Adam Nagorski
CORPORATE COUNSEL AT EMERGO BY UL AND AGENCY COUNSEL AT SAFE (PRO BONO POSITION)
AUSTIN, TEXAS
6:00 am
My puppy River wakes me up more reliably than any alarm clock, and I take him out by the shores of Lady Bird Lake. He loves running with other dogs, and I enjoy the fresh air and views of the Austin skyline. I check my work email on my phone and knock out a couple replies to international colleagues.
7:00 am
Back from the park, I get River to help me wake up my seven- and eight-year-old children. After a hearty breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, I take the kids to school and then head to my office at Emergo’s headquarters.
8:00 am
I participate in a weekly call together with other corporate attorneys at UL, Emergo’s parent company, and we touch base about what we are working on and exchange tips about how best to address new data privacy clauses that clients are increasingly requesting in contracts.
9:00 am
I respond to requests for legal advice largely in geographical order. Emergo is a consulting company with subsidiaries worldwide, covering almost the entire global medical device market, and I support colleagues across all those time zones. I finalize some service agreements for salespeople in The Netherlands before the end of their business day, then address inquiries from Japan and Brazil before turning to requests from my US colleagues.
11:00 am
An executive at SAFE, Austin’s women’s and children’s shelter, calls me to discuss a grant-related agreement, and I advise her about risk-management issues related to indemnification and insurance obligations.
11:30 am
Meeting with an Emergo project manager regarding a challenging client situation in South America. I provide recommendations for next steps that may be taken to resolve the issue in a manner that would satisfy the client without exposing Emergo to unnecessary risk.
12:00 pm
Clear my mind by going for a run on the Zilker Park trails behind the office, then stop to pick up lunch at the food truck that has pulled up next to our building today.
1:00 pm
Phone call with a client’s attorney to negotiate a service agreement for a large project that they urgently need to get started. I suggested the call after we were not able to agree on terms over email, and the discussion is a bit tense at first. However, after some exchange of rationales, we’re able to reach agreement on the outstanding items. I revise the contract accordingly and send it on for execution.
2:30 pm
Assist sales colleagues with responding to a due diligence questionnaire regarding our company’s business practices.
3:00 pm
Emergo’s general manager and I host guests from several African countries on a visit to headquarters. Many of the guests work with ministries of health and are interested to hear about how Emergo helps medical device manufacturers navigate regulatory systems. The visit was arranged through GlobalAustin, an organization I am involved with that supports the US State Department in citizen diplomacy efforts.
4:00 pm
Work with my colleague in Emergo’s legal department to revise our template service agreement for Malaysia based on our team’s recent experiences with regulatory authorities there.
4:30 pm
I spend another hour responding to requests for legal review that have come in during the day, and I make note of some that require additional work or discussions tomorrow. Before leaving for the day, I catch up with a coworker about our plans for the Austin City Limits music festival; he’s also my guitar teacher, but we mostly talk about the electronic dance music acts that will be there this year.
7:00 pm
Join my local ACC chapter for a fun dinner cruise on Lady Bird Lake. I helped plan the event as part of my ACC Austin board duties this year and am glad to see our members enjoying each other’s company, as well as the fajitas and margaritas. At sunset, we watch from the upper deck of the boat as the seemingly endless stream of bats emerge from under the Congress Avenue bridge. It’s the largest urban bat colony in the world and an awesome sight.
10:00 pm
Enjoy the remainder of the evening at home with my girlfriend. I laugh too hard at a Demetri Martin comedy special but fall asleep before it’s over.
