Extract from Farrah Pepper and Marla Crawford’s article” Forging Connections & Driving Legal Innovation”
CCBJ: Why don’t we start with how you both know each other. What brought you together?
Farrah Pepper (FP): Marla and I crossed paths in this wonderful industry about 15 years ago. We first met when I was transitioning in my career from the firm of Gibson Dunn to my first in-house role, which was global discovery counsel at GE. It’s a testament to how wonderful and welcoming the in-house community is that someone I knew—a woman who at the time worked at my now employer, Marsh McLennan—set up a lunch to welcome me to the in-house counsel side. She introduced me to a handful of people that she thought I should get to know and Marla, who at the time was at Goldman Sachs, was one of them.
It was a classic example of kindred spirits meeting each other. At the time, we were both focused on e-discovery, which was a cutting edge and very creative area of the law at that time. Still is, but especially then, and we connected and started to build a relationship based on shared mutual principles of caring about solving problems and being excited and passionate about where the law was going, and our relationship grew from there. It’s a great example of people in the industry taking a moment to help each other grow and learn, and forming a lifelong relationship because of it.
Marla Crawford (MC): I’m almost 15 years senior to Farrah in terms of years, and when I met her, I really saw a little e-discovery sister. I had also been at a big law firm—Jones Day for 22 years—before I went in-house and at the time the way lawyers practiced discovery was fast-evolving, so it was very exciting for me to meet somebody who was just a half a step behind me doing the same thing; someone who had the same values, the same experiences, the same outlook.
