Kristopher “Kris” Rossfeld joined Westwood-based Frost in September to head up its white collar, investigations and compliance practice.
Previously working as in-house counsel for major companies, Rossfeld now serves an outside counsel role for companies in commercial litigation – including for antitrust, fraud, labor and employment, and commercial real estate matters – and risk management.
In an interview with the Business Journal, Rossfeld reflected on moving from in-house counsel back to private practice and modern trends in law.
What sparked your interest in a legal career and how did you land on white collar and compliance?
I was convinced for most of my high school career that I would go into business. I had run a small business in high school and was eager to learn more.
Everything changed when I took my first law class…Business Law. I was immediately hooked by the complex issues involved, and by the way our legal system challenges lawyers not just to make arguments but to prove their case with evidence.
As for white collar, investigations, and compliance, I began my career in the field the way that most careers unfold: I happened into it. After gaining significant antitrust experience at a big firm, I transitioned to an in-house counsel role managing antitrust issues. My boss at the time asked me if I would also become the company’s head of compliance. He explained that I would have to learn from scratch. That sounded like fun, so I said “yes.” From that point forward, I fell in love. As a compliance officer, I woke up every morning with a singular goal: help the company do the right thing. At the end of the day, I would go to sleep knowing I did my best and it was up to the company’s employees and leadership to follow my advice. Now I get to do the same thing as outside counsel: whether helping them build proactive compliance programs or investigating concerns raised, I get to help my clients do the right thing.
Why Los Angeles for your career?
While my legal career has taken me all over the world, I’m fortunate that Frost brought me back to private practice in Los Angeles. The dynamic clients, attorneys and judges in the L.A. area make it an ideal place to practice law. Cutting-edge and complex issues are being litigated in the courts here and there is a lot of opportunity to work with a variety of industries. As a bonus, I’m a (UCLA) Bruin and always loved the idea of coming back to Westwood (where our office is located).
How has your current firm enhanced your career trajectory?
It brought me back to private practice! I was a successful litigator at a big firm in the early 2000s. For family reasons, I went in-house at major global companies to lead their compliance and ethics programs. While I traveled the world and enjoyed building world-class compliance teams that helped companies operate lawfully and ethically, I always dreamed about coming back to private practice. When I began speaking with firms, so many had their own ideas about how to be successful in the white collar, investigations, compliance and privacy spaces. These ideas were the ones that I often fought as an in-house lawyer because the partners and firms didn’t understand what it was like to manage executives the way I had to as the client. Frost LLP has given me the freedom to build a practice within the firm from scratch, to hire an exceptional team that complements my own knowledge and to build the type of practice group that I always wanted to hire but had trouble finding while in-house. We are a firm of former BigLaw, former in-house compliance officers and former government enforcement leaders who have been in the shoes of internal legal teams facing a crisis.
Tell me about your first trial win.
I represented a major technology company and began as one of four lawyers on a case. As the case grew, we had a team of over 350 lawyers fighting one of the largest antitrust cases of its time. Even as a junior associate, I was close with the client and able to manage some of the most important parts of the case. Ultimately, we won a massive victory for the client at a time when multibillion-dollar wins were very rare. What is particularly exciting is that our then-client, which was once considered to be struggling, is now one of the most valuable companies in the world.
Which trial victory are you most proud of and why?
I represented two individuals, in a lawsuit against a major video game company, who had been fired without reasonable justification just as they were set to earn a lot of money from an extremely successful game. These two clients had led a team of people to make one of the best games of its time. The firing was a tremendous injustice. I was proud to work with a team of lawyers to secure a significant victory for the clients, and to help them set up a new studio that has gone on to great success.
How have you and your team incorporated artificial intelligence into your practices and work?
We are incorporating AI into our workflows where it makes sense, as many firms are, in administrative and early-stage legal workflows. We are rigorous about the layer of human supervision necessary to responsibly use any AI tool in the legal field. We are also cautiously observing a rapidly evolving space as it presents an ever-changing set of legal tech products. As it happens, I have experience with AI governance and risk management that pre-dates my time at Frost. I advise clients on that topic, and I apply that lens to our AI policy and approach. As a compliance-minded professional, I strive to make sure that our team and our clients understand the benefits and the risks of AI. We have a policy and procedures for AI use and will continue to adapt as the technology itself improves on a daily basis.
Does the growth of so-called “nuclear verdicts” and their damage awards concern you?
“Nuclear verdicts” are not as top of mind for me as judicial decisions that introduce uncertainty. Uncertainty often opens the door to extortion-type claims against clients that neither serve justice nor efficiency. One example is predatory CIPA-related lawsuits. CIPA is a 50-plus-year-old law primarily designed to prohibit unwanted recordings of communications. Whether that means wiretapping or just a phone recording without both parties’ permission, the law was enacted long before the internet or the invention of cookies. Nonetheless, some courts have recently taken the position that CIPA laws may apply to the use of cookies in instances without explicit consent. This uncertainty does not serve justice and has created a cottage industry of predatory claims by law firms trying to extract money from companies. If the law was clear, companies would most likely follow. However, due to the uncertainty, companies in almost every industry are being threatened on a daily basis. Often, these types of uncertainty are due to legislators, regulators or courts fearing the act of being accountable for making a clear decision. I’d like to see clarification of laws and clear roadmaps for compliance. Once that exists, let’s hold wrongdoers accountable with nuclear or other verdicts, but let’s stop introducing uncertainty that only causes inefficiency in the courts.
What practices from your in-house counsel days do you bring to your current work as outside counsel?
Understanding what in-house counsel really needs is critical – what they need to effectively deliver advice to executive leadership and boards, and what it’s like for in-house counsel to face a crisis. As a result, I bring a business-driven communication style, pragmatism and executive presence. After years of getting long and unhelpful outside counsel advice, I learned what matters most: a concise and non-legal communication style that can easily be forwarded on rather than having to be re-written by the in-house counsel. Also critically, to deliver business-ready advice in that clear style that is effective and reasonably actionable by client organizations.
It is also crucial to understand the client’s risk tolerance and provide advice that helps mitigate risks and helps the business function well. This means understanding the business, not just the law. I had a saying a lot when I was in-house: “I could eliminate risk of non-compliance in 2 seconds. All I have to do is insist that we close our doors and stop doing business.” As long as the doors are open, there is always a risk and we need to understand the approach a company and its leadership are comfortable taking.
Finally, I had a great mentor who taught me that one of the most important things a lawyer can bring to a client business is “the calm.” When serious matters come to legal departments, the business is often under a lot of stress and emotions can run high among teams. Bringing a safe, calm, and confident presence can go a long way in minimizing business interruption and fear.
