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Lauren King (née Bever) always knew she’d wind up in-house, even as an undergraduate. And by the time she was wrapping up her private practice career, she was already providing employment law counsel when not litigating.
Coming to Cboe Global Markets has afforded King the opportunity to help make a great employer even better.
“Cboe aligned with so much of what I care about as an attorney,” King explains. “This company treats its people very well, and to be frank, that makes my job [as director and assistant general counsel] a lot easier. What I’ve been motivated to do in my own work is to figure out how to be more proactive than reactive—and work to understand all the things that make this place run so well.”
King was Cboe’s first employment-specific attorney hire. Over the course of two years, King got to build the role as she dived deep into learning about her employer. In return, the legal department provided her with myriad opportunities for skill growth, exposure to substantive matters, and time to build relationships with senior executives and the board. It wasn’t long before it became apparent that King was overseeing an entire legal area, and a promotion followed.
“Not every company is perfect, but I’ve never once dreaded coming to work. The culture here just makes that impossible.”
Lauren King
Given her purview, King can’t delve into minute details, but she says she takes her partnership and relationship-building with Cboe’s HR department incredibly seriously. That relationship is tasked with rolling out numerous global initiatives and projects. It requires constant communication, particularly when it comes to legal changes that have affected workplaces of all kinds.
“The law in the employment space is ever changing, and I’ve enjoyed working with our HR team, the executive team, and the rest of legal team to navigate all the changes and understand the risks associated.”
Cboe’s legal department is a proud partner and supporter of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity and its development programs. King, along with others in the department, is a graduate of the organization’s Pathfinder program.
In bridging the gap between legal and HR, King says she wants to act as a partner, not an inhibitor of progress. The AGC is well aware that “talking to legal” often feels like a last resort in many companies, but that is not the culture within Cboe’s legal team. She knows that it might be natural for team members to feel a twinge of panic when she pings them, and she works to build bridges that invite discussion and collaboration, not worry.
King sits in on weekly HR leadership calls and has endeavored to make herself a familiar face and voice in the HR department. The director sees herself as a guide to uniting business goals and HR goals. Even if she can’t immediately say yes to a proposal, she will find a way to get to a solution that works for everyone.
All this work, King explains, is easier because of Cboe’s culture.
“I tell job candidates this: One of our guiding principles here is to create a world-class employee experience. Without a doubt in the world, I can tell you that from my experience, this company walks the walk,” King says. “The fact that I know this company values people’s lives outside of work makes my job easier. It makes the legal team’s job easier. Not every company is perfect, but I’ve never once dreaded coming to work. The culture here just makes that impossible.”
Unlike a great percentage of in-house teams, Cboe’s legal department is committed to pro bono work in the communities where Cboe operates. King and another colleague just took over leading the legal team’s pro bono committee. She says it’s a tremendous opportunity for legal professionals to step outside their comfort zones and practice a different kind of law.
“You may be a transactional lawyer who is reviewing contracts every day, but you can help someone who has recently arrived in the country prepare their asylum application,” King says. “Our outside counsel firms team up with us and provide support to help us help people. It’s such rewarding work.”
At the moment, King is struggling to find extra time for much of anything. At the time of speaking, she’s just a month away from getting married, though the stress isn’t showing. She’s used to a fast pace and ensures that no matter what, life comes first, then work. But when it comes to work, the lawyer loves what she does, and it shows.
