 1 report is prepared on behalf of a company by a third party, which must be a certified public accountant. The report is then scrutinized by a financial statement auditor when evaluating the business for compliance with certain regulations, like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which mandates penalties for fraudulent financial reporting.

The Minnesota State Bar Foundation

A tech and intellectual property lawyer, Jamie Hurewitz is the head of legal at Mattermost in Palo Alto, California. Licensed to practice law in Minnesota, Jamie Hurewitz is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA).

MSBA is the oldest professional organization for attorneys in Minnesota. The organization aims to champion justice, equality, and professionalism in the legal space. The Minnesota State Bar Association has a variety of resources and avenues through which it takes care of the professional needs of its members and works to advance the interests of the public. One of such avenue is the Minnesota State Bar Foundation, which MSBA created in 1932.

The Minnesota State Bar Foundation provides monetary grants to law-related and community programs and activities. The foundation offers legal assistance to people who are disadvantaged, and it tries to improve the legal profession’s vitality and the administration of justice. Fundamentally, the foundation's mission is to enable all Minnesotans to have access to justice. From June 2018 to June 2019, the foundation presented $92,500 in grants to 39 nonprofit organizations in Minnesota.

Trends in Corporate Governance & Compliance

Jamie Hurewitz received her MBA management at the University of St. Thomas and a BS in business administration at DePaul University. She also received a JD from Hamline University School of Law. Jamie is presently working towards an LLM in securities and financial regulations at Georgetown University Law Center, and is the head of legal at Mattermost in Palo Alto. Her expertise areas include risk mitigation, governance, and compliance.

Corporate governance and compliance trends across regions vary somewhat, but globally, corporations are experiencing similar changes.

Virtual Meetings

In 2020, as corporations rushed to transform their annual meetings into virtual events, corporate boards too have shifted to virtual ones from in-person meetings. As the virtual environment takes hold in daily lives, many are exploring how they can permanently maximize the associated efficiencies of such trends in the post-pandemic era.

Focus on social agenda

Within the broader framework of environmental, social, and governance (ESG), the Covid-19 pandemic has forced the “social” factor to higher up the corporate governance agenda. Companies seek to reassure stakeholders and the general public that they are taking worker and community safety seriously.

Social Media Governance

The internet and social media have led to faster and more disclosure of corporate malpractices, exposing improper or unethical behavior. Social media must focus on corporate disclosure requirements and be part of PR strategies in the years ahead.

MSBA Membership Benefits

A graduate of Hamline University School of Law, Jamie Hurewitz is the head of legal and in-house legal counsel responsible for establishing early-stage start-ups' legal and compliance infrastructure. She is experienced in scaling growth stage start-ups globally and advising on remote workforces. Besides a JD, Jamie Hurewitz has a BS from DePaul University and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas. She is a Minnesota State Bar Association member.

The oldest attorney professional association in Minnesota, the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) was founded in 1883. The association is a dynamic and diverse community open to licensed attorneys in the state. MSBA membership is voluntary. The association partners with other statewide law enforcement agencies to deliver quality services to all residents of Minnesota.

Minnesota State Bar Association members work together to teach, learn, share, and advocate on issues affecting the profession at the legislature and courts. Since 1987 the association has been approved to certify lawyers as specialists. Board-certified legal specialists benefit from being listed on the MSBA website’s Specialists' Directory and earn the right to use the MSBA logos.

Benefits of Hiring an In-House Attorney

Based in Minnesota, Jamie Hurewitz serves as a mentor at Techstars and MentorCloud, a member of the Fourth Floor, and head of legal at Mattermost. In her position at Mattermost, Jamie Hurewitz provides in-house legal counsel.

Working with in-house legal counsel is beneficial for both attorneys and businesses. On the attorney side, such positions eliminate the need to originate new business and manage multiple clients. This is due to the fact that in-house attorneys have one client: the company that employs them. Furthermore, working in-house gives attorneys a better work-life balance, since they work steady hours every day and have designated vacation time. They are not as overworked as firm attorneys, nor are they required to report to several departments or adhere to strict role definitions. Working in-house also grants attorneys unique experience that opens up additional job opportunities in the future.

For businesses, hiring an in-house attorney comes with the benefit of having someone familiar with the legal field who understands the needs and culture of the company. Since in-house attorneys are more involved in their companies, they have a stronger grasp of company interests, internal politics, and the business team. They incorporate this knowledge into their legal considerations and develop more efficient solutions. Additionally, in-house attorneys are typically more skilled in the legal areas that affect particular businesses and therefor have more knowledge to share with their companies.

The Fly-in Program from TCSW

The head of legal at Mattermost in California, Jamie Hurewitz works as in-house counsel responsible for establishing compliance and legal infrastructure for startups. Jamie Hurewitz has upwards of 15 years of experience in the field, and has spoken at the Twin Cities Startup Week event.

Twin Cities Startup Week (TCSW) is the United States’ second-largest startup week event. Featuring over 200 inclusive events for networking and teaching, the event inspires and connects potential startup founders and entrepreneurs from both the Twin Cities and outside the area. In fact, TCSW maintains a Fly-in Program for entrepreneurs and startup founders who do not live in the Twin Cities.

The Fly-in Program was based on the idea that if candidates are enticed to attend TCSW, they will see what the region has to offer and might choose to relocate to the Twin Cities. To this end, the program reimburses participants for flights during the week of TCSW. They are also given VIP access to the entire week-long event. This includes the many workshops and networking activities that are hosted by TCSW.

At the same time, fly-in participants get special access to curated content that demonstrates how great the Twin Cities area is for working, living, and playing. This content includes networking with hiring companies in the area, access to music events, and city tours. Since TCSW began hosting the Fly-in Program, over 110 individuals have participated. Of those, 28 ultimately relocated to Minnesota.