the legal thing... by Mike Dillon: This should be interesting.

Wednesday Aug 09, 2006

This should be interesting.

I'm taking the plunge. Along with more than 3,000 of my fellow employees at
Sun and our CEO (go here he needs the traffic ), I've decided to add my external voice.

My primary motivation is a question that I am frequently asked. It comes in two forms. From others in my profession, it is articulated as: "What is it like being the General Counsel of a Fortune 500 company like Sun Microsystems?" From my children it is posed as: "Daddy, what do you DO at work all day?"

In the future, I'll share with you my observations on life as a GC, my views on a variety of legal issues and business trends and my thoughts about what makes this company so unique. Given the sensitive nature of much that I do and my professional obligations as a licensed attorney, it will be at times challenging to be as open as I would like. But, I'll do my best. Like I said, this should be interesting.

I'll also give you an idea of what it is like to "do the legal thing" in-house. The title comes from what are known in my world as the "Reebok Rules". Written by that company's former GC, Jack Douglass, III, they describe rules for being a successful in-house attorney. They include things like: "Learn the Business", "Be a Problem Solver" and "Make the Coffee". The latter is what I'm going to do right now...

Posted on 12:04PM Aug 09, 2006 | Comments[13]

Comments:

Is there an RSS feed?

Posted by Ted on August 10, 2006 at 01:45 PM PDT #

Good job; welcome to the party...

Posted by John on August 10, 2006 at 07:06 PM PDT #

Right on, great to have you blogging!

Posted by Denise Howell on August 11, 2006 at 02:42 PM PDT #

Hi Mike, and welcome to the blogosphere. That means that now, Sun has blogs for its CEO, CP(rivacy)O, General Counsel and CG(aming)O. As you say, there is something unique about the level of engagement and openness in this company. Long may it last...

Posted by Robin Wilton on August 12, 2006 at 11:05 AM PDT #

Hi Mike, welcome to our number. Your insights will be a welcome addition!

Posted by Patrick Lamb on August 12, 2006 at 03:45 PM PDT #

hi there,

welcome to the blogosphere . will be interested in seeing how this turns out. It'll be interesting to see if and when HP and IBM will do similar exercise.

TED : RSS link http://blogs.sun.com/roller/rss/dillon

BR,
~A

Posted by anjan bacchu on August 12, 2006 at 05:35 PM PDT #

Is that pic one of you surfing or kayaking?

Posted by jeff on August 14, 2006 at 07:05 AM PDT #

Hi there, is there any chance of sending me a link to / more info on the "Reebok Rules" ? sound very interesting. Thanks

Posted by Emma on August 14, 2006 at 12:06 PM PDT #

Welcome in the blogosphere! As an in-house counsel at Bell Canada, I would be most interested to read the "Reebok rules": where can we get them? I added you to my feeds! Have fun!!

Posted by Dominic Jaar on August 15, 2006 at 05:43 PM PDT #

Hi! am a 'freshie' in the world of corporate counsel..would very much like to know more about "Reebok rules". Thanks!

Posted by ummsita on August 16, 2006 at 04:43 AM PDT #

Mike, I would like to read "Reebok's Rules". Can you direct me to a place where I can find them? thanks. Joe

Posted by Joe Wiley on August 16, 2006 at 09:32 AM PDT #

First, Mike, it's great to see you're up to the challenge of blogging given your role and constraints! Second, it seems the "Reebok Rules" you referenced isn't readily available online. I've found a link to it: http://www.acca.com/resource/v1428 however, it's behind a membership-wall. IANAL, so I have very little reason to obtain an ACC membership. Perhaps you could speak to them about granting you reprint rights on your blog? :-) (Or, I could try and call up my lawyer friends and see if any of them have a membership, but that almost smacks of piracy, doesn't it.)

Posted by Dossy Shiobara on August 16, 2006 at 02:54 PM PDT #

Welcome to the blogosphere. I look forward to your posts.

Posted by Francis G.X. Pileggi on August 17, 2006 at 12:02 AM PDT #