Inside Track: GCs in Crisis Mode | Yes We Cannabis! | Plus New In-House Moves
ALM Media
Updated
Hello, Readers! Welcome back to Inside Track—your favorite newsletter on all things in-house. As always, I’m Law.com reporter Dan Clark. This week we peer into the world of legal marijuana, take some lessons in crisismanagement from the top of the legal department, and examine what happens when your outside law firm files for bankruptcy.
The new world of legal marijuana may have you wondering if you should get in on the ground floor of the now legal, emerging industry. Elyse Kaplan, a former immigration attorney, took her first in-house job as corporate counsel of Vertical, a cannabis company. She spoke to Law.com reporter Caroline Spiezio about why it’s a good time to go in-house at a cannabis company.
➤ Not that negative. Kaplan said that despite the perception of bad vibes between cannabis companies and regulatory agencies, there is actually a good relationship. “A lot of these agencies are just being created, so they’re learning just as much as we’re learning. It’s kind of a cool collaborative process.”
➤ The hardest part is getting up to speed. Kaplan said that there are emergency regulations from all agencies, but cannabis GCs also have to pay attention to the proposed regulations and see how, if passed, those regulations will change the industry.
➤The cannabis industry needs more women. According to Kaplan, in 2015, women held 36 percent of leadership roles in the cannabis industry. In 2017, that number decreased to 27 percent.
Crisis Management 101 for GCs
Navigating a company crisis is a rite of passage for most in-house lawyers. And when it happens, it can be paralyzing. Law.com reporter Georgina Stanley took a look at some of the lessons learned by GCs who survived a corporate firestorm.
In 2017, for instance, Dan Fitz, the soon to be former general counsel of BT, had to take charge of the company’s response to an accounting scandal and lead a £500 million overhaul of the company’s numbers. He said making an accurate preliminary statement is paramount.
Tesco general counsel, Adrian Morris, said that a GC dealing with a crisis situation needs to be able to review every piece of communication coming into and going out of a company. “You need to be clear about who is authorised to talk to the media and what they can say.”
It Can Be Fun? While you certainly hope the company you work for doesn’t undergo a major crisis, it does challenge you. “It is also a great opportunity for come extensive professional and personal growth,” Fitz said.
When Outside Counsel Goes Bankrupt, What Do You Do?
On Oct. 2, Sedgwick filed for bankruptcy in San Francisco. Law.com reporter Phillip Bantz looked at what you should if the firm your outside counsel works for goes belly-up.
Same, same but different. Leslie Corwin, the managing partner of the New York office of Eisner, told Phillip that relationships with individual lawyers often stay intact, even when a firm dissolves. “If I’m your guy, you’re going to go with me, short of there’s some conflict at my new firm.”
Of course if different lawyers elect to move on to separate firms …
Tug of war. When a firm goes belly up, its important for a client to know that they may be in the middle of a tug of war for their business. Lawyers who split off to different firms will be competing for your business if they haven’t all stayed together.
Don’t Miss-
Wednesday, October. 24 Take note: Global Leaders in Law will be hosting an event on managing risk in an age of disruption at Bar Boulud in New York. The next day,Thursday, October 25, the organization will be hosting an event on the changing world of global trade at Club Industriales in Mexico City. GLL is an invitation-only membership group offering general counsel a global platform for in-person collaboration to exchange ideas and receive advice and guidance from peers. For more information, contact Meena Heath at mheath@alm.com.
Sunday, October 21-Wednesday October 24. One of the biggest in-house counsel conferences, The ACC Annual Meeting is in Austin, Texas this year. Saddle on up to hear in-house lawyers speak on a variety of topics, from the first 100 days of the GDPR to pay equity and salary inquiry bans. High-powered in-housers from companies like Google, Clorox, Bayer, Honda and more will be taking the stage.
Thursday, November 1. The Economist is hosting its 15th General Counsel conference at the Jumeriah Carlton Tower in London. The event seeks to find “compelling solutions to meet changing expectations.” Speakers include Sarah Jones, the group general counsel to the BBC, Dervish Tayyip, assistant general counsel at Microsoft, and Mark Maurice-Jones, the general counsel of Nestle UK and Ireland.
Wednesday, November 14. In-house lawyers from leading Bay Area companies will come together at Perfecting Your Pitch in San Francisco, a forum for women lawyers to practice pitch delivery, perfect their presentation skills and get business development tips straight from top in-house lawyers. Panelists include Ashlie Beringer, deputy GC at Facebook; Eleanor Lacey, general counsel at Sophos; and Dana Rao, general counsel at Adobe.
On the Move-
Bringing In a Fresh Player. Five time Stanley Cup winners, The Pittsburgh Penguins, announced on Monday that a former chief of staff to the Mayor of Pittsburgh has been named as the new general counsel. Kevin Acklin will begin his role as the Penguins’ GC in November and will work with the team and the city in the development of the former Civic Arena Center.
New Ride. Luxury car company Mercedes-Benzannounced the hiring of Andrew Vu as the vice president and general counsel of American arm of the company’s research and development function. This will be Vu’s first time as a general counsel. However he has worked in-house for Walmart and Sony.
New Law. New GC. With the full legalization of marijuana approaching in Canada a cannabis grower, Flowr, announced the hiring of Francesco Tallarico as its new general counsel. Tallarico replaces David Miller, who will stay with the company on the board of directors. Tallarico was previously the CLO of Concordia.
Cashing In on CLO. A supply chain payments company, Tradeshift, announced last week that it shipped in its first chief legal officer. Amer Moorehead joined the company as the CLO, senior vice president, chief compliance officer and general counsel.
Thanks for reading Inside Track. See you next week. In the meantime, send your in-house tips and story suggestions to dclark@alm.com.
Click here to sign up for Inside Track and find more briefings from Law.com.
