Po Yi, an attorney with deep roots in advertising both creatively and compliance, has joined Manatt in the consumer protection, advertising and competition practice.  Yi has experience both in house, at Venable prior to joining Manatt, and with American Express as the Former VP & Chief Advertising Counsel from 2007 to 2013. This experience has allowed her to work with creative teams to ensure compliance across advertising initiatives in an industry that has been up-ended by the emergence of a robust social media ecosystem. 

Yi says: “My personal experience working in-house at an iconic brand like American Express is that you feel a strong sense of belonging and loyalty to the brand; I have retained the desire to be part of a law firm that has a strong culture and brand identity.” 

In House Attorney Insight for Law Firm Clients

While at American Express, Yi was actively involved in an industry experiencing major changes.  Working with the creative team to develop advertising and marketing campaigns in social, digital and traditional media platforms; Yi had plenty of experience problem-solving for the company to reach strategic objectives.  Now that she’s on the other side of the fence, her years at AmEx gave Yi insight into what her in-house clients need and how her firm can partner with them effectively.  Yi says: “My in-house experience . . . has allowed me to provide more rounded counsel to my clients in private practice. I think in-house attorneys think about risk differently than lawyers in private practice do. In-house attorneys tend to be results-oriented and care more about advancing their business clients’ strategic goals while minimizing risk rather than getting the most perfect legal advice or legal documents, even though, at times, that perfection is appropriate and required.”

Yi’s Advice to Female Law Graduates & Young Women Lawyers

When asked about her experience and what advice she would give female law graduates, going into an industry where women still lag behind their male counterparts, Yi  says, “Success in this industry will require flexibility and patience--not just hard work.”  While Yi indicates as an associate, she made her career her sole focus and made partner relatively early.  However, upon having children, flexibility had to come into play in order to effectively balance the personal and the professional.  Shuffling her schedule and responsibilities--and putting in hours early in the morning or late at night to compensate--enabled her to spend quality time with her children and keep up with her work responsibilities.  Yi says her husband is supportive, but “having such a packed schedule forced me to be mindful of making the best use of my time, which I realized I hadn’t always done . . . after much trial and error, I learned to effectively prioritize and develop a system that works for me and my family.”

William T. Quicksilver, CEO and Managing Partner of Manatt, describes Yi’s experience both in house and in private practice as “entrepreneurial” and he clearly expects great things from the partnership.  He says, “Her experience counseling major companies across disruptive industries will have an immediate, positive impact on our advertising, entertainment, and digital media practices, and we welcome her to the team.”