Archive
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Bayer picks next US general counsel
William Dodero is at present vice president and global head of litigation at the company William Dodero will become Bayer’s new US general counsel and senior vice president, as well as a member of its US country leadership team, effective January 1, 2023. In his new role, Dodero will oversee six functional areas of law at the life sciences company, covering compliance, corporate law, litigation, safety and environmental law, employment and labor law and international trade services. Dodero is at present vice president and global head of litigation at Bayer. He has been with the company for 20 years and…
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New York Life appoints new general counsel from in-house
Michael McDonnell has been with the company since 2013 New York Life Insurance Company has promoted Michael McDonnell to become its new general counsel. McDonnell has been senior vice president, deputy general counsel and chief insurance counsel since 2021, offering counsel across New York Life’s foundational and strategic insurance businesses. He joined the company in 2013 as associate general counsel for the insurance and agency group and in 2016 he became vice president and associate general counsel. Previously, he was an associate with law firm Debevoise & Plimpton, where he worked for 10 years. In his new role, McDonnell oversees…
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The week in GRC: DoJ vows tough stance on corporate crime and study finds companies ignoring emissions’ financial risks
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the – The Wall Street Journal (paywall) noted that the US Department of Justice is looking to counter data showing a decline in corporate crime cases by doubling down on the strategy of having companies police their own employees and submit any evidence of wrongdoing to prosecutors. The efforts to get companies to disclose possible criminal violations is part of a set of policy changes announced by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco last month, which included topics such as compensation clawbacks and how prosecutors should treat companies with a history of…
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Occidental Petroleum general counsel and CCO to retire
Marcia Backus has been with the company since 2013 Marcia Backus, senior vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer of Occidental Petroleum, intends to retire from the company she joined almost a decade ago. According to an SEC filing, Backus has announced that she will step down from her role at the end of the year. She will continue as Occidental’s executive adviser for legal and will retire from the company fully on March 1, 2023. The filing states that Backus has agreed to advise Occidental on the transition to a successor until June 30, 2024. Backus joined Occidental…
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The road to consolidation: Talking with the ISSB’s Sue Lloyd
Board’s vice chair talks about the development of global sustainability reporting rules The creation of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) in November last year marked a major step toward consolidation in the sustainability reporting world. The new organization brings together the Value Reporting Foundation, which houses the SASB Standards and Integrated Reporting Framework, and the Climate Disclosure Standards Board, leading to a notable narrowing of the alphabet soup of reporting bodies. To begin with, the ISSB is developing two sets of standards: the S1 general requirements and the S2 climate disclosures. But what does this all mean for the…
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General counsel compensation rose in 2021, survey finds
Economic uncertainty means results this year may not be as positive for top US in-house lawyers General counsel at large US companies benefited from pay increases in 2021 although the outlook is less clear, according to new research from Equilar. Compensation for Equilar 500 general counsel increased from $2.9 mn to $3.1 mn between 2020 and 2021, a rise of 8.1 percent, the research finds. In total, median general counsel pay among that population has increased 24.8 percent over the last five years, from $2.5 mn in 2017. A strong economic recovery coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic aided higher…
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Fujifilm’s Americas business hires general counsel
Sarah Karlgaard was previously general counsel and chief compliance officer at Canon Medical Informatics FUJIFILM Holdings America has appointed Sarah Karlgaard as vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. She joins Fujifilm’s Americas regional headquarters, which represents 27 subsidiaries in the US, Canada, Brazil and Colombia. Karlgaard most recently was general counsel and chief compliance officer at Canon Medical Informatics. According to her LinkedIn profile, she previously spent more than five years with Allina Health, latterly as senior associate general counsel. Her other legal experience include being an associate general counsel at Optum Insight (formerly Ingenix). According to Fujifilm, Karlgaard…
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Dutchie hires former HubSpot general counsel
John Kelleher to focus on compliance, governmental affairs and public policy Cannabis tech company Dutchie has recruited John Kelleher as its new general counsel. Kelleher was previously general counsel for NYSE-listed HubSpot for 10 years. Before that, he spent eight years as general counsel for Endeca Technologies. According to his LinkedIn profile, earlier in his career he was vice president for strategic development at Zinio Systems. He also worked as an attorney with law firm Mintz Levin. As general counsel at Dutchie, Kelleher will have a specific focus on compliance, governmental affairs and public policy. According to the company, Dutchie’s…
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The week in GRC: US corporate ownership rule introduced and strikes loom as labor activity surges
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – The Wall Street Journal (paywall) reported that Unilever CEO Alan Jope plans to retire at the end of next year. The consumer goods company said it would conduct a formal search for a successor and consider both internal and external candidates. Jope this year faced the emergence of activist investor Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management as one of Unilever’s largest shareholders. Trian said in a statement that it was ‘sorry to learn’ of Jope’s decision and that Peltz, who joined the board of Unilever earlier this year, looked…
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Proxy season 2022: The story behind falling support for ESG proposals
Some ESG critics may be tempted to see falling average support for shareholder proposals this past proxy season as a sign of declining interest. Ben Maiden says industry professionals see a different picture The 2022 proxy season has had a touch of the Rorschach test about it, based on some of the headline figures from voting on the year’s ESG-related shareholder proposals. According to a report from Proxy Impact, the Sustainable Investments Institute and As You Sow, the six months to the end of June saw a record-breaking 282 votes and 34 majority votes (equal to the same period last…