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Dave and I are having a blast with our new “Mentorship Matters” podcast, where we share our thoughts on mentorship, career paths, and how to succeed as a corporate and securities lawyer. In our latest 30-minute episode, we interviewed Brad Kern, who is Managing Director and Associate General Counsel at Wells Fargo, where he heads up the securities law practice.

In addition to his substantive expertise, Brad has been committed to mentorship throughout his career. He led the inaugural career and development month for Wells Fargo’s entire Legal Department and has participated in many leadership and mentorship activities during his 12 years practicing as in-house counsel, as well as while he was in private practice at the firm formerly known as Shearman & Sterling. We discussed:

1. Brad’s career path and what he’s learned along the way

2. Key features of Wells Fargo’s mentorship and career development program, and the process for establishing the program

3. Observations on successful mentorship relationships in the in-house and private practice environments

4. Recommendations for creating or enhancing mentorship opportunities

5. Mentorship and training expectations that in-house teams have for outside counsel

6. How new technologies might affect client expectations on outside counsel staffing and training

Thank you to everyone who has been listening to the podcast and providing feedback! We’re excited to unveil other guests in the months to come. If you have a topic that your think we should cover or guest who you think would be great for the podcast, feel free to contact Dave or me by LinkedIn or email.

– Liz Dunshee