THE CHURN: Corporate Counsel Edition

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The Churn

December 15, 2008 5:03 PM

THE CHURN: Corporate Counsel Edition

Posted by Dimitra Kessenides

The moves below are excerpted from the upcoming January 2009 issue of Corporate Counsel magazine.

SPRINT NEXTEL

With almost two decades under his belt at Sprint Nextel Corporation, new general counsel CHARLES WUNSCH says he has become a jack of all trades in the telecom industry. As technology changes, so do Wunsch's jobs. He's handled mergers, employment law, commercial law, and IP.

After working as a partner at the law firm Watson, Ess, Marshall and Enggas in Olathe, Kansas, Wunsch decided to get up close and personal with his clients. "I wanted to have one client to represent and serve," says Wunsch, who became staff attorney and corporate secretary in 1990 at United Telecom,
which in a year acquired Sprint. "You need to really know your client's business to give good legal advice."

Wunsch is right at home in the endlessly evolving world of cellular technology. "Telecom is fundamental to people's lives," he says. "We fulfill a basic yearning for people to be in touch with others."

VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS

When Verizon Communications Inc. needed someone to replace longtime general counsel William Barr, they found an expert in telecommunications regulations who also understands business. And they didn't search far. RANDAL MILCH, general counsel for Verizon Business, takes over after Barr retires this month.

Milch, 50, says one of his biggest challenges will be helping the company continue to diversify and grow, which presents a host of legal issues, or as Milch likes to say, legal opportunities. He says his experience supporting business operations, coupled with his years handling government regulations, makes it easier to create solutions when problems arise. "We're frequently caught between regulations and customer needs," Milch says. "We have to know the business well enough to help our clients find 'yes' after
we tell them 'no.'"

Milch has served as senior vice president and general counsel of Verizon Business since 2006. In that role, he oversaw all legal services and external affairs support for the company's global enterprise carrier. Before that, Milch served as the senior vice president and general counsel of Verizon's domestic telecom business. He took the job after Bell Atlantic acquired GTE in 2000 and changed its name to Verizon Communications in one of the largest mergers in U.S. history.

ALCOA, INC.

One of the world's top aluminum producers has promoted one of its own to head its legal department. The board of directors for Pittsburgh-based Alcoa, Inc., has elected KURT WALDO, 53, as general counsel. He's responsible for leading Alcoa's global legal team.

Waldo has been with Alcoa for almost 30 years. He joined the company's legal department in 1980, shortly after graduating from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Ohio. He started out as European regional counsel based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Waldo played a key role in the company's acquisitions of companies in Hungary and Spain, and provided general legal services across Europe. In 1991 he returned to Pittsburgh as senior counsel, leading the mergers and acquisition practice area. In 1999 he was elected assistant general counsel. Eight years later, he was promoted to deputy general counsel and was responsible for both the antitrust and merger, and acquisition and divestiture practice areas.

UNUM GROUP

Insurance companies grapple with many detailed regulations. So it's no surprise that Chattanooga, Tennessee–based Unum Group, one of the top disability insurers in the United States and the United Kingdom, has hired a lawyer well versed in compliance as its new general counsel: LISTON "BO" BISHOP III.

Bishop had been interim general counsel at Unum since February 2008. He'll now be responsible for the company's legal, compliance, and regulatory functions. "This job gives me the opportunity to play to my strengths," Bishop says.

Bishop has been practicing corporate and securities law for decades, beginning in 1979 with Miller & Martin, a law firm with offices in Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Nashville. He also served as vice president and deputy general counsel for Coca-Cola Enterprises, where he handled securities law compliance and corporate governance.

That expertise will be essential at Unum. Bishop's looking forward to building the legal department's role inside the company, and managing a team of lawyers. He's encouraging lawyers to explore different practice areas, so they'll stay engaged and challenged. "I think lawyers just need to be nimble," Bishop says. "It keeps them from being stale."

LUCASFILM LTD.

As a kid, Lucasfilm Ltd's general counsel saw Star Wars in theaters 17 times. Though DAVID ANDERMAN says he steered clear of this fact in his first interview with the company ten years ago--he didn't want to seem too much like a fan--he counts himself extremely lucky to work in an environment where it's perfectly normal to have "stormtrooper" helmets decorating your office.

"There's a lot of cool stuff hanging around,” says Anderman, adding that a walk around the Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco, where the company is headquartered, is quite the experience, with memorabilia from George Lucas blockbusters like Indiana Jones, E.T., and Ghostbusters littering offices and lobbies.

Anderman, who most recently acted as senior director of business affairs at Lucasfilm, was promoted to general counsel in September and will take on legal responsibility for some of the company's subsidiaries, including its video game component, LucasArts. He says that the core of his legal work remains IP related, along with dealing with licensing issues and movie production.

HARMAN INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRIES, INC.

Anyone who has ever been on a long car ride can attest to the importance of a good car stereo. Harman International Industries, Inc., tries to keep commuters entertained, as well as houses full of music, as a leading designer, manufacturer, and marketer of audio products. As the company's new general counsel, vice president, and secretary, TODD SUKO will take over legal responsibilities for the 50-year-old company and make sure that Harman continues to churn out the tunes through its family of brands.

Suko, who served most recently as legal chief for UAP Holding Corporation and United Agri Products, Inc. (both of which were recently acquired by Agrium Inc.), succeeds Edwin Summers, who had been legal chief since 1998 and will stay with the company in a senior legal role. Suko has prior experience leading legal teams in regulatory compliance, intellectual property protection, mergers and acquisitions, commercial contracts, and restructuring, which will serve him well at an international company with
over 12,000 employees.

A company press release said he also served in the U.S. Navy for four years as a carrier-based bombardier/navigator. The release included a statement by Harman's chairman and CEO, Dinesh Paliwal, welcoming Suko to the company: "His legal expertise is a natural fit with the company's strategy for optimizing our global footprint, expanding to new global markets, and building a best-in-class team."

And, as top legal chief, this former Navy man gets to give out orders for a change.

Reporting by Rachel Breitman, Francesca Heintz, Amy Miller

Please send news of in-house moves to Elliott Hurwitt at elliott.hurwitt@incisivemedia.com.

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