The deadline to register for the 2022 NAPABA In-House Counsel (IHC) Summit is just around the corner! Current or former senior public company in-house attorneys who are ready to make the jump into the C-Suite will receive tailored guidance and training based on where they are in their careers. Here is a sneak peek at this year’s topics:
Board & C-Suite Expectations of Today’s GC
The Process, Winning Trends & Making the Slate in 2022
Strategies to Achieve the Public Company Role
Space is limited! The program is accepting the first 60 qualified applicants—apply by 8:00 pm ET on Wednesday, June 8!
On May 21, the Asian American Bar Association of New York (“AABANY”) presented its “Fortune 500 General Counsel Panel: Leadership During Crisis,” part three of NAPABA’s General Counsel Webinar Series. The event highlighted prominent General Counsels working in various industries and discussed the impact of COVID-19 in the workplace along with advice for aspiring General Counsels. The panelists included Damien Atkins, General Counsel of the Hershey Company; Peter Beshar, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Marsh & McLennan; Elisa Garcia, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of Macy’s; David Hyman, General Counsel and Company Secretary of Netflix; Alan Tse, Global Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of JLL; and David Yawman, Executive Vice President of Government Affairs, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of PepsiCo. The panel discussion was moderated by Michael Wu, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Madewell.
The panel discussed the immediate challenges faced by General Counsels in light of the current pandemic and the transition to an online work environment. Emphasis was placed on adaptability and flexibility as General Counsels and legal departments across all industries have had to quickly put together plans for long-term financing and shifts in day-to-day operations. This emphasis on adaptability also stresses greater cooperation between the legal team, the board of directors, and C-suite executives in forming a coherent strategy in both dealing with the pandemic and also pursuing non-COVID-19 related objectives. As Alan Tse stated, companies are, more than ever, looking toward their legal teams for leadership in navigating through economic uncertainty and changes in corporate governance.
Additionally, the importance of communications and integrating technology into the workplace are vital as General Counsels need to be able to coordinate all the moving parts of the company in making the localized decisions necessary to ensure compliance with local regulations and sustainable growth. While it is important to have contingency plans during times of crisis, General Counsels need to be vigilant and flexible in their approach toward unpredictable and complex problems in the future. Peter Beshar stated that General Counsels should also prioritize “collective cyber resilience, not just of our company, but of broader society” by protecting critical online communication channels. Additionally, General Counsels should form effective response plans to prepare companies from destabilizing cyberattacks.
Recent changes in legislation and the regulatory environment have also driven General Counsels to be more proactive in how they view the relationship between what David Yawman describes as the “great continuum… between the legislative environment and policy issues coming out of societal trends.” Ultimately, General Counsels should recognize that changes in corporate governance are facilitated by both government legislation and company policies and that, as legal professionals, they have a crucial role to play as both a guide for their clients and a trailblazer for corporate policy.
Lastly, the panel discussed efforts to promote diversity within their organizations and the role General Counsels play in ensuring inclusion in the workplace. Inclusion championship should be a fundamental, core value of corporate governance and thus, should be, as David Hyman describes, a “top-down” process embodied by all corporate executives. Individuals and legal teams should be empowered to take initiative in leading pop-up conversations and workshops that champion inclusive leadership that stresses not only diverse participation, but diverse leadership. Companies should also hold individuals accountable and translate inclusion policies into action.
The panel attracted more than 500 registrants, making it the single biggest AABANY Zoom meeting to date. Attendees were eligible to receive 1.0 New York CLE credits, with 0.5 credits fulfilling the Diversity, Inclusion, and Elimination of Bias requirement and 0.5 credits fulfilling the Law Practice Management requirement. We thank Michael Wu for organizing the panel and for moderating a highly informative and substantive discussion. We thank all the speakers for sharing their insights, knowledge and perspectives. The event was covered by Corporate Counsel. Read the article here (Law.com subscription required).
In celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, AABANY is proud to present “Fortune 500 General Counsel Panel: Leadership during Crisis” as part of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (“NAPABA”) General Counsel Webinar Series. The event will feature a panel of prominent General Counsels covering a wide variety of industries to discuss topics that range from advice to aspiring General Counsels, crisis management with a focus on the response to the pandemic, collaboration with the board and c-suite, demonstrating legal department value from a quantitative and qualitative perspective, leveraging legal technology, enhancing the compliance function, diversity and inclusion initiatives (internally and externally with outside counsel) and maximizing the value that outside counsel brings to companies. The panel will take place via Zoom on Thursday, May 21, from 4:30 to 6:00 PM.
Moderator:
Michael Wu. Michael currently serves as the Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Madewell. He sits on the advisory boards of the Georgetown Law Corporate Counsel Institute and AABANY. Michael is also a member of the Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association Board of Directors. He has previously served as an executive and general counsel at companies including Carter’s, Rosetta Stone, Teleglobe, and Global One.
Panelists:
Damien Atkins. Damien currently serves as the General Counsel of the Hershey Company. He has previously served for three years as the General Counsel for Panasonic North America, for ten years as the Deputy GC (Corporate) and Chief Compliance Officer for AOL, and for seven years at a major New York City law firm. In addition, Damien has previously founded two start-ups. His expertise includes mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, securities regulation, global ethics and compliance, and government investigations.
Peter Beshar. Peter currently serves as the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Marsh & McLennan. Previously, he was a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and served as the Co-Chair of the firm’s Securities Litigation Group and had served as the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the New York State Attorney General’s Task Force on Illegal Firearms. Additionally, he has served as the Special Assistant to the Honorable Cyrus Vance in connection with the United Nations’ peace negotiations in the former Yugoslavia.
Elisa Garcia. Elisa currently serves as the Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of Macy’s and serves on the Board of Directors and Nominating and Governance Committee of Dollarama, Inc. and the Board of the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession. She has previously served as an executive for Office Depot, Domino’s Pizza, and Philip Morris International.
David Hyman. David currently serves as the General Counsel of Netflix and as the company’s Secretary. Prior to Netflix, David served as General Counsel of Webvan, Inc. and was with the law firms Morrison and Foerster in San Francisco and Arent Fox in Washington, DC.
Alan Tse. Alan currently serves as the Global Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of JLL. Previously, Alan served as an executive for Petco, Churchill Downs, LG Electronics, Ligos Corporation, and Centerpoint Broadband Technologies. He is a co-founder and Board member of the Asian American Legal Foundation and has served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Corporate Counsel from 2013-2019. Alan was recognized by NAPABA as one of its Best Lawyers Under 40 and received the Corporate Leadership Award at AABANY’s 2020 Annual Dinner.
David Yawman. David currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Government Affairs, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of PepsiCo. Previously, he served as the Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for PepsiCo and General Counsel for North America and Corporate, the Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer for PepsiCo, the General Counsel of business units comprised of North America Beverages, Quaker Foods North America and Latin America Beverages, the Associate General Counsel for the Pepsi Bottling Group, and had spent six years as a member of PepsiCo’s corporate law department. Prior to joining PepsiCo, Dave was an associate with the law firm Fried Frank and served as a law clerk in the United States District Court.
“AABANY is pleased to be co-sponsoring the NAPABA General Counsel webinar series,” states President Sapna Palla. “Each of the first two webcasts have already seen attendance by nearly 500 attorneys from all across the country. We are looking forward to a similar turnout for the one AABANY is presenting on May 21. We thank Michael Wu for organizing these webcasts and serving as moderator to guide the discussion on important topics of interest to attorneys across a broad range of industries and sectors. Through these programs, and as we celebrate APA Heritage Month in May, we continue to highlight the vital role played by diverse in-house attorneys in leading and advancing the legal profession.”
If interested, please register by May 20. Click on the flyer above for registration information.
NAPABA is searching for a pro bono General Counsel to advise the NAPABA Board of Governors and the NAPABA Executive Director on a broad range of legal issues. The General Counsel also acts as a key strategic partner to the Board and Executive Director by providing guidance on many non-legal governance matters.
The General Counsel should be a senior-level, highly respected lawyer who has been active in NAPABA and who has some familiarity with the organization’s history and leadership. The General Counsel does not need to possess any particular legal background, but s/he should have access to other lawyers at his/her firm who could provide specialized expertise in areas such as non-profit governance, Illinois corporate law, employment, contracts, privacy, public communications, and non-profit tax. Although NAPABA is incorporated in Illinois and based in Washington, D.C., issues do arise from time to time that require expertise in the law of other jurisdictions. For these reasons, although association with a large firm is not required, it could be very helpful to the General Counsel in executing his/her duties.
To recommend a candidate or for more information, please contact NAPABA Executive Director Tina Matsuoka at tmatsuoka@napaba.org.
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association | 1612 K St. NW, Suite 510 | Washington, D.C. 20006 | www.napaba.org
AABANY congratulates Michael Rhee on his recent promotion to General Counsel of the Durst Organization. According to the company’s website:
For 100 years, The Durst Organization has been a family-run business dedicated to the principles of innovation, integrity, community, and sustainability. We develop, build, own, and manage premier office towers and residential buildings that set new standards in environmental responsibility and user efficiency. Our enduring relationships with our tenants and partners are critical to our success and have made us generations of builders, building for generations.
As Vice President and General Counsel, Michael Rhee supports The Durst Organization’s leasing, acquisitions, construction and development activities, as well as the corporate and legal needs of the company. Michael also oversees insurance and collections and manages outside counsel.
Prior to joining The Durst Organization in 2012, Michael was Special Counsel in the real estate department at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP. Michael began his legal career at Battle Fowler LLP and spent 14 years in private law firm practice.
Michael has a Juris Doctor degree from St. John’s University School of Law, where he was an Articles and Notes Editor for the St. John’s Law Review, and a Bachelor of Science. from Cornell University.
From the Durst Organization’s press release:
“Over the past five years, Michael and his team have been instrumental to numerous
commercial lease closings and acquisitions,” said Jonathan (Jody) Durst, President of The Durst
Organization. “He provides outstanding counsel, produces a tremendous quantity of work that
impacts the entire organization and is an invaluable member of our senior management team.”
Please join us in congratulating Michael on this major achievement! (Follow the link in the title for his photo and bio.) For the full text of the press release, click here.
Please join us in congratulating the new Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of Target and long-time AABANY friend Don Liu.
Don continues to inspire a younger generation of attorneys through his unparalleled accomplishments in the legal industry. We are proud to have had his leadership and mentorship. We thank him for his many years of service as a leader and friend and wish him the utmost luck in his new role at Target.
See below or click on the link above to see Target’s press release.
MINNEAPOLIS – July 14, 2016
Liu replaces Tim Baer who will retire July 2017
Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) today announced Don Liu as executive vice president, chief legal officer and general counsel, effective August 22, 2016. Liu will oversee all legal, corporate governance and government affairs matters for the company. He will report to chairman and chief executive officer Brian Cornell and serve as a member of Target’s leadership team.
Liu replaces Tim Baer who will be retiring in July 2017 after 23 years with the company. Baer joined Dayton Hudson as assistant general counsel in 1994. He will serve in an advisory role for the next 12 months, supporting Liu’s transition to Target and ensuring the process is seamless.
“Tim’s leadership has been integral to Target’s success and we are grateful for his years of service. In all his years with the company, Tim has been a true guardian of the Target brand, bringing a sharp legal mind and rock-solid judgement to every challenge. He was a trusted voice on our leadership team, managing and mitigating issues and influencing our business during a time of intense change. He also developed a strong team of in-house legal talent and was a respected advisor to our board of directors. On behalf of the entire team, I thank Tim for the tremendous contributions he made to our brand and our business,” said Cornell. “As Tim transitions to retirement, I look forward to welcoming Don to our team. His extensive legal expertise as well as his deep business acumen will help us continue to navigate the increasingly complex business environment with the highest standards of ethics and integrity. I know Don will be an excellent addition to our leadership team.”
Liu, 55, joins Target from Xerox Corporation where he has served as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary since 2007. In that role, he was responsible for all of Xerox’s legal and government affairs matters. Prior to Xerox, Liu was senior vice president and chief compliance officer for Toll Brothers, Inc. and senior vice president and general counsel for Ikon Office Solutions. Liu has extensive professional affiliations, including being a member and former chairman of the board of directors for the Minority Corporate Counsel Association and former chair of the in-house counsel committee of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.
“I am privileged to join Target as general counsel. I have long admired Target and the legal team behind the brand. Joining the organization will provide me with an incredible opportunity to bring my passion for the law to one of the great retail companies in America. I look forward to building Target’s business and positively impacting its reputation,” said Liu.
Photo by Karen Zhou, taken at AABANY’s 2016 Annual Dinner.
TREVOSE, Pa., July 01, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – StoneMor Partners L.P. (STON) (“StoneMor” or the “Partnership”) today announced that Austin So has been appointed to the newly created position of General Counsel, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary effective July 5, 2016.
So joins from Heraeus Incorporated, where he served most recently as Division General Counsel and Secretary of this Fortune Global 500 manufacturing conglomerate, leading a team of lawyers in Germany, China and the U.S. Among his many roles at Heraeus, So managed all U.S. litigation and international litigation involving U.S. entities. He negotiated a broad range of commercial agreements, helped support global M&A and other transactions and oversaw compliance for various divisions on company code of conduct, antitrust, export control and other issues. Prior to joining Heraeus, So practiced both corporate transactional law and litigation at top New York law firms. He was recently named by the MCCA (Minority Corporate Counsel Association) as a 2016 Rising Star.
Larry Miller, President and CEO of StoneMor Partners said, “We are thrilled to have Austin join the StoneMor team. The newly created position will provide a key perspective on the execution of our business plan. Austin’s broad legal background as both in-house counsel and outside attorney makes him uniquely qualified to provide legal expertise and strategic counsel and we look forward to his contributions.”
About StoneMor Partners L.P.
StoneMor Partners L.P., headquartered in Trevose, Pennsylvania, is an owner and operator of cemeteries and funeral homes in the United States, with 307 cemeteries and 104 funeral homes in 28 states and Puerto Rico.
StoneMor is the only publicly traded death care company structured as a partnership. StoneMor’s cemetery products and services, which are sold on both a pre-need (before death) and at-need (at death) basis, include: burial lots, lawn and mausoleum crypts, burial vaults, caskets, memorials, and all services which provide for the installation of this merchandise. For additional information about StoneMor Partners L.P., please visit StoneMor’s website, and the investors section, at http://www.stonemor.com.
