CORPORATE COUNSEL OF THE YEAR – PUBLIC COMPANY
Lisa W. Cornehl
Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer
First American Financial Corporation
Lisa Cornehl initially joined First American Financial Corporation in November 2011 as senior litigation counsel. The company is a leading provider of title insurance, settlement services and risk solutions for real estate transactions. In September 2021, Cornehl was named senior vice president and chief legal officer, responsible for overseeing legal affairs and setting legal strategy.
Cornehl is a trusted advisor who has skillfully managed risk and has handled transactional, regulatory and litigation matters across global operations. She defines, develops, and implements action plans to promote First America’s core strategy and minimize legal exposure. At the time of her appointment last year, CEO Ken DeGiorgio described Cornehl as a “proven legal strategist and operator who has skillfully managed our company’s risk and vigorously defended its reputation; her keen insights into our business and strategic counsel will serve our company well as we execute our growth strategy.”
John Kim
Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
John Kim is the U.S. deputy general counsel of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW), the premier global developer and operator of flagship shopping and lifestyle destinations, offices, convention and exhibition venues, as well as award-winning airport terminals. Kim advises the company on all aspects of shopping center and airport operations, property acquisitions and dispositions, joint ventures, bond and debt offerings, secured and unsecured financing transactions, litigation, employment and
all other legal matters, including complex casualty losses.
Focusing on the Los Angeles community is a core component of Kim’s work at URW. The company’s U.S. corporate headquarters is located in the city, as are six prominent shopping centers. URW is also the long-term commercial partner of Los Angeles World Airports, playing a pivotal role in the $15 billion capital improvement program at LAX, including transforming the traveler experience at Terminals 1, 2, 3, 6, Tom Bradley International Terminal, and the new Midfield Satellite Concourse.
Rosemarie Rodriguez
Director and Assistant General Counsel
MUFG Union Bank
Rosemarie Rodriguez is a senior leader with 20+ years of legal experience, all within the financial services industry. She is a member of the MUFG Union Bank, N.A. legal team and the lead attorney for the Transaction Banking Institutional Agency Services group, where she oversees legal matters for the business line
As part of her current role, Rodriguez steers leadership in the right direction as they navigate through complex laws and regulations while supporting the business unit’s growth. She also actively works to resolve fraud cases on behalf of the bank and its clients, an industry-wide issue with long time horizons that requires persistence and patience to bring to completion. Notably over the last 18 months, Rodriguez was the lead legal team member for MUFG Union Bank for the portfolio sale of MUFG Union Bank’s Debt Servicing and Securities Custody Services Client Portfolio to U.S. Bank, announced in early 2021.
Shari Wollman
Vice President and Assistant General Counsel
Mattel Inc.
Shari Wollman serves as vice president and assistant general counsel of Mattel Inc., owner of a portfolio of children’s and family entertainment franchises in the world. As the head of global litigation, advertising, and data privacy, Wollman manages Mattel’s portfolio of iconic brands, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, American Girl, Thomas & Friends, UNO, Masters of the Universe, Monster High, and MEGA, as well as other popular intellectual properties that the company owns or licenses in partnership with global entertainment companies.
She is responsible for managing worldwide litigation, advertising and marketing, data privacy, and product safety and leads a team of more than 25 attorneys, paralegals, managers, and administrative staff. She has also supervised the employment, ethics and compliance, and intellectual property practices at Mattel. She recently oversaw the successful appeal that ended the 15-year-old intellectual property dispute with MGA over ownership of the Bratz line of dolls.
CORPORATE COUNSEL OF THE YEAR – LARGE PRIVATE COMPANY
A. Joel Richlin
Vice President & General Counsel
Prime Healthcare
Joel Richlin is the vice president & general counsel for Prime Healthcare, an award-winning health system operating 45 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient locations in 14 states, providing over 2.6 million patient visits annually. Richlin’s leadership ensures consistent and sound legal advice to Prime Healthcare’s hospitals and medical groups.
Throughout the pandemic, Richlin has led the Legal Department’s response and provided tremendous support to the health system and its front-line caregivers. With a team of 30 attorneys across the country, the delivery of legal services had to be reinvented to coordinate amongst a geographically dispersed department with a mix of on-site and remote attorneys. Through Richlin’s dedicated leadership, the Legal Department was able to partner even more closely with its front-line caregiver clients to meet an ever-changing regulatory environment. This enabled Prime Healthcare to maintain access to care through an unprecedented spike in need for services.
Michael Speaker
General Counsel
City National Bank
In 2019, Michael Speaker took the reins as general counsel for City National Bank – a company known as the “bank to the stars” and one of LA’s most important institutions. He has successfully navigated new legal and regulatory waters as the bank has transformed, nearly doubling in size to $91 billion in assets from $51 billion when he joined. City National has more than 3,000 colleagues in downtown LA and a nearly 70-year history.
Speaker’s Legal and Corporate Administrative Group also has expanded since Speaker took over the team. As City National has grown, the bank has become subject to increased legal and regulatory expectations. The scope and demands of the Speaker’s role are very complex, and he plays an instrumental role in helping City National’s parent company, Royal Bank of Canada, navigate its regulatory and legal environment, too. Speaker has become an invaluable asset to both companies.
CORPORATE COUNSEL OF THE YEAR – MID-SIZED PRIVATE COMPANY
Brandon Braga
General Counsel
The Agency
As general counsel of The Agency, Brandon Braga holds an integral, multifaceted role. In addition to fostering a positive, solution-oriented environment, Braga is particularly proud to be a part of the firm’s uniquely collaborative company culture. In his role as general counsel, Braga is responsible for overseeing The Agency’s and its affiliate’s legal affairs, including litigation, intellectual property, corporate and franchising matters, as well as developing, implementing and overseeing risk management policies and procedures. Braga is also routinely consulted during significant business decisions.
A natural team player and a calm yet quick-thinking problem-solver, Braga learned early on that ensuring a positive outcome for clients requires being exceptionally detail-oriented. As The Agency rapidly expands with now more than 60 offices, Braga is integral in the success of the company. In addition to volunteering for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Braga is also actively involved with The Agency’s philanthropic partner, Giveback Homes.
Bill Shafton
VP, Business & Legal Affairs
Grindr
Bill Shafton has always been fascinated by the intersection of law in technology. As a teenager, he worked in law firms to apply leading-edge technology to develop scalable processes for document generation and matter management. After law school, Shafton joined an exceptional team of lawyers at Winston & Strawn, focusing on corporate restructuring & special situations.
In January 2017, Shafton was recruited to be Grindr’s first in-house lawyer. With his background as a legal technologist, his demonstrated success navigating complex regulatory and transaction matters, and his passion for having a positive impact, made Shafton a natural fit for a company that helps millions of marginalized people daily, in virtually every country, connect and thrive. As the world’s largest social network for the LGBTQ+ community, Shafton is proud to be leading Grindr in its journey to becoming a public company and continuing the next chapters of success.
CORPORATE COUNSEL OF THE YEAR – GROWING COMPANY
Todd J. Rosen
General Counsel
Main Street Advisors
Todd Rosen has a broad legal and finance background. He started as a corporate and tax lawyer at Irell & Manella LLP then left the law for a few years to work as an investment banker at Saybrook Capital focusing on financial restructurings and bankruptcy. After Saybrook, Rosen returned to the law joining Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, where he became partner. After 14 years, he joined Main Street Advisors as the firm’s first general counsel. Main Street Advisors serves as a strategic advisor to influential and accomplished people and businesses in media, music, entertainment and sports including LeBron James, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jimmy Iovine, Drake and Billie Eilish. At Main Street, Rosen has been involved in all aspects of the firm’s investment and legal functions and has been instrumental as Main Street has grown from $4 billion of AUM to over $8.5 billion of AUM.
Jaclyn Swe
General Counsel & Regional Director of Sales
Aptus Court Reporting
As general counsel for Aptus Court Reporting, Jaclyn Swe’s tenacious work ethic and legal grit have positioned the organization for continued success and growth. Her meticulous attention to detail and equitable approach to upholding the rule of the law has allowed Aptus to provide unmatched services to its many clients in the legal space while being audacious enough to evolve during a worldwide pandemic and yield historical revenue growth for the organization.
Swe has been able to overcome several obstacles, including negotiating, renegotiating, and exiting leases for Aptus’ various offices during the pandemic – all while still making space available for legal clients to conduct depositions and hearings without disruption to their own business operations. In addition, Swe was instrumental in helping the company recalibrate its service portfolio to offer more virtual services (depositions, video services, litigation support, etc.) for legal proceedings to continue without interruption.
CORPORATE COUNSEL OF THE YEAR – NONPROFIT/GOVERNMENT/ MUNICIPAL
Michael Lewis
SVP Business Affairs & General Counsel, Chief Corporate Development Officer
American Public Media Group
Michael Lewis serves as SVP of business affairs and general counsel, and chief corporate development officer at APMG, where he merges his passion for public radio, entertainment and media, business acumen and legal expertise to be the helm of a transforming and evolving organization and industry.
With public radio, award-winning journalism and podcasts, and live entertainment platforms, Lewis has not only raised the business profile of APMG and spearheaded some of the company’s largest-ever deals, but he also helped lead the changing industry as it emerges into multiple new platforms. Lewis’ vast business and operational experience positioned APMG’s law department as meaningful business partners, now seen as problem-solvers and collaborators. He oversees all business affairs, legal, governance, and compliance for all APMG companies, including Minnesota Public Radio, Southern California Public Radio, and The Fitzgerald Theatre, and APM programs, such as Marketplace, Live from Here, The Splendid Table, and BBC World Service.
Steven Rice
General Counsel
Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA)
Steve Rice practiced at private law firms at the highest level for more than 30 years. He has been general counsel of LACERA for nearly nine years and before that was general counsel of the San Diego Employees Retirement Association (SDCERA) for about four years at the same time as being a partner at national law firm Crowell & Moring law firm carrying a full case load. In his general counsel role, he oversees all corporate governance matters, statutory compliance, Jones Act matters, and disputes and litigation, as well as being the advisor and counselor to the Board. He is also involved in review of investment policy.
Rice’s work at LACERA and his previous work at SDCERA serve the community by protecting and maximizing the pension and retirement benefits of county employees in southern California. Rice’s work has helped preserve and maximizes these critical retirement benefits for public servants.
CORPORATE COUNSEL TO WATCH OF THE YEAR
Kristen Abajian
Corporate Counsel
Shryne Group, Inc.
Kristen Abajian plays a leading role in the legal department at Shryne Group, Inc., California’s largest cannabis company, where she serves as corporate counsel. Given the size and growth of Shryne, which was founded in 2019 and employs over 2,000 people, Abajian’s role and responsibility far exceed that of a typical first-year attorney.
Since joining Shryne as a junior corporate counsel in August 2021, Abajian has overcome numerous challenges, including lean in-house staffing and monumental deal flow, while guiding Shryne through uncharted waters as the largest privately held cannabis company in an industry that remains federally illegal. She skillfully navigated these obstacles and guided several transactions to a successful closing, including a May 2022 debt financing in which Shryne received a senior secured term loan of up to $170 million, the largest direct loan made to a private cannabis company.
Carter Goetz
In-House Counsel
Del Mar Seafoods
As a former mergers and acquisitions corporate attorney and mentor/legal partner for The Founders Institute, an organization that takes start-up leaders and helps them grow their business, Carter Goetz knew he wanted to focus his career on companies where he could make the greatest impact. In July 2021, he transitioned from being the corporate attorney Del Mar Seafoods hired for a potential M&A deal, to its in-house counsel, after falling in love with the industry. Here he is able to use his JD/MBA to help modernize commercial seafood business practices to benefit the industry and those who work in it.
Goetz works with MSC for certifications for the seafood industry to show how sustainable and ethical Del Mar Sea- foods’ fishery is, which benefits the LA area by increasing jobs. Goetz also works with labor agencies to ensure the company is bringing employment opportunities to the local community.
