Jim Rogers, the new head of legal at Orbitz Worldwide Inc. joins the online travel business after a considerable trek through corporate law.
Rogers took his seat as the company’s general counsel, senior vice president, and corporate secretary on August 13, hard upon the heels of a bicycle trip in which the self-described “road warrior” cycled 850 miles. His tires hit the pavement under the iconic Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, and he finally put down his kickstand in Bethesda, Maryland (just outside Washington, D.C.). Rogers spent much of his career—almost 29 years—at Latham & Watkins in the nation’s capital, leaving the firm as a partner. And he has called St. Louis home for the past two years, as the general counsel of TLC Vision Corporation.
Rogers’s trip was somewhat emblematic of his career cycle over the past 33 years. He was able to pedal through several places that have played important roles in his life, and some former colleagues and friends joined him along the way. Most important, from Rogers’s point of view, he was able to turn the trip into a charitable event for Appleseed, the pro bono organization that he has contributed to throughout his career. Rogers also tried out his new employer’s services while on the trip; he booked hotels along the way using the Hotels by Orbitz iPad app.
Rogers says he’s always known that he wanted to work directly with corporate clients, and he’s excited to bring a pair of fresh legal eyes to Orbitz. “There’s so much to learn here,” he says. “One of the advantages is that coming in cold to any industry gives you the chance to ask ‘Why do we it that way?’ ” To start out, Rogers will focus on transactions, governance and contract work, as well as new hires for the legal department. Alice Geene, Orbitz’s former interim general counsel, will serve as assistant GC under Rogers during a transition period, then will leave Orbitz to take a position as general counsel of Trustwave, an information security provider.
Rogers arrives at Orbitz following a stint as general counsel at TLC Vision. He was brought on at the company on a temporary basis, as affiliates of the private equity firms Charlesbank Capital Partners LLC and HIG Capital LLC acquired the company out of bankruptcy. While Rogers originally agreed to stay with TLC for one year, he stayed for more than two before deciding it was time to move on. “I really enjoyed it,” Rogers says. He liked the opportunity to be part of the senior management team, he says, and to “make strategic decisions along the way.” As he wrapped up his responsibilities there, he made plans to travel and take a vacation. That’s when the idea of the big bike ride began taking form.
When Rogers departed from TLC, the company gave him an appropriate send-off, complete with a “Tour de TLC,” which meant his colleagues, all decked out in matching shirts, shuttled him around the office to various stations with food and gifts for his road trip. And he went to a St. Louis Cardinals versus Chicago Cubs baseball game—fitting, since Rogers will move from St. Louis to the Windy City for his new job with Orbitz. “They were really glad to see me go,” Rogers joked about the TLC farewell festivities.
