General Motors Co.'s self-driving vehicle partner Cruise is placing a prominent former Big Law attorney and diplomat behind the wheel of its legal department. 

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. board chairman Jeff Bleich has served as a partner at Dentons, as a U.S. ambassador to Australia and as special counsel to President Barack Obama. Now, he's taking over as chief legal officer at Cruise, effective May 4. 

The San Francisco-based startup, which has a $19 billion valuation and financial backing from SoftBank Group Corp., announced Bleich's appointment Tuesday in a Twitter post. Bleich will be helping Cruise navigate regulatory obstacles that lie ahead for it and other autonomous vehicle companies. 

"We all know it's going to take hard work and collaboration to adapt the thousands of laws and rules that govern human-operated cars to make driving safer for everyone," Bleich said in a statement. He was not available for an interview.

"This is the creation of an entirely new industry, and defining its rules will be key to its success. I'm excited to lead this team that has the opportunity and skills to solve legal challenges that nobody's ever had to solve before," he added.

Bleich has chaired PG&E's board for a year following a three-year stint as a partner and group CEO at Dentons. He's also served as a litigation partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson at two different points in his career. 

During his career in Big Law, Bleich litigated complex business matters and represented several major U.S.-based companies, including Cisco Systems Inc., HP Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Time Warner Inc. He also has served as the personal attorney for baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays.

In 2009, Bleich was named as special counsel to Obama and ambassador to Australia, a position he held through 2013. In 2017, he tossed his hat into the political arena and campaigned, unsuccessfully, to be the lieutenant governor of California.

He explained his decision to run for political office in a 2017 interview with Corporate Counsel sister publication The Recorder. 

"After the last election, I came away with this feeling that too few people were voting and too many people were feeling left behind. And there were a number of big issues that had to be addressed, and we couldn't count on Washington, D.C., to address them," he said at the time. "And so when President Obama said don't agonize, organize, lace up your shoes and run, I thought there are important things we need to do. So I've decided to lace up my shoes."

Bleich is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and has served as president of the State Bar of California. 

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