Michael Finn, general counsel, Axalta. (Courtesy photo)GC Who Led Axalta During Time of Growth Stepping Down
Michael Finn, the top lawyer at the Philadelphia-based manufacturer Axalta, is leaving to pursue another professional opportunity.
November 26, 2018 at 12:38 PM
2 minute read
A longtime prominent general counsel is leaving Axalta Coating Systems, a manufacturer of coatings for light and commercial vehicles and industrial and refinish applications, after more than five years with the company.
Philadelphia-based Axalta announced that senior vice president, general counsel and corporate and government affairs secretary Michael Finn is leaving the company sometime before the end of the year to pursue another professional opportunity. A company spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for additional information about Finn's departure.
In a statement announcing his departure, Finn said his time as Axalta's top lawyer has been “enormously rewarding both professionally and personally” and that stepping down was a difficult decision.
“I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished as a team during my time with the company, and I very much look forward to watching Axalta reach new heights in the future,” he said. “I wish the best for Axalta and all of my colleagues at the company.”
Tabitha Oman, vice president, deputy GC and chief compliance officer at Axalta, will serve as interim GC while the company conducts an executive search for Finn's successor, interim CEO Robert Bryant said in the statement.
“Michael's innumerable contributions go far beyond the global leadership of our legal and compliance functions, as he has been invaluable in establishing Axalta as a standalone public company, supporting our Board, leading many significant transactions, and managing complex litigation and regulatory matters,” Bryant said.
Axalta was spun off from E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Co. in 2013, the same year as Finn joined. Since then, it has continued to grow, mostly through acquisitions, the largest of which was the 2017 acquisition of The Valspar Corp.'s $420 million North American industrial wood coatings business.
Finn's oversight of that acquisition earned him earlier this year the GC Impact Award from Corporate Counsel sister publication The Legal Intelligencer. In 2016, his team won the paper's Legal Department of the Year award in the outside counsel management category.
Prior to joining Axalta after the DuPont sale, Finn had been VP and GC at General Dynamics Corp. for several years.
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