Unique Legal Career Path in Tech

A corporate attorney with Mattermost, Inc., Jamie Hurewitz defines legal strategy for a startup in the open-source file-sharing space. Interviewed on Fashionably Late, a podcast focused on career fulfillment at any age, Jamie Hurewitz explored the circuitous path that has taken her to her current position.

Gaining early legal experience in the tech industry, Ms. Hurewitz focused on contract law and faced the challenge of a “flat organization,” where mobility was limited. Moving to a position as in-house counsel with a tech firm, she was able to broaden her scope of work beyond contracts to areas such as compliance. The strategy was one of gaining skills with each new position, which enabled a leap into a role with even greater responsibilities.

Next positioning herself as in-house counsel of an early-stage startup, she expanded into oversight of hiring and building up a legal staff of seven while the company itself rapidly grew. This fulfilled a vision of not simply utilizing legal skills but a business background, in developing a team that enabled a company’s strategic growth.

Once she had built a team, Ms. Hurewitz had the skills and knowhow to join Mattermost “at an almost identical stage” as the previous startup. Her role as first in-house legal counsel had allowed her to develop new abilities in designing legal systems and scaling remote workers globally. Although this is not a traditional career path she feels that moving between challenging positions in the tech industry has provided a breadth of knowledge that could not be attained otherwise.

Employees of Traditional Companies

Legal executive Jamie Hurewitz received a JD from the Hamline University School of Law and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas. Jamie Hurewitz serves as the head of legal at Mattermost, a leading open-source collaboration platform, where she works remotely to oversee the company's legal and compliance infrastructure.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work has become more common than ever before. Traditional companies can improve their remote work policies to provide the same flexibility found at newer firms and startups, helping employees with obstacles they may encounter while working from home full-time.

One challenge faced by these employees is the dip in productivity caused by intense micromanagement. With remote work, managers at traditional companies, who are used to supervising employees face-to-face, may worry that the team is not being honest about working hours. For this reason, they might feel the need to frequently check on employees' productivity, unintentionally getting in the way, inhibiting their work, and impacting morale.

Additionally, some companies do not promote informal bonding among remote workers, who are more prone to feeling isolated within their roles. Moreover, remote employees have lower visibility when participating in hybrid teams. Since traditional companies tend to lack inclusion policies, off-site workers may feel left out from managerial positions and opportunities for professional growth.

Traditional companies can implement policies to deal with these challenges. For example, companies can establish regular work hours, and alert remote workers to meetings and events. Another way to help work-from-home staff is by setting standards for the company's internal communication channels.