Developing Agility and Resilience in Your Legal Operations Strategy

Cindy Chen is the Associate General Counsel and head of the Corporate & Transactions group within the Legal Department at Pernod Ricard USA, a premium spirits and wine company whose portfolio includes prestigious brands such as Absolut, Tequila Avión, The Glenlivet, Jameson, Malibu and Kahlúa. Prior to joining Pernod Ricard, she served as Senior Counsel at Johnson & Johnson, where she focused on M&A transactions for the Medical Devices & Diagnostics group, as well as the Consumer Products group. She also was appointed the board attorney for Johnson & Johnson Health and Wellness Solutions. Before joining Johnson & Johnson, she was an M&A associate at Skadden, Arps where she worked represented clients such as Citibank, Deutsch Bank, Shionogi & Co. and Valeant Pharmaceuticals in a variety of transactions.

Kristi Gedid is a seasoned legal operations professional, currently in the role of Managing Director in the Legal Function Consulting group at Ernst & Young US LLP (EY). Kristi joined EY after a decade at a global life sciences company, where she was most recently the Head of Global Legal Operations. Throughout her career, Kristi has developed her legal, finance, and international business acumen while collaborating with colleagues in 165 countries.

Kristi has a high profile in the legal operations industry, including the founding of a local chapter of the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) group. She is active in women’s organizations such as Women’s Leadership Edge and Women for Economic and Leadership Development (WELD). Kristi has been recognized for her impact in the profession through her nomination for the Greater Pittsburgh ATHENA Award and a profile in American Healthcare Leader.

Heidi Stenberg is a principal and Americas Legal Function Consulting Leader in EY’s Law practice. She has more than 20 years of experience in the field of legal services supporting corporate legal departments and law firms with the deployment of legal technology solutions response to investigations, litigations, and regulatory inquires.

Heidi regularly assists corporate legal departments and law firms with the enablement of legal service delivery and transforming the business of practicing law. She counsels clients to develop and implement strategies that align legal staffing operating models, business processes. and digital technologies. Heidi’s areas of focus include the following: legal operations, information governance, legal hold management, data preservation, e-discovery, technology-assisted review, legal spend analytics, and the design and implementation of operating models.