In this piece from Bloomberg Law, Nishat Ruiter, GC of TED Conferences LLC, the company behind TED Talks, dishes on her distaste for using “fashion shows” to vet outside counsel. She doesn’t find such sessions useful or interesting and prefers direct conversations to probe for the four things she looks for in outside counsel: creativity; non-traditional fee structures; diverse collaboration; and a world lens through people with varying life experiences. “I’ve had interviews with law firms where they’ve touted deals, and they’ve touted amounts of money that they’ve closed, and they’ve touted various clients that they’ve had,” she says. “But when I’ve asked direct questions about their knowledge of TED, they didn’t have much to say. It’s interesting how they represent themselves to be really formidable with qualifications that I just don’t align with.”
Published November 17, 2021.
