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 > > > > _______________________________________________ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > -- Samuel Klein identi.ca:sj w:user:sj +1 617 529 4266 _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
