Chief roles

• Author: Mark Walsh
• Pages: 9-10

Opening

Statements

EDITED BY LIANE JACKSON

LIANE.JACKSON@AMERICANBAR.ORG

PHOTOGRAPH BY AP PHOTO/HARAZ N. GHANBAR

AUGUST 2018 ABA JOURNAL || 9

CHIEF

ROLES

General counsels earn

top dollar, new titles and

C-suite access

WHEN UBER BEGAN ITS MANAGEMENT

OVERHAUL last year, one of its fi rst major

hires was Tony West, formerly executive vice

president of public policy and government

a airs at PepsiCo, as chief legal o cer.

It was a critical move, consider ing the

numerous legal challenges faci ng the em-

battled ride-sourci ng company. But the title

given to Uber’s new top in-house lawyer a lso

refl ects the elevated status of genera l counsels

as core members of top management.

A growing number of companies a re

replacing the title of general coun sel

with that of chief lega l o cer to sig nify

that position is on equal term s with others

in the C-suite, ac cording to BarkerGilmore,

a boutique recruiting fi rm special izing in

placement of GCs and chief complianc e

o cers.

And it’s not just ego padding. Seven in 10

general counsels in the U.S., and 64 per cent

globally, say they report direct ly to the CEO,

according to the A ssociation of Corporate

Counsel’s 2018 survey of 1,275 chief legal

o cers worldwide. What’s more, eight in

10 of those at companies with annua l revenue

over $3 billion say they regularly att end

Formerly with PepsiCo,

Tony West is now chief

legal o cer for Uber.