Michelle Banks | What General Counsel Want Their Outside Counsel to Know, and the People-Helping Power of Networking

<p>Michelle Banks is a Senior Advisor at BarkerGilmore, a company leading the way in legal and compliance optimization. At BarkerGilmore, Michelle specializes in executive leadership coaching for women general counsel. </p> <p>Active in many nonprofits, Michelle is a member of the Board of Directors at DirectWomen and chairs Ms. JD’s annual LaddHer Up retreat. She is also the Co-founder and Co-chair of UCLA Women LEAD, a network of more than 3,000 women law students. </p> <p>In her role at BarkerGilmore, Michelle primarily supports newer general counsel and those going through a transition period. Bringing an exceptional corporate perspective, she helps them transition into new roles, manage change, and successfully resolve the array of challenges they face. From working closely with various general counsel, Michelle understands what outside counsel should know — and the invaluable power of networking.</p> <h3>In this episode…</h3> <p>Unless you’ve been in the role, it’s difficult to understand all that goes into general counsel duties. The same goes for women lawyers and law students — many people don’t realize the areas that are lacking in regards to mentorship and support for women lawyers. </p> <p>As former general counsel, Michelle Banks is here to share her insight and help others be a support system for their fellow lawyers. On the general counsel side, there are many more responsibilities than practicing law. Many aspects of the career are demanding and time-consuming, so outside counsel must understand this and help support the company. </p> <p>In regards to women lawyers, Michelle says that it’s important for corporations to interrupt the gender bias within their companies and place women in executive positions. Above all, Michelle says it’s vital for young lawyers (and everyone, for that matter) to grow their network and foster a community of people helping people. When this happens, everyone rises together.</p> <p>In this episode of <em>The Lawyer’s Edge Podcast</em>, Elise Holtzman is joined by Miche