In-house Counsel

Legal Rebels Roundup: Beyond Jail; Int’l Pro Bono; Blogging In-House; Why Social Media?

This week at LegalRebels.com read the following profiles: Charles J. Hynes: Jail Breaker Suzanne E. Turner: Global Pro Bono Rex Gradeless: Follow the Tweeter PLUS: Q&A With Rex Gradeless on Why Social Media Matters for Lawyers Mike Dillon: Open Blog Policy

Sep 30, 2009 3:59 PM CDT

New Apple GC Gets Stock Options Currently Valued at $18M

Apple’s new general counsel D. Bruce Sewell is getting 100,000 shares of Apple stock currently valued at $18 million. There’s just one rub, according to Legal Pad. The stock doesn’t vest for four years. Sewell, formerly the general counsel at Intel Corp., replaced Daniel Cooperman, Apple’s general counsel since 2007.…

Sep 29, 2009 12:02 PM CDT

New Service to Rate Arbitrators

An influential non-profit that promotes alternative dispute resolution is partnering with a little-known small company to promote an arbitrator rating service. The ratings, which will be made anonymously by lawyers who have used arbitrators listed on a directory maintained by Positively Neutral, will be available to members of International Institute…

Sep 28, 2009 10:22 PM CDT

Citigroup GC Has No Sympathy for Law Firms Seeking Premium Fees

The general counsel for Citigroup says his in-house legal department has been battered by the economic downturn, leaving him with little sympathy for law firm arguments for premium fees. General counsel Michael Helfer, a panelist at an event sponsored by Bisnow, said Citigroup’s in-house legal department has shrunk by about…

Sep 28, 2009 1:52 PM CDT

Lawyer-Blogger Settles Defamation Suit After Favorable Ruling on Punitives

A former in-house lawyer sued for his blog comments about an intellectual property litigator has settled after a favorable ruling during his defamation trial in Texas. Rick Frenkel and his former employer, Cisco Systems, apologized for Frenkel’s anonymous statements on his Troll Tracker blog in a statement announcing the settlement,…

Sep 23, 2009 12:00 PM CDT

Microsoft Files ‘Malvertising’ Case Against Unknown Individuals

Microsoft filed suit in Washington state court yesterday, in an effort to unmask the individuals behind five companies that allegedly have been distributing “malvertising” to users of its personal computers and services. The company has filed suit in order to enlist the court system’s help in identifying, through subpoenas on…

Sep 18, 2009 11:50 PM CDT

Ex-GC’s Suit Claims Howrey, Wilson Sonsini Aided Scapegoat Effort

McAfee’s former general counsel alleges the company tried to use him as a scapegoat in a backdating probe with the help of two outside law firms, according to new details of a lawsuit filed Wednesday. The suit filed by Kent Roberts, acquitted last year in a criminal backdating case, claims…

Sep 18, 2009 2:43 PM CDT

Backdating Backlash: Ex-GC Sues McAfee, Claims Scapegoating; Another Sees Win

Two former general counsel caught up in backdating probes are fighting back. In the case of Kent Roberts, the former general counsel of McAfee Inc., the fight is being waged in a lawsuit filed yesterday in San Francisco federal court. Roberts, acquitted last year in a criminal backdating case, claims…

Sep 17, 2009 4:11 PM CDT

Mace General Counsel Gets 6 Months Home Confinement Over Illegal Workers

The general counsel of Mace Security International Inc. was sentenced yesterday by a federal judge to six months of home confinement and a year of probation for his role in hiring undocumented Mexican immigrants to work at company car washes in the Philadelphia area. Robert Kramer pleaded guilty in June…

Sep 16, 2009 11:34 PM CDT

Fact-Finder or Legal Shield? Internal Probe a Tough Gig for In-House Counsel

In-house counsel are in a tough position when they oversee an internal corporate investigation. On the one hand, the company needs to understand the facts to make appropriate determinations. But, on the other hand, the facts may establish liability to third parties for any corporate wrongdoing. That essentially was the…

Sep 15, 2009 9:31 PM CDT

A Revolving Door for Apple GCs: Intel’s Sewell to Replace Cooperman

The general counsel position at Apple doesn’t appear to be long-lived. Daniel Cooperman, the general counsel of Apple since September 2007, is being replaced by Intel Corp. general counsel D. Bruce Sewell, according to a press release. Cooperman will retire at the end of September. Cooperman became Apple’s general counsel…

Sep 15, 2009 1:27 PM CDT

Pfizer GC Loses Compliance Chief Role Under $2.3B Drug Marketing Settlement

The general counsel of Pfizer Inc. will no longer oversee the drug manufacter’s compliance program under the terms of a record-breaking $2.3 billion criminal and civil settlement by the company with the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations that it illegally marketed several drugs. Instead, a corporate integrity agreement (PDF)…

Sep 11, 2009 6:58 PM CDT

Chadbourne Announces 4th High-Profile In-House IP Counsel Hire

Confirming earlier news that former Yahoo Inc. vice president and associate general counsel of global patents Duane Valz would be joining Chadbourne & Parke, the law firm today announced his move to the firm as counsel in its Los Angeles and Silicon Valley offices. The 39-year-old Valz is the fourth…

Sep 10, 2009 9:18 PM CDT

Why Did the Bank of America Fire Its GC After Merrill Merger Vote?

Four days after the Bank of America’s shareholders approved a merger with Merrill Lynch, the bank’s general counsel, Timothy Mayopoulos, was suddenly fired and escorted from the building without being permitted to return to his desk, reports the New York Times. His firing came on the same day that the…

Sep 9, 2009 6:22 PM CDT

N.Y. AG Calls Bank’s Privilege Claims ‘Indiscriminate,’ Seeks Waiver

Stymied in his efforts to determine whether the Bank of America and executives complied with disclosure requirements concerning its merger with Merrill Lynch by what he terms an “indiscriminate” use of attorney-client privilege, the New York attorney general is calling for the bank to make its inside and outside counsel…

Sep 8, 2009 9:45 PM CDT