In early June, Corporate Counsel announced CPBO Challenge® signatory, The Clorox Company**, as one of four 2017 Best Legal Departments. The awardees were selected based on success stories indicating the department has been integral in leading innovation and change.
According to Corporate Counsel’s write-up on Clorox’s award, Cleaning up with Clorox’s Legal Team, the department received the award in part because of its knack for successfully collaborating with the company’s business side. “Our hallmark is partnering with business,” says Laura Stein, Clorox’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel and CPBO’s Advisory Board Co-Chair, “The global legal implications of doing business today gives us a seat at the table.” Members of Stein’s legal department co-lead Clorox programs on topics such as global privacy, cybersecurity, and enterprise management.
In addition to significant collaboration, the department was commended for its commitment to driving positive change in the legal profession through pro bono work and efforts to increase diversity. Under American Bar Association standards, the Clorox legal team is 75 percent diverse, and Stein herself chairs the national Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, an organization of more than 265 corporate legal officers and law firm managing partners dedicated to creating a diverse legal profession.
In addition to diversity in the legal profession, the Clorox legal team works to improve the legal profession through pro bono work. In 2016, Clorox attorneys provided pro bono services through a number of projects. Volunteers partnered with the East Bay Community Law Center to expunge criminal records and provided guidance on copyright and trademark issues for clients of California Lawyers for the Arts.
In giving the award, Corporate Counsel also mentioned Mark Danis, Gillian Thackray, and Angela Hilt, leaders of Clorox’s legal team, for such notable work as winning a case that could have affected many producers of consumer goods, working closely with a business unit on critical patent protections, and broadening Clorox’s reach into the health care industry through the acquisition of RenewLife.
The PBEye congratulates Clorox for its award along with First Data, IBM, and PETA Foundation, and commends the legal department for its continued commitment to pro bono and driving diversity in the legal profession.
** denotes a Corporate Pro Bono Challenge® signatory