Amy Farris Wolfe Reshapes Legal into a Business Partner

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Amy Farris Wolfe wants legal departments to be a facilitator, not a roadblock. “I believe in being a trusted business partner,” says Farris Wolfe, general counsel at Aurobindo Pharma USA (“Aurobindo”). “We focus on being pragmatic in everything we do.” Farris Wolfe balances that pragmatism with compliance to obtain trusted results in record time.

Since taking over as general counsel for Aurobindo three years ago, Farris Wolfe has streamlined processes in the legal department. “Our efficiencies help the businesses reach their goals in shorter time,” she says. Among other things, Farris Wolfe introduced a wide variety of distinct templates, decreasing drafting delays while providing the internal client with reliable and targeted work product.

Myriad templates are just one way Farris Wolfe has advanced the standard operating procedures in her department. Her procedures indicate which stakeholder makes which decision, for each of Aurobindo’s nine US companies and affiliates, and how to triage contracts. Whether it’s a $50,000 purchase or a $5 million transaction, each company has a unique organizational structure with different approvers and review processes. By having detailed templates and contracting procedures for the diverse businesses, stakeholders feel valued and that legal understands their day-to-day.

Streamlined procedures have the added benefit of making the legal department more accessible and less intimidating. People worry that the department will “clog up their deal,” Farris Wolfe says. In her view, many nonlawyers at other companies are “afraid to go to legal because they’re going to stall my negotiations and tell me everything that I’ve done wrong.”

At Aurobindo, however, the business stakeholders welcome the legal department into the fold—and at the outset of negotiations. 

In Farris Wolfe’s multifaceted position, her commercial responsibilities range from major transactions to routine agreements in areas such as procurement, shared services, and supply chain. “A large part of my role focuses on bringing in and sustaining business,” she explains. Farris Wolfe has worked to make her legal department a true business partner and protector that quickly addresses priorities and resolves concerns.

“The legal department assists from diligence to close and, even more importantly, postclosing to ensure synergies,” Farris Wolfe says. “And luckily for me, I’ve been able to participate in countless acquisitions and in-licensing transactions here at Aurobindo.”

“People know that when they send something to us, it does not sit for long.”

Amy Farris Wolfe

Because Aurobindo is a vertically integrated company, Farris Wolfe not only represents diverse businesses but also interacts with research and development, manufacturing, packaging, and logistics. “My job requires me to switch between buyer-seller dynamics, generic and branded pharmaceuticals, Rx and OTC products, and consumer health,” she says. “We run the full gamut. I’m part of everything, and I love it.”

Farris Wolfe hopes her team can continue to assist Aurobindo’s rapid growth. “We have expanded our North America presence year-over-year,” Farris Wolfe says. As recently December 2024, Aurobindo commenced construction on a new 170,000 square foot warehouse—across from its existing 600,000 square foot warehouse—to store additional inventory in its East Windsor location.  Farris Wolfe participated in the full spectrum of the transaction, from RFP to contract negotiations to township approvals; her daughter later planted a tree outside the construction site as part of Aurobindo’s Nurturing Nature for Healthier Lives initiative.

Before coming to Aurobindo, Farris Wolfe worked for the clinical research organization Parexel, where she learned the benefit of robust procedures, which would prove invaluable in streamlining operations at Aurobindo. At Parexel, a high level of organization was key, as at any given time, Farris Wolfe managed close to a hundred open contracts that covered phase 3 clinical trials, consulting, SaaS, and internal procurement.

Due to the company’s global operations, “I became accustomed to working outside the standard nine-to-five schedule you’d expect in-house,” she says. “But more importantly, I learned how to triage contracts internally among stakeholders with competing interests.”

“We run the full gamut. I’m part of everything, and I love it.”

Amy Farris Wolfe

Prior to Parexel, Farris Wolfe worked as an associate at Duane Morris, a global law firm headquartered in Philadelphia. Working there taught her such lawyerly essentials as discipline, keen attention to detail, sense of urgency, and ability to manage multiple work streams. She advises young lawyers to start at a large firm if possible. “You’ll learn the tools of how to be an excellent attorney,” she says.

Farris Wolfe has built a lean and exceptionally efficient legal team at Aurobindo. “People know that when they send something to us, it does not sit for long,” she says. “The effectiveness of your department doesn’t depend on the volume of personnel but rather the structure, processes, training, and talent you retain.” She looks forward to the future.

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