Corporate Counsel

“[T]he general understanding is that the Firm as a whole operates most efficiently when lawyers are present in the office during normal business hours (9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.).” https://lnkd.in/gN9qvFBp

Meta Deputy General Counsel Roy Austin, who also serves as the tech giant's vice president of civil rights, is leaving the company in March. Austin disclosed his departure plans in a LinkedIn post on Friday, hours after Meta revealed in an internal company memo that it was pulling the plug on its DEI efforts and three days after it announced it was discontinuing a social media fact-checking program intended to reduce the spread of misinformation. Austin's post did not directly reference either decision, and he did not respond to a LinkedIn message from Law.com requesting clarification on whether he was signaling his disapproval of those decisions by departing. "As I mark my 30th year as an attorney and nearly three decades of advocating for civil rights, I've decided it's time for me to embark on my next professional adventure. My journey at this company has been an incredible chapter in my life, and I'm grateful that Mark and Sheryl gave me this opportunity," Austin wrote, referring to Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, who was chief operating officer when the company hired him. Meta hired Austin in January 2021, describing him in a press release at the time as a "nationally renowned civil rights attorney and advocate." The release said he would create the company's first civil rights organization, "an incredibly important role for Facebook and for the tech industry." Full story from Chris O'Malley: https://lnkd.in/e2rCf8UF

Apple General Counsel Kate Adams' compensation totaled $27.18 million in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, a hair above the $26.94 million she received a year earlier, the Cupertino, California-based company disclosed in its proxy filing late Friday. Adams' salary was $1 million for the sixth straight year. In addition, she received stock grants valued at $22.16 million, $106,000 less than a year earlier, and a cash incentive compensation award of $4 million, $429,000 more than a year earlier. Adams, 60, has been a perennial contender for the No. 1 spot on Corporate Counsel and ALM Intelligence’s annual rankings of highest-paid legal chiefs, even though her total compensation has been virtually unchanged since November 2017, when she stepped down as general counsel of Honeywell to take the legal reins of the tech giant. Her 2024 comp package was her biggest yet, but just barely, eclipsing her previous high, 2022’s $27.15 million, by $28,000. Corporate Counsel and ALM Intelligence release their legal chief compensation report every summer. On last year’s list, Adams ranked second, behind Kent Walker, Alphabet’s chief legal officer and president of global affairs, who earned $27.34 million. In 2023, she ranked second, and in 2022 she ranked first. Full story from Greg Andrews: https://lnkd.in/eSyhW7Rz

In another move likely to put Facebook's parent in the graces of the incoming Trump administration, Meta has pulled the plug on its DEI initiatives, effective immediately. Meta revealed its retreat on DEI in a memo sent to employees by vice president of human resources Janelle Gale, which was obtained and first reported by Axios. Gale cited the changing "legal and policy landscape" surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the U.S.—in a likely nod to last year's U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard that race-conscious college admissions policies are unconstitutional. Though the ruling applied only to higher education, it has had a chilling effect on corporate DEI programs. In recent months, a string of prominent companies have canceled or narrowed their programs, including Boeing, John Deere, Tractor Supply, McDonald's and Walmart. "The term 'DEI' has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others," Meta's memo stated. The company said it would continue to source candidates from different backgrounds but will cease using the "diverse slate approach"—a hiring strategy where recruiters ensure that at least one candidate from an underrepresented group is considered for each opening. Gale said Meta halted representation goals for women and ethnic minorities, because such goals "can create the impression that decisions are being made based on race or gender." "While that has never been our practice, we want to eliminate any impression of it." Meta is also winding down its supplier diversity programs and instead will source from "diverse-owned businesses," principally small and midsized businesses. As an alternative to equity and inclusion training programs, Meta will create programs "on how to apply fair and consistent practices that mitigate bias for all, no matter your background." Full story from Chris O'Malley: https://lnkd.in/eb3QnD9W

Partner promotions come as more law firms are rapidly growing their nonequity tier. It's expected many of Big Law's new partners will first enter the partnership as nonequity lawyers. https://lnkd.in/gA7UTm-4