#45 Speaking Engineer: A GC’s Guide to Useful Legal Advice

In this episode of Lawyers Who Learn, David Schnurman, CEO of Lawline, has a conversation with John Didday, Associate General Counsel for Product and Privacy at Zendesk. John shares his journey from starting at Quinn Emanuel to transitioning in-house at health tech and software companies, ultimately finding his way to Zendesk in 2019.

The discussion focuses on John's insights about being an effective legal advisor to non-lawyers in technology companies. He emphasizes the importance of communicating legal advice in practical, accessible ways to engineers and product managers, rather than overwhelming them with complex legal analysis. John explains how moving his desk to sit with the engineering team at a previous company transformed his understanding of their challenges and needs.

John also shares his recent experience teaching a law school course at UC Law San Francisco on "Product Counseling," which he created from scratch since no textbook existed on the topic. He details the process of designing the course, pitching it to the law school, and the challenges and rewards of teaching students about in-house legal work at tech companies.

Throughout the conversation, John and David discuss the use of AI tools in legal work, career transitions from law firms to in-house roles, and how teaching reinforced John's philosophy of giving practical, human-centered legal advice. The episode concludes with reflections on taking career risks and how focusing on making the most of current opportunities can lead to fulfilling career paths, even if they weren't initially planned.