CFO Studio Magazine - Curt Allen, CFO, Subaru

32 WWW.CFOSTUDIO.COM 1st QUARTER 2015 services business aircraft. “I use ‘organizing’ in a sense that your role as an in-house lawyer sometimes is to connect departments, people, and ideas. I use ‘officer’ in a sense that sometimes you’re a cop— either directing traffic to the proper areas or mediating differences.” Michael Hutchinson, Esq., general counsel at Stryker Corporation, a medical technology firm, also felt that legal executives are considered leaders across business functions. “If you are a problem solver and proactive, you become a leader in your company,” said Hutchinson. “That’s why people from across the organization value your advice and counsel.” Wingate added, “Operations canmean almost anything and some of what GCs are doing goes beyond just being lawyers and could be considered in the vein of a COO’s role. In-house lawyers have always had this dual role, serving as both a trusted advisor helping tomake decisions, and also acting as the lawyer and trying to be very clear about which role they are serving at the time.” General Counsel as Business Advisor The comments made about the position of COO led to a dialogue about the roles GCs are expected to play within their organizations. In- house legal executives are often looked upon by fellow executives to serve not only as counsel, but as trusted business advisors as well. Among the group, one executive present holds both GC and COO titles for his company. Ronald Schwartzman, Esq., is COO, GC, and chief compliance officer at UniTeller Financial Services, a subsidiary of Banorte, the third-largest bank in Mexico. “When you operate in a financial institution, legal is a part of every decision,” said Mr. Schwartzman. “What’s interesting to me is that I have to balance every decision I make. I argue the businessperson side of myself against the lawyer side.” The GCs in attendance debated where a GC should draw the line between counsel and advisor. “In my core business as a real estate advisor, my clients don’t hire me just because I understand real estate,” said Andrew Zezas, publisher of CFO Studio magazine, CEO of Real Estate Strategies Corporation, and host of the evening’s discussion. “They rely on me to understand their business and be able to say, ‘If you’re going to take your business in this direction, let’s talk about the potential real estate ramifications of that.’ Many CEOs expect the same from their legal counsel.” “As counsel, you’re in a unique position to be able to apply the law to the business that you’re in and make a judgment call,” said Mark Decker, Esq., senior vice president and GC of The Connell Company, one of the largest diversified, privately held corporations in the United States. “If you don’t make your judgment call, you’re not doing your job.” GC as Chief Problem Solver The way a GC advises his or her CEO, CFO, or COO is to find solutions, not make decisions. “If all you’re going to do is to come in and say, ‘There are a lot of problems here,’ that’s not helping anybody,” saidHutchinson. “It takes a couple of extra steps, L. to R.: Rita Campanile, James Marks, Daria Meoli, Mark Decker CFO STUDIO EXECUTIVE DINNER SERIES L. to R.: David Carp, Mark Goldberg, Richard Wingate, Andrew Zezas “IF YOU DON’T MAKE YOUR JUDGMENT CALL, YOU’RE NOT DOING YOUR JOB.” — MARK DECKER