|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
When Gina Capua came to Clarience Technologies as its executive vice president and general counsel in 2020, she knew she was joining a company with a robust appetite for growth. Clarience Technologies, a global leader in visibility and safety technologies for transportation, has acquired five companies during Capua’s tenure. Its most recent acquisition, Safe Fleet, brought in over 20 unique brands, doubling the company’s size. “That’s massive, massive growth … [which] presents its own set of challenges and opportunities and puts us on a very steep learning curve,” Capua says.
Capua’s primary role is adding value as a trusted and knowledgeable legal advisor and partner to the business. It’s something she can only accomplish if she immerses herself in understanding all aspects of the business—a guiding principle of her twenty-year legal career. Figuring out how to add value in the Safe Fleet acquisition presented several challenges, chief among them simply finding the time to learn about the many businesses to effectively assist them.
One of the ways that Capua and the team add value is by helping the Clarience businesses make better decisions by assisting with identifying and managing risks. “There are some risks we simply won’t take. For example, if the risk may involve breaking the law, that’s a no-brainer,” Capua explains. “For other decisions, we help the business think through the associated risks and rewards and work to understand where we, as a legal group, can provide value.
“We are a small legal group in a big company. We must be strategic about how we spend our time,” she continues. “Understanding the risk and reward profile of decisions helps us do that. We simply can’t afford to spend an outsized amount of time helping manage inconsequential risks.”.
Clarience Technologies, founded only four years ago, is all about growth, which has informed Capua’s leadership approach since she joined. “I had to figure out how to make the legal function scalable and sustainable so that resources can easily be made available to companies that we acquire. That has driven a lot of the work that we’ve done,” Capua says.
When Capua arrived at Clarience Technologies, it was in acquisition mode. One of her immediate priorities was a corporate-wide compliance program, which included a common code of conduct and business ethics, policies, and a global ethics line. Even after those were established, an essential element of an effective compliance program was missing: a common set of principles to establish expectations regarding conduct and a corporate-wide vision. Capua viewed these principles as essential because they would ensure that new employees and newly acquired businesses would understand who Clarience Technologies is, what they’re trying to accomplish, and their expectations.
“Our goal is to be visible in the organization and make it easy for people to come talk to us.”
Gina Capua
After discussions with the CEO and executive team, she was tasked with helping develop and roll out a corporate vision and a set of business principles—a role not typically assigned to legal. These principles currently drive the culture at Clarience. “It’s been helpful in setting the groundwork for what we’re trying to do together and setting expectations of behavior for employees,” Capua says.
Before landing at Clarience Technologies, Capua spent nearly nine years as assistant general counsel at Guardian Industries, a former client from her six-year tenure at Dykema, a law firm. “I had only worked at law firms where, in the M&A world, there are limited ways to use that business-specific knowledge learned over the course of the deal postclosing,” Capua says. “When I went in-house, I enjoyed constantly learning something new about the business and building my knowledge, which I could use to help solve real-world problems every day. I found that very rewarding. I was hooked.”
Toward the end of her time at Guardian, Capua worked closely with the sales group, helping drive its commercial excellence initiative by working with the team to make sure that they understood the levers in their sales agreements and how to use them. “I enjoyed my time there,” Capua says. “It informed how I function as an effective in-house counsel. Being at Guardian helped show me how that’s done well.”
One of the most important pieces of advice Capua received at Guardian was that the legal group needs to be approachable and not seen as separate from the rest of the teams that comprise the business. One suggestion she received was to dispense with typical lawyer attire, like wearing suits.
“Our goal is to be visible in the organization and make it easy for people to come talk to us— so that every time they hear from legal, they don’t think that they’re in trouble, but if something does go wrong, they know we are here to assist,” Capua says. To put people at ease, lawyers should eliminate cues that may be intimidating. “When it comes down to it, in-house lawyers are team members like everyone else and are there to help the company succeed,” says Capua.
“Gina has a talent for pinpointing the core issues and delivering successful outcomes. We have collaborated with her on several complex litigations, where she has driven the strategy to achieve positive results for the business,” says Michael Bonella, a shareholder at Flaster Greenberg PC.
When Capua advises young lawyers, she draws on the advice she was given, telling them to be helpful, approachable, and genuine. To be helpful, they must learn about the business and then apply that knowledge to their work, which must be excellent. In her view, if you are not approachable and don’t work to eliminate barriers that discourage colleagues from seeking legal counsel, you are likely missing out on valuable conversations.
“A big part of in-house legal work is knowing what is going on in the business and helping to solve problems,” Capua says. “You also must lead through influence. If people are hesitant to talk to you or they tune you out, that makes the job of solving problems and helping the company more difficult,”
She believes that being genuine goes hand in hand with approachability, because people can see through a facade. “As a lawyer, particularly when working in-house where you see your clients day in and day out, you have to find a way be all of the things that in-house lawyers need to be, whether that’s delivering hard news, negotiating with a counterparty, or giving training to colleagues, while still being yourself,” she says.
Capua’s team is composed of three lawyers, one paralegal, and a professional in environment, health, and safety. As a leader, Capua values autonomy and gives her team the leeway to do good work. “I hire good people, then give them freedom and autonomy to do their work. I don’t get in their way. I try to help them clear hurdles,” Capua says.
Capua’s leadership has gone beyond managing legal risks to helping shape a unified culture that supports Clarience Technologies’ rapid growth. By implementing a common vision and set of principles, she has helped strengthen the company’s foundation for future success. Her approachable, collaborative style has made the legal team a trusted partner in the business across the organization.
“Gina is a true professional and great partner—she’s smart and savvy and has a unique ability to cut through the noise and focus on the key issues. Her deep industry knowledge, breadth of experience, and collegiality have enabled a dynamic partnership. The entire Weil team is elated to see her recognized,” attest Craig Adas and Mei Dan, partners at Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
As Clarience Technologies expands, Capua’s influence will continue to guide strategic decisions and cultural growth, ensuring the company advances with purpose and a firm ethical compass.
Expertise Spotlight
Flaster Greenberg, established in 1972, is a leading full-service commercial law firm serving diverse, sophisticated national and international clientele. Our client-centered approach has fueled our growth, enabling us to deliver efficient yet high-quality legal services. Our robust intellectual property group combines a deep bench with industry-specific insight to provide Fortune 500 companies, privately held businesses, and entrepreneurs with tailored strategies for protecting their products of intellect.
Our trademark and patent practices play a vital role in the firm and seamlessly integrate with other service areas, including insurance coverage, corporate, tax, employment, commercial litigation, bankruptcy, real estate, transportation, and more.
The trademark practice provides comprehensive services, including trademark clearance, registration, portfolio management, enforcement, and litigation. Our experienced attorneys help clients navigate the complexities of protecting their brands domestically and internationally.
Our patent attorneys assist clients in securing patent protection, conducting due diligence, and managing portfolios to protect their assets and maximize intellectual property value. With technical backgrounds in biotechnology, computer software, telecommunications, mechanical systems, and more, our accomplished patent team is the firm’s largest service group. We represent our international client base in patent disputes in district courts across the US, before the International Trade Commission, and the US Patent and Trademark Office.
