________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
With the board, the work is broader and often slower, as directors carry duties to investors. Susan focuses on providing full context, management recommendations, and the alternatives and assumptions behind each decision so they can exercise independent judgment.
Underpinning both aspects is a written vision Susan keeps in front of her department: to be service-oriented partners who provide solutions, minimize risk, and enable value creation.“ It’ s service, solution, risk, value,” she confirms.“ We bring this vision to life through three guiding principles: customer service, domain expertise, and productivity. It applies to everyone from litigators to those running marketing campaigns.”
Susan frames these guiding principles simply: customer service means understanding the business objectives and delivering practice solutions with urgency. Domain expertise combines legal knowledge with business acumen to provide credible, relevant guidance. Productivity is about continuously improving and simplifying how the team works.“ We focus on solving the biggest challenges facing the company, and each initiative we take on must support at least one of these principles,” Susan explains.
Global standard
Alongside her own priorities, Susan and her team follow Flowserve’ s five core values: people, safety, integrity, ownership, and ingenuity. For Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP _______________________________________
Cravath has been known as a premier U. S. law firm for more than two centuries, playing a central role in developing how law is practiced, how lawyers are trained and how business risk is managed. Each of its practice areas is highly regarded, and Cravath lawyers are recognized around the world for their commitment to the representation of clients’ interests. The firm is honored to work with Susan Hudson of Flowserve, and to support her well-deserved recognition in this issue of Modern Counsel.
58