S. The Role of the General Counsel as a Legal and Business Leader

The Role of the General Counsel as a Legal and Business Leader course will explore the role of the General Counsel not only as a company's senior legal officer, but also as a business leader and a core member of the company's leadership team. In today's world, most General Counsel have responsibility for a range of global functions, which (depending on the company) may include compliance, risk management, corporate governance, government relations, communications and public affairs, among other areas, in addition to the Legal Department. The GC is also expected to play a leadership role in talent development, DEI (with their own staff as well as in the selection of outside counsel) and employee engagement. As a result, the requisite skills and capabilities of the General Counsel have evolved and the GC is expected to show up as a global business leader, while maintaining a focus on and expertise in legal matters and driving compliant and ethical conduct. The course will explore the multiple roles that the GC plays, including on critical legal and business issues, crisis management and ethical leadership and decision-making.

Instructor is Michael Ullmann, Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Johnson and Johnson (retired), where he served on the Executive Committee and had responsibility for Legal, Compliance and other Departments.

The course will meet for 6 two-hour sessions from 4:20 to 6:20 pm on the following dates in the first half of Spring Term:
Monday January 27
Wednesday January 29
Wednesday February 5
Monday February 24
Wednesday February 26
Wednesday March 5
During the two-week break, students will work on a special project.