Alumna Sabrina Low (Litigation, 2016 – 2017; 2018 – 2021), general counsel at NOCD, practiced in the firm’s Litigation Department. Sabrina received her B.A. from Pomona College and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

1. What’s the most interesting and/or rewarding aspect of your job at NOCD from a legal perspective?

As the General Counsel of an online therapy company, my job is to help the business thrive in a highly regulated space. I am constantly monitoring and providing guidance on how regulatory frameworks apply to my company, including healthcare-specific regulations as well as those relating to data privacy, marketing, and employment law, among others. This range and complexity of issues makes the job incredibly interesting. I also find it very rewarding to be a partner and advisor to NOCD’s various business units in helping the company achieve its strategic and financial goals.

2. What traits would you say make a good general counsel?

Strategic and agile thinking and good judgment are important traits for this role. Much of my work involves helping other business leaders solve difficult problems for the company. It is important to be able to understand and appropriately balance competing demands, and to be able to propose different potential means to accomplish your team's goal. At the same time, showing good judgment helps to establish trust and chart a clear, consistent path that enables the business to operate effectively.

3. What advice would you give a young lawyer who wants to be an in-house lawyer?

My main pieces of advice are to have as many informational conversations as you can, and to seek out work in areas that will be relevant to the job of an in-house lawyer. On the former, the more people you talk to, the more you will learn about different types of in-house roles and potentially hear of an opening. With respect to gaining prior experience—gearing this toward litigators like myself—certain areas like employment law and data privacy, and experiences like working on internal investigations, will be relevant to most companies. My last piece of advice is that if a secondment is available, take it! It is an ideal way to get a range of in-house experiences that can help prepare you for a full-time role.