Business Law Section Leadership: Episode 6: Succeeding as a Leader in Difficult Times

In this episode, Shazia Ahmad talks with Jeannie Frey, chief legal office and general counsel at Christus Health, about the challenges posed by a crisis, such as the Covid pandemic, and what leadership tools are needed to succeed in running a business. Frey served as chair of the ABA’s Business Law Section during 2020-21. Shazia Ahmad works on complex structured finance transactions involving a variety of asset classes at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP. She advises issuers, underwriters, borrowers, lenders, and service providers in these transactions, including drafting and reviewing transaction-related documents, performing due diligence and facilitating closings. Prior to joining Kramer Levin, Shazia gained finance and legal experience at Fortune 500 companies and global banking institutions. Shazia is the Chair of the Young Lawyer Committee and a member of the Marketing Board of the ABA Business Law Section. Jeannie Frey is chief legal office and general counsel at Christus Health, a multi-national nonprofit health system, with U.S. operations primarily in Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico, and Latin American operations in Mexico, Colombia and Chile. Prior to joining CHRISTUS Health in 2018, Frey was chief legal officer and general counsel of Presence Health, a Catholic health system based in Chicago, from 2011-18. She also served as general counsel of Resurrection Health Care in Chicago (2004-11) and was a partner in the health law department of McDermott, Will & Emery in its Chicago office. Frey’s professional activities have included serving on the board of the Illinois Association of Healthcare Attorneys, the Audit and Corporate Responsibility Committee of Mercy Health (Cincinnati) and in numerous leadership positions in the ABA Business Law Section, including chair of the Nonprofit Organizations Committee.