Scooter Company Bird Names Deputy GC at Time of Major Growth, Government Tensions
And the new deputy GC, Wendy Mantell, likes the product. “The moment I saw a Bird sitting outside of my office, I had to try it. I was hooked after just one ride,” she said in a statement.
June 12, 2018 at 06:31 PM
2 minute read
Wendy Mantell of Bird. Courtesy photo.
"We're building a strong team to navigate our rapid growth and the complex mobility space so that we can achieve our goal of getting more cars off the road," said Travis VanderZanden, founder and CEO of Bird, in a statement. "Rebecca and Wendy's leadership and experience will help us bring Birds to riders and communities everywhere."
In her new role, Mantell will report to chief legal officer David Estrada, who joined Bird in March. She'll work with Bird's government relations group with the hopes of creating regulations around the company's business model.
The company's faced pushback from government officials for alleged lack of compliance with regulations in San Francisco and elsewhere. Bird and its competitors have received more than one cease and desist letter from officials arguing the companies are running unregulated motorized scooter rental programs or are causing illegal obstructions.
Mantell began responding to ceases and desists within her first weeks on the job, writing a letter to a Nashville official in May.
"Bird is growing rapidly, and this is still a new technology. In some cities, the regulations haven't kept up with where technology is going, and Wendy's team will help clear pathways for new regulations," the company said in a statement.
Outside of government relations, Mantell's new role requires her to oversee driver safety and accountability education, as well as user privacy protections.
Prior to joining Bird, Mantell was the senior vice president of legal at fantasy sports company FanDuel, where she managed class action litigation, advised on marketing strategies, built privacy and security initiatives and managed updates to user policies. She got her start in-house at Hulu, as privacy and product counsel.
Now, she's ready for the challenge of a new startup in a rapidly growing, changing industry.
“The moment I saw a Bird sitting outside of my office, I had to try it. I was hooked after just one ride,” Mantell said in a statement. “Following that first ride in Santa Monica, I knew I wanted join the mission of providing fun and sustainable last-mile transportation to the world.”
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All'The Unheard of Superpower': How Women's Soft Skills Can Drive Success in Negotiations
Tales From the Trenches: What Outside Counsel Do That GCs Find Inexcusable
Venus Williams Tells WIPL Crowd: 'Living Your Dreams Should Be Easy'
The 2024 WIPL Awards: Law Firm Mentor and Mentee Collaboration
Trending Stories
- 1Cars Reach Record Fuel Economy but Largely Fail to Meet Biden's EPA Standard, Agency Says
- 2How Cybercriminals Exploit Law Firms’ Holiday Vulnerabilities
- 3DOJ Asks 5th Circuit to Publish Opinion Upholding Gun Ban for Felon
- 4GEO Group Sued Over 2 Wrongful Deaths
- 5Revenue Up at Homegrown Texas Firms Through Q3, Though Demand Slipped Slightly
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250