Career Footprints

Yoni Fix: Committing early to mastery

Yoni Fix shares insights garnered from a career spanning roles at PWC (M&A Taxation), Reed Smith (State Tax) and now as a partner at Armanino (State and Local Tax), including committing early to mastery, the value of being a work in progress, and recognizing that preparation leads to success.    

Chrystal Mauro: How passion projects can help you stand out from the crowd

Founder of non-profit The Legal Mentor Network, Chrystal Mauro talks mentoring, bankruptcy law and the ongoing importance of stepping outside your comfort zone as she describes a career spanning over 20 years, taking in clerking, life as a Reed Smith associate and more recently work as an in-house counsel.

Sam Hill: Confidence in the face of novel issues

As the sole UK counsel of Stockholm based Acast, the world's largest independent podcast marketplace, Sam Hill faces novel legal and business issues with confidence in his ability to deliver practical outcomes and solutions. In this episode of Career Footprints, he shares his lifelong passion for media which began growing up and carried through to his career as paralegal, associate, in-house secondment, and now in-house counsel. In every role, he has focused on developing close working relationships with senior lawyers, embracing work projects that broadened and deepened his expertise, and not shied away from offering a fresh take in strategic discussions.

Zoe Bucknell: Leading a business from a place of deep customer and self-understanding

As the CEO and co-founder of Kuberno, an innovative corporate governance technology solutions company, Zoe Bucknell has thought deeply about leadership and trust-building with stakeholders, customers, and her team. In this episode, she shares insights from her career path, from law firm associate to general counsel and corporate secretary, and now as the CEO of a rapidly growing company where she has applied all her learnings. As a British lawyer and entrepreneur who has worked extensively “across the pond” with Americans, she also shares observations on UK and U.S. legal and business cultural nuances.

Yoni Tammam: Creating value and building a career through a unique skill set

Throughout his career, Yoni Tammam has cultivated a unique skill set and strategically applied it to drive success for both teams and clients. In this episode of Career Footprints, Yoni traces his journey from undergrad business major, to tax associate at Reed Smith, to vice president at the tax insurance practice at CAC Group where he advises clients on managing tax risks in high-stakes transactions. Yoni focuses his practice on using tax insurance to accrete value to his clients. In the episode, he offers practical advice for law firm associates – especially those aspiring to move in to business roles – on making the most of their law firm experiences, building a marketable skill set, and asking the right questions when exploring their first business opportunity after Big Law.

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Jamie Welborn Knauer: The power of relating to clients primarily as people

The power of personal relationships has been transformative at every stage of Jamie Welborn Knauer’s career – from law school student, to global commercial disputes litigator at Reed Smith, to his current role as senior counsel, Product & Regulatory at DoorDash. Jamie discusses how people’s investments in his career and in him, as a person, have been invaluable. Whether it was the gift of feedback as a means to improve his core legal skills or informational interviews as a catalyst to explore new career opportunities, Jamie explains how this people-first mindset translates to aligning himself with the mission of his DoorDash colleagues and customers and how the power of personal relationships influences how he hires and works with outside counsel.

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Cara DeCataldo: Thinking strategically about things to come

Mentorship – and being a good mentee – has been important to alum Cara DeCataldo since the beginning of her career. Cara shares insights into how mentors and others in her professional network helped her to prepare for and thrive in her first role at a small regional firm, then as a product liability litigator in Reed Smith’s Life Sciences Health Industry Group and more recently in her current position as assistant general counsel at global pharmaceuticals company Eisai Inc. She reflects on some of the important lessons that each of these moves taught her and explores the exciting and liberating idea that your next role might not be the one you first expected.

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Stuart Kuntz: Becoming a collaborative and agile deal lawyer

Reed Smith alum Stuart Kuntz shares his path from senior M&A associate to associate general counsel of a public company, including what drew him to in-house practice and the mindset and approach to client service that contributed to his success. He shares his insights from two decades of dealmaking on how outside counsel – from partners to junior associates – can make a strong impression, and how junior associates can prepare for a career path that leads to success like his.

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