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…
mike's blog 
Is there an RSS feed?
Good job; welcome to the party…
Right on, great to have you blogging!
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…
Hi Mike, welcome to our number. Your insights will be a welcome addition!
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
Is that pic one of you surfing or kayaking?
Hi there, is there any chance of sending me a link to / more info on the “Reebok Rules” ? sound very interesting. Thanks
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!!
Hi! am a ‘freshie’ in the world of corporate counsel..would very much like to know more about “Reebok rules”. Thanks!
Mike, I would like to read “Reebok’s Rules”. Can you direct me to a place where I can find them?
thanks.
Joe
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.)
Welcome to the blogosphere. I look forward to your posts.