Climbing The Ladder: Tales And Wisdom From America's Top General Counsel

In February 2015, Randy Milch, the former general counsel for Verizon, made his podcasting debut when he took over hosting for In-House Legal. Since that time, his show has featured top GCs from America’s largest organizations: Google, Ford, and Yahoo to name a few. Episodes follow the paths taken by these leading attorneys who give advice from many years of experience and share the occasional war story.

Although every interviewee had the same goal of being general counsel, their journeys to get there were quite different. Louise Parent, GC for AMEX, said her secret to success was picking the correct lateral promotion to gain the required experience, whereas Ivan Fong, GC for 3M, cites years of government service and picking the right company. Still, others like Mark Roellig, GC for MassMutual, leaned on their business knowledge and ability to communicate in order to climb the ranks.

The journey to the top is only the beginning of the saga for these general counsels. For some, like Peter Beshar, GC for Marsh & McLennan, his ascent took place in the middle of crisis for his company as it was being sued by Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. During these times of turmoil, the ability to lead is critical, as discussed in a broader conversation with Ford GC David Leitch talking about 911 FAA groundings and the auto bailout of 2008. While making critical decisions, Monsanto GC Bill Ide, says it’s important to respect the stakeholders involved. The actions taken by the legal team can impact the reputation of their company as Michael Fricklas, GC for Viacom, shared when talking about their lawsuit with YouTube.

Not everyone’s time as general counsel has been branded by exigent circumstances. For some, the name-of-the-game is getting ahead of regulatory movements. GCs like Ari Shahdadi from Tumblr focus on copyright and trademark regulations for user-generated content. In addition to who owns and controls media, Deirdre Stanley, GC for Thomson Reuters, continually endeavors to promote a free press around the world, and Ron Bell, GC for Yahoo, keeps his company in front of national security vs. online privacy concerns. Even the biggest search engine in the world must be continually updated on antitrust, right to be forgotten, and censorship issues, according to Kent Walker, GC of Google.

Much of a general counsel’s time is spent on matters outside their organization but internal matters can be just as important. When it comes to cyber security in the modern era, educating the staff can go a long way in protecting the organization from external threats according to Laureen Seeger, GC AMEX. In addition to providing education, she believes leaders should proactively seek employees who need proper training. For Cisco GC Mark Chandler, efficiency of his legal team was a primary concern. By building relationships with the sales team and implementing automation, he was able to greatly reduce the cost of legal services.

These are but a few of the many topics discussed. You can listen to these conversations by clicking on the links below:

1. Verizon’s Randy Milch on Being General Counsel and Running the In-House Legal Department
2. Skills for Success as a General Counsel
3. Cyber Security: Using Insurance to Motivate Technology
4. Vertical Promotion is Not Always the Route to General Counsel
5. Copyright Issues, Intellectual Property, and Data Security in the Digital Age
6. GC at Tumblr: Legal Issues Faced by the Digital Publishing Platform
7. How General Counsels Drive the Legal Profession
8. Ford’s GC David Leitch in Leadership During Crisis
9. Thomson Reuters’ Deirdre Stanley: Being Interested and Getting Ahead
10. Insights from 3M GC Ivan Fong about Embracing Opportunities
11. Yahoo GC Ron Bell on Privacy vs. Security
12. Cisco GC Mark Chandler on Automation and International Surveillance
13. Google GC Kent Walker on Internet Disruption and Censorship
14. Cybersecurity in Regulated Industries with AMEX GC Laureen Seeger