Skip to content

Inside Counsel at Scale

October 19, 2026 · 1 h 7 min

Show notes

What does it mean to lead the legal function at a company operating at the scale of Meta? C.J. Mahoney, Meta's Chief Legal Officer and formerly General Counsel of Microsoft and Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, joins TalksOnLaw to discuss the wave of litigation alleging that social-media products are addictive and harmful to young users, the role of Section 230 and the First Amendment in Meta's defense, and the FTC's challenge to the Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions.

Mahoney also explains how AI is changing work inside legal departments, and why he expects it to put more pressure on the staffing-heavy law-firm model than on in-house teams, shifting the value of outside counsel toward strategic judgment on the hardest questions.

This episode is part of New Law Order, a TalksOnLaw limited series and standalone podcast co-hosted by Joel Cohen and John Morley, whose scholarship focuses on the structure and economics of law firms.

How to Earn CLE Credit

MCLE certificates are eligible only for TalksOnLaw Premium or Podcast members. To earn credit, listen to the full program, note the verification code announced during the recording, then log in to your TalksOnLaw account to record attendance and download your certificate at www.TalksOnLaw.com/podcast.

Approved for 1 hr of participatory California MCLE credit in the General category at the time of publication. Please visit TalksOnLaw to check whether older courses remain active for MCLE reporting purposes.

All episodes of California MCLE Podcast

Settings

Display

Language

Decides which stations you see first on the home page.

History

Recently played stations and episodes and your latest searches are only stored in this browser.

Notifications

A short notice when a podcast you follow has a new episode. Turn off single podcasts with the bell on their page.

Account

Save favorites – in the app and on the website.

Keyboard shortcuts

/
Open search
Space
Play or pause
← →
In the player: back 15 s, forward 30 s (episodes) · in a row: next tile
↑ ↓
In a row: target within the tile
Home / End
In a row: first or last tile
Esc
Close window or menu
?
This overview
Now playing

Go to station page

Play next

    Add episodes with “Play next” – they play after the current episode.