Sistema is Russia’s largest private-sector consumer services company, with 2006 turnover of $10.9 billion. According to Legal Business, Iss. 179, Nov. 2007 at 31, the corporate center has 15 lawyers and there are squadrons of lawyers in the company’s many subsidiaries – “The total number of lawyers in the group…
The largest legal departments in the world represent government agencies (See my post of Nov. 6, 2005.). For example, the US Department of Homeland Security has 1,500 attorneys according to InsideCounsel, May 2007 at 96. The State of Massachusetts boasts something like 650 lawyers (See my post of Aug. 2,…
Charles James, the general counsel of Chevron, argues that the compliance organization of a company should be kept distinct from its legal function. Writing in InsideCounsel, Oct. 2007, at 8, James puts forward three reasons for the separation he prefers and that exists at Chevron. (1) The law department would…
According to Counsel to Counsel, Jan. 2007 at 6, the law department of Cummins, a $9.9 billion manufacturer of engines, has 21 lawyers but only 9 non-lawyers. Another example of a staffing ratio tilted heavily toward lawyers is Cisco Systems. According to 2005 material from the GC Roundtable, reproduced by…
This blog has cited several deputy general counsel (See my posts of Nov. 9, 2005 – Miriam Rivera then of Google; Jan. 4, 2006 – Nancy Anderson of Microsoft; Aug. 14, 2006 – the former chief auditor of Mellon Bank; March 6, 2007 – Mark Morril of Viacom; and April…
An executive of Robert Half Legal, Charles Volkert III, opines in Met. Corp. Counsel, Vol. 15, Nov. 2007 at 43, how global law departments can best be managed. I have some comments on his assertion that “The most successful legal departments have adopted the following [five] best practices:” 1. “Establish…
Corporate Board Magazine and FTI Consulting collaborated on a survey last year that obtained responses from 235 US general counsel. One set of questions had to do with “enterprise risk ” (ERM) (See my posts of Nov. 15, 2005 and references cited which grapple with definitions of “legal risk”; Jan.…
Michael Cunningham is the general counsel of Red Hat, the world’s leading open-source and Linux software provider. A profile of Cunningham, in Nat. L.J., Vol. 29, April 9, 2007 at 8, describes an eclectic mix of functions within his department: “a two-person corporate affairs group that oversees government relations, a…
Freddie Mac has in its Legal Division 175 people, which is comprised of approximately 95 lawyers. According to an interview of Robert Bostrom, its General Counsel, in Met. Corp. Counsel, Vol. 15, Oct. 2007 at 21, that legal group is organized “around areas of expertise rather than functional lines or…
A profile of Raytheon’s General Counsel, Jay Stephens, gives some insight into reporting structure of that 75-lawyer department (Nat. L.J., Vol. 30, Sept. 17, 2007 at 8). The profile explains that Stephens has reporting to him seven business unit “legal leaders” and “several assistant general counsel who preside over areas…