I was the GC at two large banks (Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank) for a combined 20 years before joining QuisLex. I was a very satisfied former client and after connecting with Ram [Vasudevan, QuisLex’s CEO] at a conference, one thing led to another, and now I’m proud to say I’ve been at QuisLex for over seven years. Having walked in the shoes of a GC in a highly regulated industry really does give me an edge when it comes to working with the clients we serve. I don’t just mean an edge over our competition but also over the wholesale challenges we as a legal community face. Being able to weave the lessons learned from my tenure in-house with what becomes possible when you see lawyers who think like process engineers gives me the perspective to help clients visualize solutions they never would have imagined before.

This is one of many reasons I find my role here as the SVP of Strategy and Client Services to be endlessly interesting and forward looking: I get to encourage in-house teams - many former friends and colleagues - to embrace cutting-edge ideas and bring them to fruition. I learn something almost every day and discover new ways that QuisLex’s bespoke services bring value to complex organizations. Being able to articulate that value in terms of how it could positively impact a particular client, as well as the legal ecosystem as a whole, is one of the things I enjoy most about working here. I definitely feel that QuisLex is changing the legal industry by helping to transform one legal department at a time (and has been for nearly 20 years).

A key reason we are able to do that is the unique nature of the QuisLex team. One advantage of having the long tenure in the industry that I do is the exposure one gets to a variety of organizations. I have to say, QuisLex has a fabulous culture and is filled with dedicated professionals that are uniformly great people to work with on a daily basis. And from my decades of experience in working at other organizations I understand how special that is. QuisLex professionals are true masters in their areas of expertise across the services we provide and the industries we serve. This level of mastery leads to faith in their work, which leads to a willingness to experiment. Part of the QuisLex culture is to not be afraid to try new things, which often results in novel and innovative solutions for our clients.

The intellect and experience to come up with great ideas are one thing. Executing on them is another (and in many organizations becomes the point of failure). What really stands out at QuisLex is our team’s ability to analyze a work or process challenge and then quickly find a solution and successfully execute that solution. This is where the faith the team has earned from clients and each other really comes into play. Professionals are loathe to take risks if there is a lack of trust. At QuisLex, we overcome the fear of trying something new by demonstrating a total commitment to excellence, and it shines through in everything we do.

Joseph Polizzotto, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Client Services

Joseph (Joe) brings decades of world-class experience to the QuisLex leadership team. Prior to joining QuisLex, Joe was the General Counsel of the Americas at Deutsche Bank and before that served as both the General Counsel and head of the litigation and regulatory teams at Lehman Brothers. His many professional distinctions include the Alfred J. Rauschman Award from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) for contributions to the Compliance and Legal Community and a distinguished career in financial services. Joe has also appeared before the United States Supreme Court and has testified on behalf of the financial services industry before Congress. Joe received his J.D. from New York University School of Law and his B.A. from Columbia College. Finally, Joe is the current Board Chair of the New York Legal Assistance Group, a leading non-profit organization dedicated to helping New Yorkers who need representation on civil legal matters.

Joe is an avid reader (both fiction and nonfiction) and loves to walk and hike. He also plays golf whenever he can and collects golf books, combining two of his favorite hobbies.