Corporate Counsel

07/29/2025

Warner Bros. Discovery plans to break itself into two next year, undoing Discovery's $43 billion purchase of Warner Bros. three years ago—a deal analysts call a resounding flop.

07/29/2025

Husch Blackwell is expanding and refining HB In-House, its immersive training program for associates exploring corporate legal careers, amid growing interest from outside organizations. https://loom.ly/FIVJCwU

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to be involved in that program, and as I progress through my in-house career, Husch will always be top of mind when looking at outside counsel,” said Ryan Holland, whose participation in HB In-House helped him land a job as counsel at UL Solutions.

07/29/2025

The suit—which seeks $10 million in damages—alleges the "toxic culture" was led by Chief Brand Officer Diana Barnes and enabled by CEO Steve Dunn. https://loom.ly/I6Eb7gM

When Joseph Berkowitz arrived as GC of Munchkin in December 2023, he found a company riddled with hostility, impropriety, and intimidation, according to his 17-page lawsuit.

07/29/2025

Paul Zimmerman steps into the top legal role at the world’s largest MS organization at a time when the nonprofit is expanding its reach and reinforcing its commitment to supporting the nearly 1 million Americans living with the disease. https://loom.ly/PU8NpNs

Paul Zimmerman has held legal posts at the Peace Corps, the Justice Department, the Nature Conservancy and, most recently, Management Sciences for Health, a global public health nonprofit, where he was general counsel.

07/29/2025

"[B]eneath its marketing of family-friendly content and assurances that it protects user privacy lies a disturbing reality: the company systematically violates children’s privacy rights," the complaint said, alleging that Roku's privacy policy and standards for "data collection practices" apply to all Roku users, regardless of age. https://loom.ly/iiwGHg4

Streaming giant Roku Inc. has become the latest tech company to be accused of violating a federal law protecting children's online privacy in a new California class action.

07/29/2025

Jacksonville, Florida-based Fidelity National Financial announced the appointment of Gregg Sofer Thursday. Sofer was with the DOJ from January 2003 until February 2021. https://loom.ly/C0m_lEU

Gregg Sofer's 18-year career with the Department of Justice gave him experience in everything from counter-terrorism to gang violance. His final role was U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas.

07/29/2025

Atop the list for the second straight year is Alphabet's Kent Walker, who earned $30.2 million, up 10.6% from the $27.3 million he collected a year earlier. He edged out Broadcom's Mark Brazeal, who earned $29.0 million—a whopping 87% increase from his compensation of $15.5 million in 2023. https://loom.ly/x--r4eQ

One legal chief went from last to fourth. Another rode the AI wave to a 75% compensation increase.

07/29/2025

Archer Aviation announced late July 25 that it is promoting GC Eric Lentell to chief legal and strategy officer. Baker McKenzie partner Aaron Goodman is joining the seven-year-old company and will succeed Lentell as GC. https://loom.ly/-Bs88IM

The departure early this year of Archer Aviation's chief legal officer, Andy Missan, has triggered one promotion and one outside hire.

07/29/2025

The "2025 Law Department Benchmarking Report" shows a growing strategic role for in-house counsel, with 78% of legal departments now overseeing compliance and an increase in the percentage handling government affairs, ESG and cybersecurity. https://loom.ly/M6c6eFQ

“I try to keep the number of no-touch deals—contracts that need no legal input—pretty high. Then I track the low-touch and high-touch deals to figure out where we can reduce friction, said Jasmine Singh, general counsel of Ironclad.

07/29/2025

The variability of Trump administration tariffs so far have left companies in the lurch. They're trying to assess how tariffs are likely to settle out while at the same time trying to appease shareholders craving information. https://loom.ly/_3Gn1o8

Deciding what to say, or not to say, is a high-stakes exercise made more difficult by President Donald Trump's repeated policy shifts.

07/29/2025

Level AI, a Silicon Valley startup that uses natural language processing and machine learning to help businesses monitor, analyze and optimize customer service interactions, has hired Pooja Sudarshan to be its first general counsel. https://loom.ly/ymDH3xI

The company, which makes call center software, was founded in 2019 by a former Amazon product manager.

07/29/2025

Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis & Co. want a federal court in Austin to impose a preliminary injunction against Senate Bill 2337 by Sept. 1, when the measure is set to become law.

https://loom.ly/NHqxqA4

Whenever Glass Lewis' speech reflects certain viewpoints disfavored by the government, the Act compels Glass Lewis to broadcast the government's contrary viewpoint and publicly condemn itself, states a suit filed Thursday by Glass Lewis & Co.