Michael Wu featured in May issue of Inside Counsel
Michael Wu featured in May issue of Inside Counsel
Congratulations to Michael Wu, General Counsel of Rosetta Stone and AABANY Advisory Committee member, on this great profile in the May issue of Inside Counsel Magazine.
Michael Wu had what he describes as a “nomadic” upbringing. Throughout his childhood, he lived what many travel-lovers would consider the ideal life—spending time in New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Korea, Atlanta, Saudi Arabia and Austria. With two engineer parents whose jobs turned the family into true globetrotters, Wu embraced every minute of it. So it’s no surprise that his adult life would also head in that international direction.
To read the entire article click on the link in the title.
Don Liu Joins NY City Bar Task Force on Young Lawyers
Don Liu Joins NY City Bar Task Force on Young Lawyers
The New York City Bar’s 44th Street Blog reported on July 16 that it has formed a new Task Force on New Lawyers in a Changing Profession to address what City Bar president Carey Dunn has described as “the plight of young lawyers." Created in response to recent ABA statistics showing that only 55% of recent law grads found full-time legal employment, the task force has convened leaders from across the legal spectrum, from academia to private practice, as well as the corporate, government and public interest sectors.
Among the Chief In-House Counsel tapped to participate in this important task force is Don Liu, General Counsel of Xerox. Don was recently recognized as one of the New York City Bar’s Diversity and Inclusion Champions for 2012. He is also an active and valued member of AABANY and its Advisory Committee.
For more information about the task force, follow the link in the title. AABANY congratulates Don on undertaking this new role and commends the City Bar for convening this task force to study critical issues facing the new generation of lawyers.
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On Wednesday, June 27, AABANY’s In-House Counsel and Corporate Law Committees held the 5th Annual Winetasting and Networking Reception at the Aicon Gallery in downtown Manhattan. We had 120 attendees including in-house attorneys from 46 companies or organizations. We were delighted that the following GCs were able to attend:
- Vernon G. Chu, BBC Worldwide Americas, Inc.
- Pearl Hou, Sen Yu International Holdings, Inc.
- Charles Kwak, GE Capital Real Estate – Global Investment Management
- Carol Lee, Taconic Capital Advisors LP
- Parkin Lee, The Rockefeller Group
- Bobby Liu, MD Sass Investors Services, Inc.
- Don Liu, Xerox Corporation
- Sonia Low, Chinese-American Planning Council, Inc.
- Joseph Yi, Lam Group
We thank Gail Inaba,Managing Director and Associate General Counsel in the Legal Department of J.P. Morgan, for addressing the attendees at the event. Gail is currently the Global Group Practice head for the securities financing and prime brokerage business in the Investment Bank.
Thanks to our sponsors for making this 5th Annual Winetasting and Networking Reception possible and thanks to everyone who attended. Congratulations to the In-House Counsel Committee and Corporate Counsel Committee on a successful event.
To learn more about the In-House Counsel Committee, contact the co-chairs Duane Morikawa and Vincent Hull at inhouse-chairs@aabany.org To learn more about the Corporate Law Committee, contact the co-chairs John Rogers and Stephen Kim at corporatelaw-chairs@aabany.org.
Fireworks at Smooth Moves 2012
On Tuesday, April 24, the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA), through its Commercial and Federal Litigation Section, presented Smooth Moves 2012: Career Strategies for Attorneys of Color. The CLE portion of the event was entitled: “Views from the Corner Office: Diverse GCs Discuss How to Get There and How to Win Their Business.”
The moderator was Hon. Stephen C. Robinson, Partner at Skadden Arps and former judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
When Judge Robinson turned to the question of how to get the business of the prominent GCs who were on the panel, he asked how important diversity was in getting hired.
Don Liu, Senior Vice President, Secretary and GC at Xerox Corporation replied that with Xerox’s strong leadership on issues of diversity, Xerox placed a high premium on diversity in deciding which outside counsel to retain.
At that point, Sandra Leung, GC and Corporate Secretary at Bristol-Myers Squibb, turned to Don and said, “Let me challenge you a bit on that. Do you mean to tell me that if you had a bet-the-company case and the only lawyer who can win the case for you and who is the proven expert on that type of case and has a winning track record, but he and his firm have a poor showing on diversity, you would not hire that attorney?”
Don answered, “I’ve never been faced with that situation,” which drew appreciative laughter from the audience, “but do you mean to tell me that in this wide world, he would be the only lawyer who can handle that case? I doubt it. We would certainly consider his qualifications and track record, but we would still place a high premium on diversity.”
Sandra continued to press and was joined by Jeffrey Harleston, Executive Vice President and GC at Universal Music Group, who shared Sandra’s viewpoint and did not think that diversity would take precedence over other factors, especially if the case was not just “bet-the-company” but was “bet-the-industry.” In such a case, diversity or not, the company would go with the best lawyer for the job.
Don, seeming somewhat piqued but contained, replied: “There seems to be a suggestion that picking the diverse candidate somehow implies getting inferior services. I don’t buy that.” The audience applauded loudly for that statement.
The back-and-forth continued and Don seemed to relent slightly in his position but did not retreat from his stance that the hypothetical was unrealistic. Col. Maritza Ryan, Head of the Department of Law at the United States Military Academy, the fourth panelist, noted for the record (yes, transcription was being taken) that she was “the peaceful one.” The audience laughed appreciatively in response.
The debate was certainly lively and enhanced what was already an engaging discussion. At the end, Don and Sandra, who are long-time friends, gave hearty hugs to each other, making clear that there were no hard feelings.
I didn’t have the benefit of the transcript in recounting the exchanges described above but of all the Smooth Moves programs I have had the pleasure to enjoy these last few years, this is the one for which I would request a copy of the transcript. If you know how we can get a hold of one, please let me know.
What do you think? If your company was faced with a bet-the-company or bet-the-industry case, does diversity go out the window in deciding which outside counsel to hire?