Dan Kerns, Senior Corporate Counsel at Stout

Dan Kerns, Senior Corporate Counsel at Stout, makes the case that authenticity at work is not just a cultural value but a measurable performance driver. The conversation covers his path from Lawrence North High School and Miami University to IU McKinney School of Law, through years of private practice at a Indianapolis firm, and into his current in-house role at Stout, a global advisory firm specializing in valuation, investment banking, disputes, and transactional advisory services. Kerns and host Angela B. Freeman work through the practical differences between outside and in-house counsel, including what law firms get wrong about knowing a client's business, how legal teams move from being perceived as roadblocks to trusted business partners, and why risk tolerance varies dramatically across business units within the same organization. The discussion also takes on representation in the legal profession directly. Kerns reflects on how meeting an openly gay partner early in his career shaped his decision to enter private practice and how that experience informed his leadership of Stout Pride, the firm's LGBTQ+ affinity group, which he helped grow from roughly 10 members to more than 80. He argues that affinity groups, when structured well, give in-house legal teams unexpected insight into business operations across departments.