Wag! Brings on New Top Legal Dog
A Los Angeles-based on-demand dog-walking service that has faced significant controversy in recent months announced that it has named Craig Gatarz as executive vice president and general counsel.
November 05, 2018 at 12:34 PM
2 minute read
(Photo: Shutterstock.com)
The so-called Uber for dogs has a new alpha lawyer. Los Angeles-based Wag!, an on-demand dog-walking service, announced that it has named Craig Gatarz as executive vice president and general counsel. Most recently, Gatarz had served as EVP and GC at lifestyle brand The Honest Co. Inc. for more than four years. He has spent nearly 20 years serving in high-ranking in-house positions at several high-growth disruptive companies.
Gatarz could not immediately be reached for comment. It was unclear whether he is Wag's first-ever GC. In an expansion of the company's leadership team, Wag also announced the appointment of a new chief financial officer.
Founded in 2015, Wag is available in 43 states and 110 cities, according to the statement announcing Gatarz's appointment. It allows pet owners to book dog walks by vetted and approved dog walkers who are nearby.
Early this year, Wag received a $300 million investment from SoftBank Vision Fund. But in recent months, the embattled company has faced significant controversy following several news reports of lost dogs—at least eight since 2015, including five from the beginning of 2018 to last May, in New York City alone, according to one report. Following several of those incidents, a New York lawmaker in March asked a consumer-affairs agency to investigate the company.
In the statement, Gatarz said that “Wag is exciting, because we provide services that make life better for pets and their families.”
Prior to joining the Honest Co. in July 2014, Gatarz held high-ranking positions, both legal and business, at mobile, digital media and entertainment and consumer-products companies, including e-commerce service provider Netgateway Inc. (now iMergent Inc.) and RealD Inc., which provides three-dimensional technologies for the the cinema and home, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Gatarz began his legal career as a member of the corporate and restructurings group in the New York office of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. He then spent more than nine years as a member of the corporate group at Jones Day.
He earned his degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.
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