In-House Legal

Ivan Fong, senior vice president for legal affairs and general counsel of 3M Company, started in an unusual place for an attorney: as a chemical engineer with undergraduate and graduate degrees from MIT. He attended Stanford Law School and subsequently built a distinguished career from a big law partnership to senior in-house positions in some of America’s finest legal departments. These positions were all punctuated by stints of public service at the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. But what advice does he have to offer lawyers looking to build a successful in-house career? In this episode of In-House Legal, Randy Milch interviews Fong about the course of his legal career, how his time in public service set him up to go in-house at General Electric, and how he charted his course internally at such a big company. Topics include: Fong’s decision to switch from engineering to legal Clerkships for Judge Abner J. Mikva and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Why he started in big law after law school Choosing the right company over a specific subject matter Appellate work, ecommerce, and patent litigation Fong’s position as Deputy Associate Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice Legal doctrines concerning unlawful conduct and the internet Moving in-house at GE and then becoming GC at Cardinal Health Doing pro bono work as a general counsel

Despite not being 100% sure of her desired practice area when she graduated from Harvard Law School, Deirdre Stanley, now general counsel of Thomson Reuters, was certain of two things: she wanted to work in business and wanted to do so in New York City. During her tenure in Biglaw doing mergers and acquisitions, Deirdre found her calling working alongside in-house counsels. She realized that in order to advance, she would need to diversify her experience, so when the opportunity to head business development at USA Network came up, she took it. That off-path experience eventually paved the way for an offer from Thomson Reuters to head their legal department. In this episode of In-House Legal, host Randy Milch interviews Deirdre Stanley about her path to the top. Together, they discuss her background, pivotal decisions along the way, and how being interested in multiple disciplines is the key to high level positions. Tune in to hear her advice for lawyers in today’s market and about her daily duties to maintain a free press worldwide. Deirdre Stanley is the executive vice president, general counsel, and board secretary at Thomson Reuters. Prior to her current role, she held various legal and senior executive positions, including deputy general counsel at IAC (previously USA Networks, Inc.). From 1997 to 1999, Deirdre served as associate general counsel for GTE Corporation (a predecessor company to Verizon), where she headed the mergers and acquisitions practice group. She currently serves as a vice chair on the Board of Trustees of the Hospital for Special Surgery and is a member of both the Council on Foreign Relations and the Executive Leadership Council.

David Leitch is no stranger to crisis. During his career, he was chief counsel for the Federal Aviation Administration during the September 11th terrorist attacks where he was responsible for closing the skies to commercial flights, recruiting qualified Air Marshals, and turning airport security over to TSA. In addition, he was Ford Motor Company’s group vice president and general counsel during the auto industry bailout, when the survival of vital suppliers and General Motors was in doubt. Fortunately, his in-and-out government employment armed him with the tools to manage the legal affairs of our country’s largest and most important institutions during critical times. In this episode of In-House Legal, Randy Milch interviews David Leitch about his career path, crisis management, and leadership. Tune in to hear his opinions about GM’s bailout and bankruptcy as well as facilitating an ethical company culture.

Bill Ide’s resume is packed with impressive positions, not the least of which includes ABA President and general counsel of Monsanto. In this episode of In-House Legal, Randy Milch interviews Bill Ide about his career path, the decisions he made along the way, and what it truly takes to be a leader in the legal industry. In-house lawyers can gain insight from his experience with corporate governance and the future of the profession as a whole.

Randy Milch interviews Shahdadi about his path to general counsel at Tumblr and the legal and nonlegal issues he regularly encounters at the digital publishing giant. Shahdadi discusses how social media controls the public arena, copyright and trademark regulations for user-generated content sites, and the ways in which Tumblr works to balance freedom of speech, government restrictions, and user safety.

In this episode of In-House Legal, Randy Milch interviews Michael Fricklas about his path to becoming general counsel of Viacom, his specific interest in technology law, and what it’s like to be general counsel in a company owned by lawyers. Fricklas also discusses the copyright infringement lawsuit between Viacom and YouTube, how he managed the corporation’s public reputation during that time, and what he predicts for the future of cybersecurity in law firms and corporate legal departments. Tune in for an inside look at how the digital age has influenced the job of general counsel.

In this episode of In-House Legal, Randy Milch interviews Louise Parent about her ambitious path to general counsel of AMEX, how she successfully dealt with AMEX’s battle with Visa and Mastercard in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America, and how the role of general counsel has changed since 1993. She discusses how she started in state legislative affairs but migrated to typical corporate practice by taking on more complicated tasks as available. Parent then decided to become general counsel of a subsidiary, at best a lateral move. In that position, however, she learned to show value to the sales process as a lawyer, she learned how to work with an executive team, and was confronted with a wide variety of legal issues. After discussing the litigation with Visa and Mastercard, Parent then reveals how technology and regulation has changed the role of a general counsel. It is now imperative to become involved in the business as a whole, be familiar with the global legal climate, and understand the expectations of regulators.

The public and private sectors are equally struggling with cyber security issues. Despite the development of innovative problem-solving technologies and systems, many small, medium, and large companies are still at great risk of a cyber attack. In this episode of In-House Legal, Randy Milch interviews Peter Beshar, executive vice president and general counsel of Marsh & McLennan, about his path to becoming general counsel and how businesses should approach the issue of cyber security. Beshar discusses cyber security risks and how they affect the private and public sectors. He explains Enterprise Risk Management (ERM): technological innovations coupled with cyber insurance which drives and modifies people’s behavior. Additionally, he says, the government should interact with private businesses to share cyber threat indicators and provide widespread information about preventing cyber attacks.

In this episode of In-House Legal, Randy Milch interviews Mark Roellig, General Counsel of MassMutual, about the skills lawyers need to go in-house or become a general counsel, how to properly manage an in-house team of attorneys, and why diversity is important in business. Roellig explains that lawyers seeking a general counsel job need to gain legal experience above and beyond their current position in addition to the knowledge of business, communication, and other non-legal skills. He discusses how to choose the right team of employees, make sure your department adds value to the company, and the proper way to achieve success with diversity. Tune in to learn how to lead a corporate legal department successfully.

In-House Legal returns with new host Randy Milch, the executive vice president and strategic policy advisor to the chair and CEO for Verizon Communications. Formerly the general counsel for Verizon, Randy has worked nearly his entire legal career in the telecom industry. In this episode of In-House Legal, Legal Talk Network producer Laurence Colletti interviews host Randy Milch as he takes the reigns of the show. Together, they discuss Randy’s path to becoming Verizon’s GC, the importance of having talented attorneys on your team, and the challenges faced in regulatory environments. In addition, they talk about the cost of patent trolls, the necessity of support staff, and relentlessly weathering pressure and uncertainty. Tune in to hear what Randy’s plans are for the show’s future as well as his advice for in-house legal departments. Randy Milch is the executive vice president and strategic policy advisor to the chair and CEO for Verizon Communications. Prior to that, he was the company’s executive vice president and general counsel. Mr. Milch has worked a career in the telecom industry and brings decades of legal experience to the In-House Legal show.