This article is part one of a four-part series providing practical advice for general counsel directly from pros in the field.

What can make or break a general counsel's career faster than anything else? Here's a hint: Case studies are available weekly in front-page news and in many corporate boardrooms. In other words, general counsel today must know how to handle a major government investigation or highly-publicized issue (which inevitably becomes a government investigation).

Corporations receive far greater scrutiny today than they did 20 or 30 years ago. Regulators intervene far more frequently around the world. That means that every ambitious in-house lawyer must hone his or her skills to navigate the demands of a government investigation while they fulfill the many responsibilities of their day job. Your professional future may depend on it, and there are no dress rehearsals.

What better method than to learn from highly experienced legal heads of respected multinational companies? In July and August 2013 I interviewed six such pros in a range of industries and locations:

  • Richard Bennett, former group general counsel (retired December 2012), HSBC Bank plc, London
  • Sabine Chalmers, chief legal and corporate affairs officer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, New York
  • Dan Fitz, general counsel, British Telecom Group, London
  • Peter Herbel, general counsel, Total S.A., Paris
  • Massimo Mantovani, general counsel, Eni S.p.A., Rome
  • Michael O'Neill, general counsel, Canadian Helicopter Corp., Vancouver

And John Stout, the Minneapolis-based chair of the 2000-strong ABA Corporate Governance Committee, also provided some helpful input.

When does an issue qualify as a crisis?

This content has been archived.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

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]