On an evening in early March, around the same time that New York had its first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, Visa Inc. general counsel Kelly Tullier boarded the Metro-North for her commute home to Connecticut. As she entered the train, it was empty. Tullier, who leads Visa’s New York City office, remembers thinking, “This is not a good sign.” The moment marked a turning point for Tullier, who also serves as executive VP at Visa. After that evening, a majority of the financial service giant’s global workforce of nearly 20,000 employees began working from home. Tullier, who has served as Visa’s chief lawyer since 2014, spoke with Corporate Counsel about managing a global legal department during a pandemic. She also discussed how she’s driving diversity, equity and inclusion as an in-house leader. The conversation has been edited for length.

How has COVID-19 changed the way you manage your legal department?