Education: 1978: J.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School; 1975: A.B. (Economics), Rutgers University.

Career in Brief: 2010–present: New York Football Giants, Inc., Senior Vice President and General Counsel; 1999–2010: McCarter & English, LLP, Partner; 1986–1999: Hannoch Weisman, P.C., Partner; 1978–1986: Stryker, Tams & Dill, LLP (1986: Partner).

Location of Company HQ: East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Primary Industry Sector: Sports (National Football League franchise).

Number of Employees Worldwide: 225.

Number of Attorneys Worldwide: One.

Law Department Locations: Corporate headquarters in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

How is the legal function structured? I am the only in-house lawyer for the Giants. We work closely with the NFL’s legal staff and we rely on outside counsel when needed. I report directly to the ownership of the Giants.

What legal issues are keeping you the busiest at the moment? Our privacy and HIPAA compliance efforts have increased with the transition to electronic medical records. Much of what we do involves the health and well-being of our players.

Additionally, a lot of time is spent on employment and workplace conduct issues that relate not only to recent events in the news, but also to the day-to-day HR functions that a large enterprise encounters. Because we are a closely held business, some of these issues are magnified due to the close working relationships within and between departments.

Have any recent legal developments changed the way your department operates? The increased attention on HIPAA-HITECH compliance by the NFL, the Giants, and federal and state authorities responsible for enforcement of these laws necessitates that we touch base on potential HIPAA issues under many new and renewed contracts with service providers to the team, ranging from doctors to diagnostic laboratories and records repositories. Closely related to that subset of privacy issues are the broader privacy and potential data breach issues that every business needs to be addressing.

What types of issues will cause you to turn to outside counsel? I use outside counsel for a variety of matters, including HIPAA regulatory and compliance issues and certain employment issues, particularly those arising under the recently amended Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family Medical Leave Act, as well as complex litigation and corporate transactional matters.

How do you align the incentives of external law firms with the objectives of the law department? Proving that I have made the leap from private practice, in my current role I am not concerned with the incentives of the external firms I use. Their incentive should match mine — to perform the best possible legal services at a reasonable price and help me advance the goals of the business. A firm that adopts that as its incentive will get my attention. A firm that is focused on its billable hours, realization, profits per partner and the like will not.

What three things does a law firm need to do to impress you? First, be responsive. This means real responsiveness as opposed to sending a temporizing communication that really tells me only that I am in the queue.

Second, have expertise at the partner level so that I can get answers, rather than lengthy (expensive) and unnecessary legal analysis. Stated differently, I am impressed by partners who know their subject matter thoroughly and who have experienced issues like mine so that I can move forward with a business and legal decision.

Finally, bill reasonably, and not for every e-mail or phone call. The firm should have some skin in the game and take the time to get to know my business, issues and concerns on their own dime.

If not an attorney, what would you wish to be? A college professor because I love teaching. I have taught several law school and college classes and hope to do more.

What one piece of advice would you give to a prospective General Counsel? I strongly recommend that anyone seeking to take a general counsel position right out of private practice should evaluate and understand the company and its culture before taking the plunge. This means performing due diligence in advance of accepting the offer and during the discussions of the new position. In the process, understand not only the official hierarchical reporting relationships, but also the “unofficial” and underlying relationships and workflows that really get the work of the business done.