In-house Counsel

Judiciary Committee Seeks FDA Gen’l Counsel Memo, Says It OK’d ‘Spying’ on Email to Lawyers, Others

What began as an effort to determine whether five scientists at the Food and Drug Administration were leaking confidential information ended up as a wide-ranging secret surveillance operation, utilizing “an enemies list of sorts,” the New York Times reports. In a lengthy weekend story, the newspaper said that the FDA…

Jul 16, 2012 10:26 PM CDT

Among ACC’s Value Champs, Pfizer’s ‘Radical’ Plan: Standardized Expectations, Law Firm Collaboration

When the Association of Corporate Counsel announced its list of Value Champions last month, certain characteristics, such as the ability to keep costs down and alternative billing arrangements, were commonplace. But some corporate legal departments tried unusual approaches, including one that assistant general counsel Ellen Rosenthal of Pfizer Inc. described…

Jul 12, 2012 10:35 PM CDT

GlaxoSmithKline To Use Millions Saved In Legal Fees To Pay $3 Billion Settlement?

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has saved tens of millions of dollars in legal fees in four years since revamping its hiring and billing system for outside counsel. Under the watch of general counsel Dan Troy, who joined GSK in 2008, the company has eschewed “inefficient” hourly rate billing models for value-based…

Jul 5, 2012 2:11 PM CDT

2nd Circuit OKs Extortion Case Based On Lost Value of GC’s Legal Advice, Due to Blackmail Threat

In what the defendant’s lawyer called a novel and mistaken application of criminal law to an investment adviser who tried to blackmail the former general counsel for the New York comptroller, a federal appeals court has ruled that the potential lost value in compromised legal advice is sufficient “property” to…

Jul 3, 2012 3:55 PM CDT

Peter Madoff, Compliance Chief for Brother’s Securities Firm, to Take 10-Year, $143B Plea Deal

Peter Madoff, an attorney who served as chief compliance officer for his brother’s now-infamous securities firm, has reportedly agreed to take a plea in a criminal case related to Bernard Madoff’s record-breaking Ponzi scheme. Prosecutors said Peter Madoff will be charged and plead guilty on Friday in federal court in…

Jun 27, 2012 9:15 PM CDT

Former Legal Chief for US Arm of Fujitec Is Accused of Stealing $180K via Fake Claims and Expenses

The former chief legal and administrative officer for the United States arm of an international Japan-based elevator manufacturing company has been indicted on charges that he stole $180,000 from his employer via faked legal matters and expenses. Darren Courtney, 48, was indicted Friday by a grand jury in Warren County,…

Jun 27, 2012 6:52 PM CDT

Former US General Counsel for Glock Facing 7-Year Racketeering Sentence Argues for New Trial

A former general counsel and CEO for Glock Inc.’s operations in the United States is arguing for a new trial. Convicted in March of racketeering and theft, 56-year-old Paul Jannuzzo faces a seven-year prison term in the Cobb County, Ga., case, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. His lawyer, John Da Grosa…

Jun 25, 2012 11:08 PM CDT

Company’s Civil Suit Says In-House Legal Chief Used Fake Law Firms to Add Millions to $110K Salary

In a civil lawsuit, a Texas company describes a stunning claimed fraud of millions of dollars by its former in-house legal chief, who it says set up multiple fake law firms and sent them millions in legal fees in a little more than a year before absconding at some point…

Jun 12, 2012 11:15 PM CDT

In-House Legal Chief Is Accused of Creating Fake Law Firm and Sending It $9M in Payments

A suspended New York lawyer is accused of creating a fictitious Texas law firm and then using his position as legal affairs chief at a Houston company to funnel $9 million in payments to the fake legal counsel. Anthony Chiofalo and his wife, Susan, face felony theft charges, according to…

Jun 11, 2012 10:11 PM CDT

The Best Top Legal Executives Exude Calm and Act Decisively, Study Says

The best top in-house lawyers aren’t paralyzed by fear of risk, according to executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates. The firm studied its database of 3,000 executive assessments and identified eight characteristics of successful chief legal officers, Corporate Counsel reports. The characteristics include: socially bold, persuasive, decisive, not easily excited…

Jun 11, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

ABA Journal Online Contributor Is Named GC of Pall Corp.

An ABA Journal online contributor has been named general counsel of filtration technology company Pall Corp. Roya Behnia, who writes a New Normal column for ABAJournal.com, will begin her new position on June 20, according to a press release. She will replace Robert Kuhbach, who is retiring at the end…

Jun 7, 2012 1:37 PM CDT

Two In-House Lawyers Are Let Go After Judge Demands Explanation of Belated Email Production

Updated: A Mississippi lawsuit filed by Eaton Corp. in 2004 resulted in fireworks earlier this month when a judge overseeing the Hinds County circuit court case ordered a number of executives and lawyers to explain why controversial email related to the litigation wasn’t timely produced. Now two in-house lawyers have…

May 31, 2012 7:49 PM CDT

Safeway General Counsel Apologizes to Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi for Pig Joke

Safeway general counsel Robert Gordon regrets his attempt at humor during the company’s annual meeting earlier this month. Critics didn’t find Gordon’s joke funny, and neither, apparently, did Safeway CEO Steve Burd. The CEO called the joke “inappropriate” in a letter of apology to the two women targeted in the…

May 29, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

What Risks Do Lawyers Face When Clients Keep Some Legal Tasks In-House Or Assign to Outside Vendors?

ABA Journal business of law reporter Rachel M. Zahorsky discusses with Beazley’s Brant Weidner and solo practitioner and legal ethics professor John Steele the challenges of this trend for outside law firms and what lawyers can do to protect themselves and their clients when faced with the increased disaggregation of legal work.

May 24, 2012 4:22 PM CDT

Top Ohio Court Suspends Former Chief Public Safety Counsel for 6 Months Over Email Interception

Already fired and prosecuted over his role in illegally intercepting worker emails directed to the state inspector general, the former chief counsel for the Ohio Department of Public Safety was slapped with a heavier-than-expected legal ethics sanction by the state’s top court. The Ohio Supreme Court’s Board of Commissioners on…

May 17, 2012 7:34 PM CDT