A general counsel’s recent guilty plea to blackmail and sexual abuse highlights how even out-of-work conduct may smear the internal reputation of an in-house legal department, which could lead to long-term repair work.

Steven Fabrizio, who served as general counsel to the Motion Picture Association of America from 2013 to 2019, pleaded guilty on July 30 to blackmailing and third-degree sexual abuse. Fabrizio, also a former Jenner & Block lawyer, faces a maximum of 15 years in prison and will be sentenced on October 29, 2021, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.