Texas Lawbook Premium Content
The Texas Lawbook provides unique and substantive content to our Premium subscribers. In this interview, 7-Eleven Senior Counsel Lauren Medoff provides personal insight into her life, how she selects outside counsel and key things outside counsel should know about her.
The Texas Lawbook: Who are the mentors in your life?
Lauren Medoff: Allison Levy was AdvoCare’s former EVP and CLO. She took a chance on me when I was fresh out of school, and I credit her entirely with my development as an attorney and leader. She taught me how to be humble and be a partner to the business as well as treat everyone at the company with equal importance whether they worked in customer service or the C Suite.
Phyllis Shuster is my aunt and a former general counsel, now solo practitioner corporate counsel in Florida. She is an incredibly gifted and accomplished attorney who has guided me my whole life. I think I have always been her legal protégé and she always has the best life advice whenever I needed it.
The Lawbook: What are one or two life-impacting experiences?
Medoff: My dad passed away right as I graduated from law school and began to study for the bar exam. I had to take a lot of time off to grieve, and it was a miracle I passed the bar and became an attorney. This was also during the recession in 2010 and there were no jobs for me in South Florida. He knew I loved food and was encouraging me to consider an LL.M. in food law at the University of Arkansas. He lived to know I graduated and got a full ride to the program but didn’t know I would take the leap of faith to move from Miami to Fayetteville after graduation. I knew he would’ve wanted me to take the chance, and I am glad I followed my gut and went. I had dabbled in everything from interning at the U.S. Attorney’s Office to insurance defense and social justice work, but couldn’t find my legal passion until I started studying food law at UA.
The Lawbook: What do you look for in hiring outside counsel? Do you have specific criteria?
Medoff: Aside from their experience in the subject area, I want a diverse team of outside counsel who I can trust to give me quick, sound advice in a fast-paced environment.
I like folks who understand the role of an in-house attorney and what kind of advice we need to provide to the business. When you find good counsel, it becomes a very symbiotic relationship that can last for years.
The Lawbook: What do outside counsel need to know about you?
Medoff: I am not a formal person, so I don’t need long memos but I do want an expert who helps me see the bigger picture and is able to be nimble. It also helps when they are fun people to be around like the people I work with at the office!
The Lawbook: You are the second vice president of the Association of Corporate Counsel – DFW chapter’s board or directors. How has your experience with ACC-DFW impacted your career?
Medoff: Yes, I love being part of this board and chapter. It allows me to keep up with CLE and network with the best in-house counsel in DFW. I moved here from Arkansas after my LL.M., so I didn’t have a network before I found ACC. I would highly recommend the group to any in-house attorney looking to meet new people.