Legal and Reputational Risk: Platform Liability and Content Moderation
With 15 years of experience as a strategic and persuasive writer, speaker, and advocate, I am a seasoned professional partial to mission-based companies, scrappy startups, and social justice warriors. Using my knowledge and skills to support brands and causes I believe in is what motivates me.
I began my career as a young, idealistic attorney determined to make the world a better place. Fresh out of law school, I worked researching and drafting opinions for circuit court judges in Wisconsin and Illinois. My research covered a wide range of topics, from prison disciplinary decisions to corporate dissolution to divorce and custody law. In each case, I loved the analytical process of interpreting and applying the law, and helping to ensure that the precedent we built upon held true to the law’s underlying policy.
Curious about more direct advocacy, I spent three years as a civil litigator at a boutique law firm in downtown Chicago, where I helped clients navigate divorce, custody, contract disputes, and landlord-tenant issues. Helping people through some of the biggest struggles of their lives was the best part about being a lawyer.
In search of an unconventional career shift, in 2012 I decided to take a chance on a little known Brooklyn-based company called Etsy. I arrived in New York with my husband and two suitcases, and ended up staying for six years. At Etsy, I wrote and advised on site policy, content moderation, privacy, government relations, and corporate social responsibility. I wore many hats to support Etsy’s mission, crafting its policies, taking stances on social issues, navigating developing law on internet platforms, forming partnerships with NGOs and government agencies, and managing its disaster relief program and philanthropy fund. Working at Etsy taught me that businesses can be successful while doing good, and that millions of diverse individuals could come together for a common cause.
Most recently, I moved my family back to Chicago and have continued to work in e-commerce, primarily at two-sided marketplaces, including Spring and Cameo.
What can I do for you?
Do you need help developing site policies and terms? Complying with government regulations? Moderating user generated content on your site? Communicating sensitive subject areas with your users? Let’s talk.