As the top lawyer at
Friedman, the executive vice president and general counsel of the nation's largest bank, navigates a legal and regulatory landscape on a global scale. She leads a group of more than 2,000 lawyers in multiple jurisdictions around the globe. What may be a headwind in one country could be a tailwind in another, she says.
"The front windshield is really quite big and I can watch and participate and learn," Friedman said. "At the end of the day, I'm super hopeful for America, for humanity, for the institution, and for the rule of law."
Friedman, who serves on the bank's operating committee, was recently named Global Security Executive for the $4.4 trillion-asset New York bank, adding yet another massive job on top of her already-sizeable portfolio. She described reviewing the bank's preparedness for active shooter scenarios just days after a gunman opened fire in Atlanta at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and a few days after another gunman killed four people and himself targeting the NFL headquarters at 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.
"The likelihood that something like this will happen at one of our properties is exceedingly low," Friedman says. "But the types of things you have to do to prepare for any security incident [involves] how quickly you can get on a PA system to notify people that somebody walked into a lobby and is starting a fight, or they're being disruptive, or you have protesters outside."
The legal team's responsibilities are divided into several buckets, she says, starting with litigation and enforcement matters, both private and public. The bulk of attorneys' time is focused on advising on products and services, marketing, new business initiatives and contract negotiations, as well as weighing in on advocacy regarding policy and regulations. She is also involved in the bank's overall governance, including preparing reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission and addressing issues involving the board of directors.
Friedman handles stress through good planning, discipline, and scheduling time for what's important.
"I don't know that my stress level is any different than our UPS guy," she jokes. "Mine just has more zeros and more people and it's on the front page more."
Friedman, who joined
"It's the meaning question. If you let the world fill up your schedule with meetings and what the world wants you to do, you will never get to what you want to do," she said. "You have to be a little bit structured so the important doesn't get taken over by the urgent."
In March,
"Being inclusive and reaching out to diverse communities has served us well across the board and it will for a long, long time in the future," she said. "The arc of the universe bends toward giving people the right opportunities and companies that want to do that will continue to bend in that direction."
