General Questions Flashcards
Managing Contract Manager, Handling NDAs, and being the SME on Supplier Consolidations
Initially role was to support vendor agreement/relationships for the People Services and Finance departments. But has since evolved into overseeing the work of one contract manager, reviewing escalations on NDAs, and being the subject matter expert on supplier consolidation efforts responding to inquiries around contract interpretation, terminations, and various other issues.
Service Excellence - Mystery Minds
Excellent service to the business through contract communication and updates, being willing to explain complex legal issues to the business. Was negotiating a Saas Agreement at Astellas where the other party was a german tech vendor. agreement was very different from Astellas’ template but decided that it would more efficient to use their paper. performed gap analysis on the agreement and it resulted in lots of redlines. after the second round of redlining, I asked the business to schedule a call with the vendor and their legal counsel. during the call, was able to resolve all but two issues. i agreed to circle with our subject matter experts on the various issues. choice of law/insurance requirements. the agreement had been in progress for a while. asked for a call with a business where i went through each pending legal issue and explained what I was doing to resolve the issue. business was appreciative. “we have never had an attorney go through an agreement with us like that.”
No Termination Without Cause Clause BH
Business reached out about an agreement with a vendor that they were not happy with and wanted to know if they could terminate the contract and what the termination fees would be. I reviewed the agreement and it turned out that the business had agreed to a 3 year term with no termination right in exchange for a waived start up fee. they also detailed the problems that they were having and it did not appear that it rose to the level of material breach. i advised them that there was no way to terminate the agreement now but that they would have the ability to not renew the agreement in the next 6 months. they were not happy. so i suggested that they have a conversation with the vendor about the issues they were having and try to either have the vendor correct the issue or discuss the issues and try to negotiate with the vendor on the agreement end date.
What is the positive feedback from your recent review? What adjectives do those around you use to describe you?
Tenacious, Fearless, Knowledgeable, Quick Learner, Compassionate Leader
Recently had to do this as a part of a leadership program that I am in at my current company. i asked one of my colleagues that I trust to describe how they see me as a leader and as a colleague. Stated that I was tenacious, fearless, knowledgeable, quick learner, compassionate and caring leader.
Again referring to your performance reviews, what are the areas mentioned for personal development?
Assertiveness
Recently was working with my supervisor on language to send to the business on how to handle a difficult ask from their vendor. I had typed up what I thought was pretty straighforward request. Supervisor reviewed and provided me the constructive feedback that the language that I used was not assertive enough given the circumstances. I made a commitment to myself that i would not let the law change my personality and naturally, i usually try to handle issues as amicable as possible even under conflict. I have sense educated myself on assertiveness through online blogs and videos. Now I am more direct when communicating whether it’s in writing or verbally and I find myself speaking up for myself more when I do not agree with something at work.
Price Increase in Agreement Extension
I was working on an amendment with the business extending the term of the agreement that would also include a price increase. i did the math on the price increase and it was higher than what was allowed in the master agreement. I advised the business of this and that they should try to negotiate the price increase with the vendor per the language in the agreement. the business person advised me that they were not willing to do this since the vendor has expressed to them the increased costs of providing their services because of the current financial climate. i told them okay and suggested ways to add language to the agreement to ensure that the company is protected from additional price increases over the duration of the agreement.
Describe the job [for which you are applying] to me based on your understanding of the role.
Flexible Corporate Counsel with focus on Contracting
My interpretation of this role is that it will primarily involve employment contracts maybe with the nurses and facilities on the platform. but there will be opportunities to do other things as needed.
Architect Agreement Template
Had been working with a company partner to get their general contractors under master agreements instead of the AIA templates that had been used previously. an agreement with an architect/design form came through and i realized that the current template did not account for the unique nature of architecture/design work. I suggested to my supervisor that we should create a template for these services specifically and started conducting research of the industry and the industry standard contracts that are currently being used. I also reviewed the company templates to note the critical clauses and protections for the company. I created a template to be used with these specific vendors and that has reduced the turnaround time with these vendors because we are not wasting time redlining language that does not pertain to the anticipated work that will be performed under the agreement.
From Admin Assistant to Future Law Student
worked with an admin assistant recently with the desire to go to law school. met with the admin to give her a chance to ask me questions about law school, bar exam etc. i shared that although i did not score high on the LSAT, i did finish law school in top 40% of class and passed the bar on the first try. I provided some lessons learned and some tips to get through it all. just learned that admin assistant applied for and was admitted to law school.
Transition from Compliance to Commercial Transactions
about a year ago, after years of working in compliance at several large corporations, and having my own firm, I was contacted by a recruiter about a role as a contracts attorney. I knew this was something that I was interested in because my dream was always to be a transactional lawyer at a corporation. I interviewed and was offered the position. there wasn’t much training or documentaton on how agreements were being negotiated at the company aside from templates and a playbook for the NDAs. After about a week in the role, I was on my own getting my own queue of agreements. I bought 6 books on drafting and negotiating contracts and flipped through them all and started referencing them during my work and my turnaround times, familiarity with the agreements increased drastically. after completing my 6 month contract there, i was offered my current role as director and corporate counsel at DaVita.
Where do you want to be in the next 5-10 years?
GC in Healthcare Startup
in the next 5-10 years, i want to increase my knowledge and proficiency in contracting but also want to learn about other areas of corporate law such as employment, M&A, securities and would hope that in the next 10 years, I am working as a GC at healthcare startup.
Failed the Certified Personal Training Exam
Since about 2019, I’ve had a goal to become a personal trainer due to my love for health and fitness. After research, I decided that I would become certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). In early 2021, I purchased the study materials and after several months of procrastinating, I realized that the deadline was coming for me to take the test and I scheduled and planned to study for the test. I tried to cram as much as possible and on test day was feeling relatively confident becuase I had scored well on a couple of practice tests. I took the test and I failed. After some reflection, I realized that I probably underestimated the test and did not have a strategic approach to studying. So I am currently planning to re-take the test and researching different study techniques and the most pertinent informaton to pass the test. My goal is to retake and pass the test by the end of next year.
What do you like best about your current job?
Negotiating various contracts, particularly tech agreements, collaborative environment, people at the company are passionate and mission driven, lots of company perks outside of salary and bonus
Tell me why I should hire you over several well-qualified candidates?
entreprenerial, always improving, fearless, loves solving new problems, believe in the mission and vision of Clipboard Health
Give me an example of a complex legal matter you were involved in and how were you able to navigate the issue and provide counsel to your client or the business.
Price Adjustment in Medical Waste Agreement
business advised me that a vendor was proposing a 6% increase in price; the master agreement only allowed for a 2% increase and the time to opt into a price increase had passed. worked with litigation team and they drafted a letter to the vendor that we would not accept the price increase. the vendor came back again proposing a price increase. the business decided they would try to work with vendor but wanted to know what they could ask for to make the price increase worth it. they also advised that due to the the problems they were having with the vendor, they wanted the ability to do a pilot with another similar vendor for a few of our locations. there was no termination without cause provision in the agreement and there were liquidated damages if we terminated without cause. worked with the business to negotiate that if we were going to agree to the price increase, negotiate the liquidated damages out of the agreement to open the door so that they could do their pilot with another company. TBD.
