Kay Lynn Brumbaugh is a Dallas antitrust litigator who has been head of litigation for the London Stock Exchange Group since 2021.
A former lawyer at Andrews Kurth and Strasburger & Price, Brumbaugh went in-house in 2017 and then became part of the London Stock Exchange legal team when LSEG purchased financial market data company Refinitiv, which had a market value of more than $20 billion.
Brumbaugh is also the focus of a new Texas Lawbook feature called “The Corporate Client,” which focuses on members of the Association of Corporate Counsel in Texas.
In this Q&A, Brumbaugh discusses her position at LSEG, the challenges she faces, successes she has achieved and what her criteria are for hiring outside counsel.
Having worked for a UK business for nearly three years, Brumbaugh admits she has changed her vocabulary and spelling in some ways.
“My British colleagues have some very useful sayings,” she said. “Instead of ‘following up’ with someone, you’re ‘chasing’ them. And I do appreciate having my ideas referred to as ‘brilliant.’ But I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say ‘whilst’ or spell ‘defense’ with a ‘c.’ I’ll know I’ve been really influential when my UK colleagues start saying ‘y’all.’ So far, they have not.”
Texas Lawbook: When did you first consider law as a career?
Kay Lynn Brumbaugh: I wish I had a more inspiring story, but the truth is that I read Sidney Sheldon’s book, Rage of Angels, when I was in 6th grade (which was probably not a good idea for a 6th grader) and thought the main character’s career as a prosecutor seemed terribly exciting. Fortunately, neither my professional nor personal life has been quite as dramatic as the Sidney Sheldon character’s life and career.
Lawbook: What led you to leave Andrews Kurth to go in-house?
Brumbaugh: One of my long-time clients, Giact Systems, LLC, presented me a once-in-a-lifetime career opportunity to become the company’s first attorney and help guide it through a transformative acquisition. I had always been interested in the idea of being a GC, but I had not really thought so much about other in-house roles. The chance to jump from being a law firm partner to the top lawyer at a terrific client, create a legal department from the ground up and help my client and its remarkable founders navigate being acquired was too good to pass up. As a result of the transformative acquisition of Giact by Refinitiv in December 2020, and then shortly thereafter (as in less than two months) the acquisition of Refinitiv by London Stock Exchange Group PLC in January 2021, I was presented with a second-in-a-lifetime career opportunity to work for a global company in a senior legal role.
Lawbook: Tell us about your role at the London Stock Exchange Group.
Brumbaugh: I am the head of litigation for the Group. It’s a role I’ve formally held since September 2021, but I began advising the Group on litigation matters shortly after the acquisition of Refinitiv in early 2021, while still juggling responsibilities within the Giact business. I have global responsibility for non-employment related dispute matters as we have a terrific team who manage employment-related matters. Our “speak up” team (otherwise known as whistleblowing) reports to me. I’m also a legal advisor to our sustainability team. And most important are my internal efforts to prevent litigation. I really enjoy engaging with our business team early to help resolve potential issues before they mature into litigation. Our head of employment-legal and I created a “litigation champions” program within the legal & compliance team to provide educational opportunities and litigation experience for our team. I am also a member of the board of the U.S. political action committee for the Group.
Lawbook: What have been your biggest successes for LSEG?
Brumbaugh: We had a convincing win in an international arbitration case in New York in 2023. Although I had not been with the Group long when we selected outside counsel, I was actively involved in the selection process and so pleased with the stellar work of our team at Freshfields. I was a key member of the team and deeply involved in formulating our strategy. As the client, I was able to do the more strategic parts of litigation without having to do the discovery. The other major successes are the matters that I cannot really discuss in detail but where I have been instrumental in helping the business resolve issues, minimize budgetary impact and prevent litigation.
Lawbook: What are your biggest challenges?
Brumbaugh: The proliferation of nonparty subpoenas we receive to produce documents and voluminous data and requests to make employees available for deposition in cases in which we are not a party is one of our biggest challenges. We are a leading global financial infrastructure and data provider, so many litigants in financial disputes expect that we may have information relevant to their lawsuits. The costs of trying to provide that sort of information can be extraordinary and legal budgets are very stretched. Recently, I have been encouraged by the collaborative ways in which outside counsel for parties to litigation have been working with us to try to minimize burden and expense to us in those nonparty subpoena situations. I hope that continues. Sometimes juggling different time zones can be a challenge in communicating with colleagues and outside counsel throughout the world. My day often starts early which works well as I’m generally an early riser, and the time zone issues come with the territory when working for a global company, so we all make adjustments to our schedules to get the work done.
Lawbook: What are the factors you consider when deciding about hiring outside counsel?
Brumbaugh: Knowledge of our business, pragmatism, skill, creative problem-solving, responsiveness and value for our money.
Lawbook: What has been your best day working at LSEG?
Brumbaugh: It would have to be the day in early 2023 when we learned that we won the international arbitration matter I mentioned earlier. We had concluded the presentation of live evidence in summer of 2022, so we had a bit of a wait for the result.
Lawbook: What does outside counsel need to know about you?
Brumbaugh: I was in private practice for over 23 years before going in house. I tried high-stakes commercial and antitrust cases, handled the antitrust aspects of complicated merger transactions under investigation by the DOJ and FTC and served in several firm management roles. I have truly been in the shoes of our outside counsel, so I don’t need education on how things work in U.S. proceedings or law firms. I am constantly learning about systems outside the U.S. though and am eager to learn more.