Iconic toy store chain Toys R Us is touting its emergence as a new company with new leadership, new vision and a new global strategy. For general counsel James Young, the development also means a new title.

Young is now GC and executive vice president of global license management at Parsippany, New Jersey-based Tru Kids Brands, the current owner of Toys R Us, Babies R Us, longtime brand face Geoffrey the Giraffe and several other consumer toy and baby brands. He joined Toys R Us as corporate counsel in January 2007 and ascended to the top lawyer spot in November 2017, when the then-GC of only 10 months left amid its bankruptcy filing.

“Despite unprecedented efforts to capture the U.S. market share this past holiday season, there is still a significant gap and huge consumer demand for the trusted experience that Toys 'R' Us and Babies 'R' Us delivers,” Tru Kids president and CEO Richard Barry said in a statement announcing the new company. “We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to write the next chapter of Toys 'R' Us by launching a newly imagined omni channel retail experience for our beloved brands here in the U.S. In addition, our strong global footprint is led by experienced and passionate operating teams that are 100 percent focused on growth.”

Through a Tru Kids spokesperson, Young, as well as the company, declined to comment beyond the press release about his new role. But Corporate Counsel spoke with attorneys who have worked with retailers to get a sense of what challenges and duties Young and his legal department of over a dozen lawyers will have to navigate in this re-emergence world.

And Young's new title is reflective of one of those responsibilities, said Timothy Duggan, a shareholder at Stark & Stark in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

“On the legal side, they're going to be spending a lot of time looking at licensing agreements,” he said. “Licensing and ensuring that trademarks are protected in the countries they are going into is going to be really important.”

Beyond these matters, however, Duggan added, the work may not be overly unique from other retail companies that have emerged from bankruptcy and likely will include general corporate legal work, including tax issues associated with forming subsidiaries, as well as e-commerce and international law matters.

Leslie Berkoff, a partner at Long Island, New York-based Moritt Hock & Hamroff, said that Young's department also will be working to make sure that vendors and other third parties negotiating with the new company are aware of its rights and do not carry over matters that were discharged and released in the bankruptcy.

But at least for the near future, Berkoff added, the situation may require the GC to don his business adviser hat just as much as his legal one.

“There will be some legal questions, but a lot of it will be business-focused,” she said, noting that vendors may now be leery of working with this company.

“Not only do you have to go back and restore good graces, you're going to have others you're going to have to woo,” Berkoff said. “They have looked at the market share and said, 'Yes, we have a place in this industry. People miss us, and we're going to do it differently.'”

She continued, speaking of vendors, as well as consumers: “You may only get one shot with these people, and you may not get them back a third time.”

Brad Sandler, a partner at Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones, agreed, saying Tru Kids must deal with how they are going to communicate with the vendor community, particularly companies such as Mattel and Hasbro, and landlords, going to great lengths to provide them with adequate assurance of future payment.

“I would think that some of the vendors are going to be gun-shy about doing business with the new Toys R Us,” he said, adding that vendors may likely have some influence over the new company, perhaps requiring that it establish trade terms that could be as short as a week or demanding to see “behind the curtain” financial information.

“I think there are legal issues in terms of people negotiating with them aggressively because of their history,” Berkoff said.