[Foundation-l] New General Counsel!: Geoffrey Brigham

[Samuel Klein]

Welcome to Wikimedia, Geoff!  May you find both challenges and
inspiration on our legal frontiers.

SJ


Sue writes:
> Hey folks,
>
> I'm delighted to tell you that the Wikimedia Foundation has a new
> General Counsel.
>
> Geoff Brigham, formerly of eBay, will start with us March 7 once he's
> relocated from Paris to San Francisco. He'll report to me.
>
> To recap: In late October, I hired m|Oppenheim to find us a new
> General Counsel. I expected it to be a tough search, because
> appropriate GCs for the Wikimedia Foundation don't exactly grow on
> trees. As a growing U.S.-based non-profit that operates one of the
> world's most popular websites in partnership with a global network of
> volunteers, we need a GC who can handle a broad range of legal issues
> including the legal defense of our projects in an international
> context, an array of matters related to policy and regulatory
> compliance, issues such as privacy, and helping us with the challenges
> of opening a new office in India. Very few people have that kind of
> breadth. And for our GC as with all our jobs, we are also looking for
> someone who is passionate about the mission, has a collaborative and
> inclusive personal style, is inclined towards transparency, and
> ideally is a bit of an iconoclast. It's a lot to ask of one person :-)
>
> So we braced ourselves for a long and difficult search. But in fact it
> turned out to be highly enjoyable. Over a period of several months,
> m|Oppenheim talked with hundreds of connectors and candidates, and in
> the end we interviewed about a dozen finalists. They were terrific,
> inspiring lawyers: I was glad to meet them all. And I am delighted
> that we discovered Geoff.
>
> Geoff spent eight years at eBay during its main growth years, which
> gives him important experience managing the legal challenges and risks
> inherent in operating a popular site. His work at eBay encompassed
> North America, Europe, Asia and Australia where he handled legal
> issues throughout the world. He's worked alone and led large teams. He
> is hands-on, collaborative, open-minded and inclusive. And he is
> extremely excited about working with us.
>
> A little more about Geoff's background: Most recently, Geoff was
> Vice-President and Deputy General Counsel at eBay in San Jose,
> California. There, he directed legal affairs in more than 15 countries
> throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, encompassing
> litigation, copyright and trademarks, privacy, ethics, product and
> site content review, policy and regulatory compliance, new market
> advice, contracts, governance and site security.  Previously he worked
> for eBay in Bern, Switzerland for four years as Vice-President &
> Senior Director, and in Paris, France for two years as Senior
> Compliance and Litigation Counsel.
>
> Prior to joining eBay, Geoff was Assistant United States Attorney in
> Miami, Florida. Before that he worked for the U.S. Department of
> Justice in Paris and Washington, was an Associate with Finley, Kumble,
> Wagner et al. in Washington, and was a law clerk for the Honorable
> Howard F. Corcoran, U.S. Judge for the District of Columbia.  Geoff
> received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in
> Washington DC. He also holds a B.A. in Political Science and French,
> from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
>
> He speaks English and French. He's a passionate music fan and an
> accomplished flute player: he used to busk many years ago, playing
> jazz and classical music on the Parisian streets, and he was well
> known at eBay for playing his flute in the office in the early
> mornings. Maybe that will happen at the Wikimedia Foundation too :-)
>
> Many thanks to Lisa Grossman of m|Oppenheim for leading this important
> search for us. My thanks also to everyone who helped Lisa and me
> define the General Counsel role and surface and interview candidates,
> including (roughly in order of their involvement) Erik Moeller, Cyn
> Skyberg, Kat Walsh, Arne Klempert, Stu West, SJ Klein, Barry Newstead,
> Veronique Kessler, Danese Cooper, Zack Exley, Jimmy Wales, Bishakha
> Datta, Matt Halprin, Gautam John, Pavel Richter and Shari Steele. My
> thanks also to Derrick Coetzee, who happened to be in the office one
> day and got pulled into an impromptu conversation helping brief Geoff
> about some of the issues facing us. I also want to thank Wikimedia
> France for staging its GLAM conference in Paris recently: Geoff
> attended it and says that meeting Wikimedians there, and watching them
> work, significantly contributed to his desire to join us.
>
> If I remember correctly how this list works, replies to this mail
> should go directly to foundation-l. (That's how it's intended to work:
> I hope it's actually true.)  Geoff is subscribed to foundation-l, so
> if you do reply there, he'll see it. He doesn't yet have a Wikimedia
> e-mail address, but once he does, you will likely see it turn up on
> this and other lists. Please note he's not on the job until March 7:
> until then, he's only really available to us socially, not for work.
>
> Please join me in welcoming Geoff to the Wikimedia movement :-)
>
> Thanks,
> Sue
>
>
>
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-- 
Samuel Klein          identi.ca:sj           w:user:sj          +1 617 529 4266