J.P. Morgan is banking on STACEY FRIEDMAN, a former Sullivan & Cromwell litigation and regulatory partner, to head up its legal team as general counsel of the bank's recently formed corporate and investment bank division. J.P. Morgan, a division of JP Morgan Chase & Co., merged its investment bank and treasury and securities services divisions in July as part of an overall bank restructuring.
While at Sullivan, Friedman spent a year working full-time at then-client J.P. Morgan as one of the principal architects of the bank's mortgage-backed securities litigation defense. "My family calls it 'try before you buy,' but I think it could be seen as the world's longest job interview," Friedman jokes. She took on her GC role at the bank in August.
The Duke University Law School graduate has represented clients in proceedings involving the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the New York Stock Exchange, the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and the European Commission.
J.P. Morgan was sued by state and federal watchdogs, including New York State, in early October. In November the company agreed to pay $296.9 million to resolve claims made by the SEC. Friedman was a key member of the team that reached the settlement with the SEC.
Friedman's legal experience is hardly limited to banking and securities. At Sullivan she led a successful challenge to the constitutionality of an Arkansas statute prohibiting unmarried cohabiting couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents. The law was perceived as aimed primarily at gay couples, who are prohibited from marrying in Arkansas. "That was one of the most important cases I've ever been involved with," she says. In her new role, Friedman hopes to make it possible for her team to do meaningful pro bono work outside the bank.
J.P. Morgan's global legal team has undergone a major reshuffling as part of the bank's reorganization. KAREN LINNEY, who was previously general counsel of the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) investment bank division, has taken on an expanded role as GC for those regions in the corporate and investment bank division. Linney joined J.P. Morgan—then Chase Manhattan—in 1993 from Clifford Chance.
DIANE GENOVA, who has been with J.P. Morgan for 31 years and is based in New York, has been named global GC for markets and investor services and general counsel for the bank's chief investment office. Genova says she has worked on just about every crisis in the wholesale financial markets. In March she provided testimony to the House Financial Services Committee about the collapse of MF Global Holdings Ltd.
MIKE DUNN, who has been with J.P. Morgan for five years, was made global GC for banking and relocated to New York from Hong Kong, where he was general counsel for the Asia-Pacific region. Dunn worked for Cravath, Swaine & Moore and for Citigroup Inc. before joining J.P. Morgan. JOHN MURPHY, who was general counsel for the investment bank in the Asia-Pacific region, has taken on the GC role for the expanded corporate and investment bank division in Asia. And FACUNDO GÓMEZ MINUJIN, who has been with J.P. Morgan for 17 years, is the bank's new general counsel for Latin America. He continues to serve as senior compliance officer for Argentina, Bolivia, and Uruguay.
—LISA SHUCHMAN
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Gilding the Lilly
MICHAEL HARRINGTON has some big shoes to fill. The 49-year-old attorney stepped into the role of senior vice president and general counsel at Eli Lilly and Company on January 1, replacing ROBERT ARMITAGE, who was set to retire at the end of 2012.
"I feel like I'm following a legend," Harrington says, referring to Armitage, who played a large role in recent patent law reform in the United States. This isn't the first time Harrington has followed in Armitage's footsteps: By pure coincidence, both men attended Albion College, a small liberal arts school in Michigan.
Harrington worked closely with Armitage as his deputy GC, and he says he's learned a great deal from his predecessor—especially when it comes to influencing public policy.
Armitage's tireless efforts to reform the U.S. patent system resulted in the passage last year of the America Invents Act. Harrington also hopes to effect change on a national scale, but his focus is—and will continue to be—on civil justice reform. Harrington serves on the executive committee of Lawyers for Civil Justice, a national organization of corporate counsel and defense lawyers seeking changes in the judicial selection process, judicial pay, discovery rules, and litigation costs.
Harrington, who grew up in Evanston, Illinois, and attended Columbia University School of Law, joined Eli Lilly in 1991. He has held a variety of legal and business positions at the company, including general counsel for Asia-Pacific operations and managing director of Eli Lilly New Zealand. He says his international experience has helped him focus on the global needs of the company. Many of the more than 100 lawyers on his staff work overseas. "The business has gotten more complicated, and we need to be more collaborative and speak with one voice," he says.
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