Robert S. Rivkin, senior vice president and general counsel of United Airlines.Former Delta Deputy GC Boards United Airlines as New General Counsel
From 2013 to 2016, Robert "Bob" Rivkin served in the then-newly created role of SVP and deputy GC for international and regulatory affairs at Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc.
February 25, 2019 at 01:13 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Corporate Counsel
Robert Rivkin, a former federal and local government lawyer and politician who most recently served as deputy mayor of the city of Chicago, is rejoining the corporate legal world, this time as general counsel at the Windy City-based United Airlines Inc.
In his new role managing all legal, ethics, compliance, government contracting and security matters for the airline, Rivkin will report to executive vice president and chief administrative officer Brett Hart. Hart, the longtime public face of United's legal department who, until recently, also had the GC title, will continue to oversee it.
Neither Rivkin, who will hold the title of senior VP in addition to GC when he begins work at the airline next month, nor Hart could be reached for comment about this change in the legal department's leadership.
“Bob's distinguished career in public service, the legal community and the airline industry make him an ideal fit for this critical role on our United team,” United chief executive officer Oscar Munoz said in a statement announcing Rivkin's hire. “He's a proven leader who will make an immediate impact as we work to fulfill United's incredible potential.”
Rivkin had served as the deputy mayor of Chicago—a post he will leave Thursday—since August 2017, according to his LinkedIn profile. In that role, he led the city's economic development efforts, including its failed courting of Amazon's HQ2, and major infrastructure improvements, the profile said. For a year prior to his appointment to the political post, he practiced law at Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila.
From 2013 to 2016, Rivkin served in the then-newly created role of SVP and deputy GC for international and regulatory affairs at Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. There, he was responsible for addressing governmental regulation and oversight in the United States and abroad, as well as litigation, antitrust, employment and real estate legal issues, according to LinkedIn.
Prior to joining Delta, Rivkin had a four-year stint as GC to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Before working at DOT, Rivkin was VP and deputy GC at global risk management and insurance brokerage firm Aon Corp. and served for four years as GC at the Chicago Transit Authority.
As United's GC, Rivkin will manage a legal department with, as of about five years ago, 43 lawyers, the majority of whom are in Chicago, according to a 2014 profile by Corporate Counsel sister publication National Law Journal naming the airline's legal department as Chicago's In-House Legal Department of the Year in the pro bono category.
In addition to giving back through free legal services, United also doesn't shy away from high-profile social issues. In a tweet last February, the airline announced it would no longer honor discounts to National Rifle Association members around the group's annual meeting.
A graduate of Stanford Law School, Rivkin also previously worked as a litigation partner at Schiff Hardin and as a federal prosecutor in the Northern District of Illinois, LinkedIn said. He also clerked for Judge Joel Flaum of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, it added.
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