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MCLE Outline for General Counsel Boot Camp Fall 2025

MCLE Outline for General Counsel Boot Camp Fall 2025

Table of Contents

Your Time to Rise: Unlearn Limiting Beliefs, Unlock Your Power, and Unleash Your Truest Self

Learning Objectives: 

  • Identify and release limiting beliefs that hold back leadership growth. 
  • Understand how mindset impacts executive presence. 
  • Build strategies for resilience and confidence on the GC track. 

Speaker Bio

I’m Arivee Vargas—executive coach, leadership development strategist, and speaker. I help high-achieving lawyers and corporate leaders lead with confidence, impact, authenticity and a deep sense of purpose. 

For individuals: I work with ambitious lawyers and corporate leaders to build the clarity, confidence, and leadership presence needed to excel—not just professionally, but personally—so they can create success that feels both fulfilling and sustainable.  

For Organizations: I partner with law firms and corporations to develop and retain top talent through executive coaching, transformative sessions and keynotes on sustainable high performance, confidence building, and authentic leadership—helping professionals step into their full potential while driving meaningful impact within their organizations. 

Your Path to Leadership – Authentic Experiences and Transformation

Learning Objectives: 

  • Hear firsthand leadership journeys from seasoned GCs. 
  • Learn how authenticity fuels sustainable leadership. 
  • Translate career turning points into actionable growth. 

Speaker Bios

Stephanie Burns, SVP & GC, Sony Interactive Entertainment 

Stephanie is Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), where she leads SIE global legal and public policy for all of SIE’s business, including PlayStation 5, PlayStation Plus, PlayStation Studios and PlayStation Network. Prior to joining SIE, Stephanie spent over 15 years at Amazon, where she most recently served as Vice President & Associate General Counsel of the legal team supporting consumer devices and services, including Fire TV, Ring, Fire Tablet, Kindle, Astro, Project Kuiper and Amazon Kids. During her time at Amazon, she also served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel for Worldwide Operations. In that role Stephanie led the legal support for customer fulfillment and logistics, drone delivery, robotics, Prime Now, product and social responsibility and sustainability. Stephanie was also the General Counsel of StubHub and led their legal and government relations teams. 
Stephanie currently serves on the boards of several non-profit organizations, including ChIPs (which supports the advancement of women in tech, law and policy), XR Association (which promotes the responsible development and adoption of virtual, augmented and mixed reality), and the Law Advisory Board of Santa Clara University School of Law, and the National Advisory Council for Northwestern University School of Communication. A tech and IP lawyer by training, Stephanie earned her J.D. and is a graduate of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law and holds a B.S. degree in Radio/TV/Film from Northwestern University. 

Dorian Daley, ChIPs Board Chair 

Dorian Daley, formerly Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Oracle Corporation, currently serves as a board member of Panetta Institute for Public Policy. Ms. Daley began her career at Oracle in 1992 after practicing in the commercial litigation group of Landels, Ripley & Diamond in San Francisco. She is a 1986 graduate of the Santa Clara University School of Law and a 1981 graduate of Stanford University. Prior to her appointment as General Counsel in 2007, Ms. Daley served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Legal, with management responsibility for the Oracle Litigation group. In leading and working within the litigation group, Ms. Daley participated in and oversaw all business and IP-related disputes, litigation, and investigations worldwide, including matters relating to Oracle’s Compliance and Ethics program and its merger and acquisition legal strategy. She was also active in commercial process and policy review. 
 
As General Counsel, Ms. Daley has remained an active participant in litigation, dispute resolution, investigations, Oracle’s Compliance and Ethics program and commercial policy and practice reviews, as well as working closely with management and the board of directors to provide legal counsel on myriad tactical and strategic issues affecting Oracle’s growing business and the governance issues it faces. Ms. Daley also served as Oracle’s Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer from July 2014 until April 2016, and served as Corporate Secretary from 2007 to 2017. 
 
Ms. Daley has been the recipient of various awards and recognitions, including the 2010 Diversity Gala Award from Santa Clara University School of Law for being a role model for women and minorities in the legal field, and the 2011 Best General Counsel Award (Large Public Company), by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal and San Francisco Business Times. In 2011, 2012, and 2013 Ethisphere Institute recognized Ms. Daley as one of the Attorneys Who Matter in the Top General Counsel category; in 2012 the San Francisco Business Times named her as one of the Bay Area’s Most Influential Women; in 2012 Corporate Counsel Magazine identified her as one of the Top Legal Officers; and in 2013 she was the recipient of the Santa Clara Law Alumni Special Achievement Award, Honoring Lawyers Who Lead. 
 
In 2015, Ms. Daley was named one of the Women Leaders in Tech Law, and singled out as one of 10 “Power Players” – lawyers who stand out as trailblazers, mentors and advocates for women in tech, by the editors of The Recorder. In 2016, Ms. Daley accepted the National Association of Women Lawyers Challenge Award for the significant number of women in the legal department and in leadership positions; Ms. Daley was named as one of America’s 50 Outstanding General Counsel by the National Law Journal; and Ms. Daley’s legal department was named as one of the Best Legal Departments by Corporate Counsel Magazine. 
 
Ms. Daley serves on the Board of Governors for the Commonwealth Club of California; the Executive Committee of BSA | The Software Alliance, the leading advocate for the software industry before governments and in the international marketplace; the Board of Directors of ChIPs, a non-profit corporation dedicated to advancing women at the confluence of law, technology and policy ; the Executive Committee for the Securities Regulation Institute Board of Directors; and the Santa Clara University Law Advisory Board. 
 
Ms. Daley is married and has two grown sons and feels lucky to have the whole family living in the Bay Area. She splits her time between San Francisco and Santa Cruz where she maintains gardens in her spare time. 

Kali Hira, Principal Counsel and Senior Manager in the Worldwide Commercial Law group, Apple 

Kali Hira is the Principal Counsel and Senior Manager in the Worldwide Commercial Law group at Apple. With over 16 years of legal experience ranging from commercial to litigation, Kali currently leads the Worldwide Commercial Legal Team for Enterprise, Health, Education, and Public Sector. In her role, she oversees Apple’s legal matters relating to business customers globally. Kali oversees the support of business-to-business sales and business partnerships worldwide. Kali manages a team of leaders including in Europe, Asia Pacific and the United States. Previously, Kali advised the Worldwide Enterprise business and the Worldwide Education business teams at Apple. Before joining Apple, Kali was a partner at Capehart Scatchard, practicing in the Commercial Litigation group, where she represented global corporations in commercial litigation matters. Kali earned a Bachelor’s degree in English and Political Science from Rutgers University and her Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law. 

Real Talk: Cohort Alumnae on Career Transitions

Learning Objectives: 

  • Understand how alumnae navigated the GC job search process. 
  • Identify strategies to leverage professional networks and programs. 
  • Learn how to thrive in the transition to a new GC role. 

Speaker Bios

Jennifer Brumbaugh, Vice-President and Chief IP Counsel, Magna International 
Previously, she worked as Chief IP Counsel for GKN Automotive leading a global team of IP professionals in all IP and she worked with GKN in various roles from 2004 to 2025. Initially joining as a Patent Manager for the Driveline division, and following roles supporting the Aerospace and Powder Metallurgy divisions, Ms Brumbaugh was responsible for the business now known as GKN Automotive. Starting in 2022, Ms Brumbaugh also lead the Auburn Hills Technical Centre for GKN Automotive with over 200 employees and engineers delivering technological developments and new program launches. She led the global IP team and technical centre through many changes within GKN, a British company with a rich 260+ year history that most recently demerged from its parent company and is now a business under Dowlais Group PLC. With a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Detroit Mercy and law degree from Wayne State University, Ms Brumbaugh is registered to practice in Michigan and before the US Patent and Trademark Office. In over 20 years, she has managed all aspects of IP with a particular focus on mitigating corporate IP risks with a proactive business-focused strategy. Married to her patent attorney husband for 24 years, she is the mother of 4 amazing daughters between the ages of 11 and 20 years old. 

Laura Richardson, General Counsel and Chief of Staff, Neural 

Laura Richardson is an accomplished legal executive with deep expertise in corporate law, technology transactions, and enterprise risk management. Currently serving as General Counsel and Chief of Staff at Neural, Laura is a trusted advisor to executive leadership, driving strategic initiatives at the intersection of law, technology, and business innovation. Prior to joining Neural, she was the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Agiloft, a leading provider of no-code contract lifecycle management software. 

With nearly 15 years of experience across high-growth startups, Fortune 50 companies, and top-tier law firms, Laura has built a reputation as a pragmatic, solutions-oriented legal leader. She is known for her ability to simplify legal complexity, mitigate risk while enabling scale, and create alignment between legal frameworks and fast-paced business goals. 

Before her role at Neural and Agiloft, Laura was General Counsel at Osso VR, an award-winning surgical training platform, where she advised on matters ranging from IP strategy to global regulatory compliance. She also held multiple senior legal roles at Intel Corporation, supporting both the Design Engineering and Data Platforms Groups, where she led negotiations, policy guidance, and legal operations across a multibillion-dollar portfolio. 

Laura holds a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law and a B.A. in Anthropology from Kenyon College, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi for academic distinction. 

Michele Connors, Sr Asst General Counsel, Cirrus Logic 
Michele Connors has been with Cirrus Logic, Inc. since 2018 in the role of Assistant General Counsel. She advises clients in all areas of the business – drafting and negotiating a broad range of commercial agreements; driving strategy regarding the company’s environmental, social, and governance and ethics and compliance programs; overseeing employment law issues; and providing general legal support. 

Before joining Cirrus Logic, Michele worked at Dell Inc. in the role of Senior Director, IP. She counseled the business on complex IP issues – with responsibility for managing patent assertions and licensing requests, driving patent policy, conducting IP due diligence for M&A deals, and building relationships with the government, suppliers, and members of the tech community. 

Michele graduated summa cum laude with B.S. and B.A. degrees from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA. She received her J.D. from Stanford Law School in California. She started her career as a litigation associate at Heller Ehrman in Silicon Valley then moved to Austin, TX where she was a patent litigator at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati before going in-house. 

Michele is active with ChIPs, an organization dedicated to advancing and connecting women working at the intersection of technology, law, and policy; she serves on the leadership team for the Texas Regional Chapter. 

Executive Compensation Benchmarks & Recruiting: How to Ace the Interview and Enhance the Offer

Learning Objectives: 

  • Understand market compensation benchmarks for GC roles. 
  • Learn recruiter expectations and negotiation best practices. 
  • Develop strategies to advocate for competitive packages. 

Speaker Bios

Rosaleen Morris Oskanian, Associate General Counsel, PTC Therapeutics, Inc. 

Rosaleen Morris Oskanian is currently the Associate General Counsel, PTC Therapeutics, Inc. and before that she worked as the VP, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary for Vitara Biomedical, Inc. (“Vitara”), a VC-backed medical device company.  She is a registered patent attorney with broad expertise in bringing inventions, particularly chemical, medical device, and pharmaceutical inventions, from bench to commercialization.  Before joining Vitara, she was an Associate General Counsel and Sr. Director at University of Pennsylvania (“Penn”).  At Penn, she managed a team of lawyers and contract managers that drafted and negotiated all human subject, clinical trial, and sponsored research agreements for the Perelman School of Medicine. Prior to Penn, she was the Head of the North America (NA) Intellectual Property (IP) Department and Principal Attorney for Draeger Medical Systems, Inc., a German-based safety and medical device company.  In that role, she oversaw patent and trademark prosecution (both US and foreign), contract drafting and negotiation, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, commercial transactions, and data privacy and protection.  Additionally, she was Senior IP and Division Counsel at Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. for the Electronics Materials business unit.  Lastly, before moving in-house, she was an Associate Attorney at Woodcock Washburn (now Baker Hostetler) in Philadelphia, PA.  Rosaleen received a JD degree with high honors from Rutgers University School of Law, a MBA degree with highest honors from San Jose State University, and a BS in Ceramic (Materials) Engineering from Rutgers College of Engineering. 

Crescent Moran Chasteen is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Boston office and serves as Co-Chair of the firm’s Executive Compensation + Benefits practice.  

Crescent is a seasoned attorney who is recognized for her extensive experience in all aspects of executive compensation, including tax, securities, and accounting issues. She has spent over two decades navigating the intricate landscape of executive compensation and employee benefits matters as a trusted advisor to top-tier companies and executives in both the public and private company sectors. In this regard, Crescent’s proficiency encompasses the design, drafting, and administration of equity-based compensation programs, employment, retention, severance, change in control, and deferred compensation arrangements, including associated tax (e.g., Section 409A), accounting, and securities law implications. Crescent also regularly advises public companies on SEC reporting requirements related to executive compensation. 

Jaime Massar is a Senior Client Partner in Korn Ferry’s Legal Center of Excellence and is based in Los Angeles. 

She specializes in assessing and placing general counsels, chief compliance officers, chief privacy officers and other senior-level legal officers across high-growth industries and at organizations undergoing significant transformation. 

Jaime joined Korn Ferry after ten years with a global executive search firm where she ran the firm’s Western Legal Officers Practice, as well as the firm’s national biotech and healthcare GC recruiting. She placed general counsels and other senior-level legal officers across pre-IPO technology and healthcare companies, large-cap consumer, clean energy companies and other organizations undergoing significant transformation. 

Previously Jaime worked for a Chief Magistrate Judge in the Central District California. Earlier in her career she served at civil litigation firm Scheper, Kim and Harris LLP (now Winston & Strawn), where she focused on white collar criminal defense and employment litigation. Before law school, Jaime worked in the litigation headquarters for the California Department of Transportation where she assisted in the defense of the department’s largest class-action in its history. 

Jaime holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from Davidson College and a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles where she was the Managing Editor of the Entertainment Law Review. She is admitted to the State Bar of California.

Dana Etra, Managing Director, Head of Boston Office at Frederic W. Cook & Co.  

Dana Etra joined the firm in 2013 when the Boston office opened. She has broad experience in executive and board compensation, advising a diverse range of organizations on all aspects of compensation strategy and program design, including corporate governance considerations and tax, accounting, securities law, and other regulatory implications. 

Dana works with clients of all sizes and industries, including large publicly-traded companies, smaller publicly-traded companies, private companies, and tax-exempt organizations, as well as companies planning an IPO. She supports many companies with overlapping industry profiles and talent markets and works with clients to create custom, company-specific compensation philosophies and holistic remuneration programs that support strategic compensation objectives. She specializes in designing effective short- and long-term incentive plans and assisting clients with cross-industry compensation issues. 

Dana serves as a guest lecturer on executive compensation and governance-related topics to various professional groups (e.g., NASPP, New England Compensation Consortium) and has published articles through WorldatWork. Prior to joining the firm, she was a consultant at Pearl Meyer & Partners. 

Leveraging Your Influence and Leadership: From First GC Role to the C-Suite and the Board

Learning Objectives: 

  • Learn how to expand influence beyond the GC role into enterprise leadership. 
  • Understand the pathways from GC to board director. 
  • Build strategies to strengthen relationships with key stakeholders. 

Speaker Bios

Carolyn Herzog, Chief Legal Officer, Elastic  

Carolyn Herzog is a C-Suite executive with over 25 years of broad technology experience in multinational companies, having worked across the U.S. and in other countries.  Currently, Carolyn is Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary of Elastic (ESTC), the global Search Powered AI Company.  
 
Prior to Elastic, Carolyn was the EVP, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, and Chief Compliance Officer for Arm Ltd., the world’s leading semiconductor IP company, with its headquarters in the U.K. and owned by SoftBank Group Corp. (SFTBY), a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Tokyo that focuses on investment management.   Before joining Arm, Carolyn was the VP, Deputy GC, and CCO for Symantec Corporation (SYMC), the world’s largest cybersecurity company.  Carolyn joined Symantec through the acquisition of AXENT Technologies, Inc. (AXNT), where she led the transaction as GC.  During her tenure at Symantec, she also served as lead counsel for EMEA, based in London, UK, and subsequently moved to the company’s HQ in California. Prior to her legal career, Carolyn worked in the Africa Department of The World Bank in Washington, D.C.  

In addition to her role on HFSV, Carolyn serves on the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) global boards for the Business Software Alliance. She is also a Partner in SV2, Social Venture Fund.  She also served on Ms. JD’s Advisory boards and the ACC Foundation Cybersecurity Summit.    

Karyn Smith, Chief Legal Officer, Avalara  

Karyn leads Avalara’s Legal team, overseeing all legal matters related to Avalara’s global operations and strategic business initiatives. Karyn brings three decades of experience working with and for high growth companies, helping them scale from under $100M to multiple billions in revenue. She has held leadership roles at numerous disruptive high growth companies, including Twilio and Zynga, where she led both companies’ initial public offerings. During her tenure as Twilio’s General Counsel, Karyn also led the Trust and Security team and the People team for periods of time. Karyn has extensive experience scaling teams, building trust with internal and external business partners, and navigating a wide range of novel regulatory issues. Prior to her in house career, Karyn was a partner at Cooley LLP. 

Moderator, Laura Richardson (Cohort 3), GC & Chief of Staff, Neural 

Laura Richardson is an accomplished legal executive with deep expertise in corporate law, technology transactions, and enterprise risk management. Currently serving as General Counsel and Chief of Staff at Neural, Laura is a trusted advisor to executive leadership, driving strategic initiatives at the intersection of law, technology, and business innovation. Prior to joining Neural, she was the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Agiloft, a leading provider of no-code contract lifecycle management software. 

With nearly 15 years of experience across high-growth startups, Fortune 50 companies, and top-tier law firms, Laura has built a reputation as a pragmatic, solutions-oriented legal leader. She is known for her ability to simplify legal complexity, mitigate risk while enabling scale, and create alignment between legal frameworks and fast-paced business goals. 

Before her role at Neural and Agiloft, Laura was General Counsel at Osso VR, an award-winning surgical training platform, where she advised on matters ranging from IP strategy to global regulatory compliance. She also held multiple senior legal roles at Intel Corporation, supporting both the Design Engineering and Data Platforms Groups. 

Laura holds a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law and a B.A. in Anthropology from Kenyon College, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi for academic distinction. 

Dana Etra, Managing Director, Head of Boston Office at Frederic W. Cook & Co.  

Dana Etra joined the firm in 2013 when the Boston office opened. She has broad experience in executive and board compensation, advising a diverse range of organizations on all aspects of compensation strategy and program design, including corporate governance considerations and tax, accounting, securities law, and other regulatory implications. 

Dana works with clients of all sizes and industries, including large publicly-traded companies, smaller publicly-traded companies, private companies, and tax-exempt organizations, as well as companies planning an IPO. She supports many companies with overlapping industry profiles and talent markets and works with clients to create custom, company-specific compensation philosophies and holistic remuneration programs that support strategic compensation objectives. She specializes in designing effective short- and long-term incentive plans and assisting clients with cross-industry compensation issues. 

Dana serves as a guest lecturer on executive compensation and governance-related topics to various professional groups (e.g., NASPP, New England Compensation Consortium) and has published articles through WorldatWork. Prior to joining the firm, she was a consultant at Pearl Meyer & Partners. 

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