Team Spotlight: Nicole Dobias

Meet Nicole: one of Ironclad’s own in-house attorneys. She’s spent her entire legal career working in the legal tech space, focusing on the legality behind clickwrap transactions and enabling product and engineering teams to create with compliance in mind. Prior to law school, Nicole worked as a software developer for several years. This experience gives her a unique, product-focused perspective.

Nicole lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with her beloved dog, Norman, and husband, Sam.

How did you find yourself in your role today? 

I arrived at Ironclad through the PactSafe acquisition. I started at PactSafe as an intern during my final year of law school and stayed on full time after graduating and passing the bar.

Why did you choose to go in-house?

I went to law school with the goal of eventually becoming an in-house attorney for a software company. I loved working in software before law school, and I wanted to get back to the industry in a different capacity. I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity to do so early in my career as a lawyer.

What excites you about partnering with the product team?

When I was a software developer, I liked working with the product team to solve problems. It’s exciting to continue to do that as an in-house lawyer, just in a different capacity. I partner with both product and engineering throughout the development lifecycle to keep the product compliant with relevant regulations and case law application as well as ahead of industry trends.

What brings you the most satisfaction in your role? What makes you say, “Nailed it!”

Launching an initiative or completing a project always feels great!

What cases or litigation are you keeping an eye on? Why?

I read every clickwrap case that comes out—anytime a company is trying to enforce their terms in court, usually through a motion to compel arbitration pursuant to an arbitration clause, or motion to transfer venue pursuant to a forum selection clause, in their terms. I started keeping up with this type of case law when working at PactSafe to ensure product compliance with industry trends and standards. I continue to read these cases for the same reason for the Acceptance product at Ironclad.

What trends are you seeing in privacy that you find particularly exciting and/or interesting?

I’m excited (and stressed) to see the different comprehensive privacy laws a number of states are going to pass in the next few years (similar to California and Virginia). I think states and consumers are really starting to take privacy seriously, and we’ll see that reflected in more comprehensive state privacy laws (and possibly on the federal level).

An interesting (and scary) fact I learned the other day: There’s more money in ransomware attacks than in selling data stolen during a data breach on the dark web. So we may start to see an uptick in the number of ransomware attacks.

Who or what inspires you?

My friends and family inspire me most. Most of my friends, as well as my husband, are attorneys working in different fields and industries. I think it’s really inspiring that a number of them have made careers out of something they are passionate about and are able to really make a difference (one drafted a law that just passed!).

What would you tell your 25-year-old self?

I decided to go to law school at age 25, so I would probably tell myself that I’m making the right decision. I questioned making such a big career decision at the time, but I’m exactly where I hoped to be and enjoy the work I do.

What are two things people don’t know about you? Fun facts or secret talents?

Fun fact, when I was 25 years old, I needed a change and was deciding between going to law school or becoming a yoga teacher. 

I’ve also never broken a bone.

What are you reading? 

I’m in the middle of reading Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan.

Hear more from Nicole in our recent webinar: “Clickwrap 101: Everything you need to know if you face litigation.” You can watch the on-demand recording here.