27-03-2022
33. We are thinking about legal tech all wrong, working with Barack Obama and how to show your value to the sales team with Chris Young, General Counsel at Ironclad
Chris is General Counsel at Ironclad, Inc., the venture-backed startup that helps in-house lawyers create, understand, and control their contracts—all from one intuitive, powerful platform.
He draws on his years of experience as a corporate attorney and public servant to help shape and carry out the strategic vision of the company.
As the company’s chief counsel, he is responsible for a broad range of legal, regulatory, and policy matters.
Chris spent most of his career between private law practice, politics, and government. Following law school, he worked as a litigator at the San Francisco-based law firm, Morrison Foerster. After litigating a high-profile educational inequality case, he took a leave of absence to join the 2008 Obama campaign as the Deputy Finance Director of Northern California. Shortly after the President was elected, Chris returned to his hometown Sacramento to serve as the then-Mayor’s Senior Advisor and Counsel, before moving to DC to serve in the Obama Administration. After stints in both the White House and Department of Justice, Chris moved back to the Bay Area and joined the law firm of Keker, Van Nest & Peters. There, he served as a litigator and trial lawyer, handling a wide range of criminal, civil, and regulatory cases.
After four years at KVP, Chris left to join OpenGov and served as its Head of Business Development and Counsel. After OpenGov, Chris spent three years at GoFundMe serving as their General Counsel. While at GoFundMe, Chris became the Founder and President of GoFundMe.org (formerly the Direct Impact Fund), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, dedicated to supporting individuals impacted by natural and manmade disasters and social movements like TIME’S UP and Equal Pay Day. In its first year, the charity raised over $33 million from over 180,000 donors.
Chris received a degree in Philosophy from San Diego State University, where he graduated magna cum laude. After spending a year as a fellow in the California State Senate, he started working on his law degree at UC Berkeley School of Law, where he graduated in 2005.
Chris served as a law clerk for Judge Susan Illston, a Federal District Court Judge for the Northern District of California. He currently lives in the Bay Area with his wife and two young sons.
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Connect with Chris:
Twitter: @chrisjyoung
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisyoungattorney/
Connect with Mel:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theinhouselawyer/
Counsel Podcast page on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/counsel-podcast
Instagram: @theinhouselawyer
www.counselpodcast.com for more resources and episodes.
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Thank you to Markster for supporting this episode. Visit markster.com.au or email kate@markster.com.au.
Thank you also to InCounsel for supporting this episode. Visit incounsel.com.au.
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