IAGA SUMMIT BELFAST CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER ROUNDTABLE BALLY’S
Kim Barker Lee Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, Bally’s
Kim Barker Lee is the Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Bally’s Corporation. Kim oversees Bally’s global legal, compliance and public affairs teams, supporting the company's global strategic initiatives. Kim has deep business experience and knowledge of lottery, gaming, and governmental law, as well as experience with public private partnerships, public finance transactions, corporate governance, and regulatory matters.
Prior to joining Bally’s Kim served as General Counsel and Vice President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs for Chicago-based Northstar Lottery Group, LLC, a majority- owned IGT affiliate. Kim also served as General Counsel to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC), an Illinois state agency. She was also a partner in the public law practice of two prominent Chicago based law firms - Altheimer & Gray and Pugh, Jones & Johnson, P.C.
During an IAGA Summit panel of General Counsels and Chief Legal Officers from leading gaming companies, participants will discuss their role in enabling their respective businesses to succeed, their partnership with compliance departments, and the challenges of running an international legal department. Tey’ll also discuss development and improvement strategies, the internal and external issues that keep them up at night, what they look for and avoid when instructing external advisers and their involvement in diversity and inclusion initiatives. G3 took the opportunity to speak to Bally’s EVP and Chief Legal Officer, Kim Barker Lee, about her role and the responsibilities that fall under her remit.
What are your areas of responsibility within your company and how does this affect the day- to-day running of the business?
As the Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, I oversee Bally’s global legal, compliance, data privacy, corporate governance, public affairs and ESG teams to support the Company's global strategic initiatives. Tese are functions that reach all areas of our business on a daily basis and require constant interaction between our legal team and business partners. In addition to my duties as EVP and CLO, I am also thrilled to chair the ESG Board Committee and serve as the Chair of Bally’s Foundation.
What are the main challenges you face running an international legal department within a successful gaming business?
P64 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
One challenge is bridging geographical, time zone and other differences to work together more seamlessly and build a strong team culture. Ensuring alignment between critical functions like compliance, governmental affairs, and internal audit can be achieved through greater cross functional collaboration and embracing a matrixed organizational structure.
Finally, we are a fast-moving business and ensure that the legal team understands business priorities so that we align resources around critical legal or business issues. It’s also important to make a judgment call around risk and importance to business outcomes in the approach and allocation of resources.
What role do General Counsels play in the ongoing success of a business in the gaming sector? How important is this role and is this contribution justly recognized?
Chief Legal Officers must be partners to the business and our success tied to outcomes that enable results. We must also constantly evolve our skill sets to match our dynamic business and regulatory environment. Te importance of the Chief Legal Counsel role is dependent upon your approach to the role – are you a partner or are you a monitor? If you take the approach of being a partner to the business – your contributions will be better understood and recognized through your actions and impact.
Is there an element that you’re the ‘killjoy’ in room - stifling rapid decision-making? Do all departments recognise the need for the legal team’s contributions?
Tere is no way to be successful at Bally’s and be perceived as a killjoy – we are nimble, entrepreneurial, and sometimes fast moving. Tat part of our DNA must also be reflected in the Legal Department. Tat being said, part of our role is to ensure that legal risks are understood, align with commercial outcome, and are communicated so that the business can make well-informed business decisions that are in sync with strategic priorities.
How have the legal challenges to your business evolved - how have you become adept at dealing with these issues - and are the challenges very different between online and land-based gaming sectors?
Yes, legal challenges have evolved with our business and complex regulatory environment. You become adept because we must meet the needs of the business and develop talent within the legal team. In addition, we must have strong and capable external legal counsel relationships that can help bridge the gaps on the team. Te challenges between land-based and online are actually narrowing as a result of the fact that gaming is multi-channel and in many instances overlap.
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