January 2026
Orrick alum Lacey Bangle (2012-21) is Head of Litigation at Roblox, the leading online platform for immersive gaming and creation, leading a team that is growing by leaps and bounds. Lacey checked in with Orrick’s Jake Heath to chat about the opportunities for tech companies in the creator ecosystem, her perspective as an in-house litigator and how the nature of her role impacts how she works with outside counsel.
Q: You’ve had an extraordinary career as an in-house litigator post-Orrick, first at Zynga and now as Head of Litigation at Roblox. What’s surprised you most about your career journey so far?
A: I think many of us lawyers are Type A and want to plan everything out with a lot of intention. But luck or fate – or just something out of your control – plays such a big part in landing in the next place. You have to go with it, and it can lead to something good. If you had told me 5 years ago that I would be leading the litigation team at Roblox, I would have probably said, “What’s Roblox?” My career path has been different than I would have thought – but in a good way.
Q: Would you have changed anything? Do you wish you had approached anything differently?
A: No, I don’t think so. The foundation I had at Orrick as a generalist was so useful. I did different kinds of litigation and saw all different stages of litigation – always thinking strategically: big picture and long-term. That all came into play once I went in-house, because litigation in-house roles require you to be a bit of a generalist and think holistically.
Q: You’ve been at companies in the tech sector through the rise of GenAI. What excites you the most about this technology?
A: AI has the power to unlock creativity and supercharge it for people with great ideas, but who don’t have the time or technical depth to make it come to life. I think it will amplify creativity and break down barriers.
Q: More broadly, what are the biggest opportunities ahead?
A: Just the sheer amount of stuff going on right now in tech – and the attention to the sector itself. That’s pushing things to evolve in interesting and unexpected ways – which creates both huge opportunities and challenges.
One of the biggest opportunities and challenges is to keep improving on online safety. There’s so much attention and investment in this area, and as a result promising solutions are coming up in response to all the interest and demand across the industry. One company isn’t going to solve this issue by itself.
[Editor’s Note: Orrick’s Online Safety Law Center can help companies stay abreast of developments.]
Q: I can’t agree more. Solving the challenge of online safety will take more than just the industry – I think we all have a role to play in our community, as parents, as educators. How about the role of lawyers, starting with outside counsel?
A: Outside counsel play a crucial role helping companies navigate these issues because they have the benefit of experience from what they see across their clients. I definitely lean on our outside counsel for that kind of advice. And combine that with what we in-house counsel see internally, we can see behind the scenes in a way no one else does. Especially as litigators, we can be issue spotters; we can see around corners better than a lot of other folks can.
Q: What do you wish outside counsel did more of? And is there anything you would say clients can do to help outside counsel be most effective?
A: Anything you can do to streamline things for us is appreciated. If you can ghost-write an email for me, that’s very appreciated. Helping us stay organized, setting up trackers. Paying attention to bills to make sure they align with billing guidelines.
Another thing: when you need something from me, be really clear in what you are asking me to do and what the deadline is. That does go both ways: clients should also be clear about what we expect from outside counsel. Here at Roblox, we created a guidebook that we give to our outside counsel that explains how we like to work, what platforms we prefer, answers to FAQs and other resources. Things like that help everyone stay on the same page.
Q: What do you wish outside counsel knew about your role, as an in-house litigator, that would help us better advocate for you internally?
A: That’s a really great question. I wish outside counsel understood that in-house litigators are, in a sense, takers. What I mean by that: I think of many other members of the legal team more as givers – transactional attorneys can advise the business on how to get more in deals and the like – or at least they’re on more of a two-way street. Litigation isn’t like that – we’re usually defending lawsuits, which is an expense, and we frequently need other people to take time away from their day-to-day jobs; we can’t give very much. So how we manage our political capital within the company is crucial, and I do appreciate outside counsel who grasp that and are respectful of my and – particularly – my business people’s time. Do your homework first, don’t ask questions of our business people where the answers are publicly available or easily available from my team, prepare for calls. That ultimately makes me more effective internally.
Q: That’s a great insight. While we’re on the subject of passing along advice and insights, can you share a bit about who your mentors were and how they may have impacted the way you mentor?
A: I have so many, including a bunch from Orrick. My former boss at Zynga would take the time to walk me through particular challenges she faced and how she dealt with it; I found that very insightful. I’ve learned a lot from different styles of lawyering, and I’ve tried to take what works for me and use it to manage my team and mentor others.
Q: What energizes you these days?
A: Scaling up and building out my team! We are growing by leaps and bounds and it’s really exciting to find the right people and set them up for success.
Q: What are you currently reading or listening to?
A: I read fantasy – I’m an escapist. I started watching Mighty Nein on Amazon. It’s a Dungeons & Dragons animated series.