General Electric GC: Show Courage or Go Home

Brackett Denniston III, Senior Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel for General Electric Company , spoke to Big Law Business about his hiring preferences and why he places a premium on lawyers who show the “courage” to work 18- to 20-hour days to complete a complex transaction.

The first segment of a three-part series deals with the evolution of General Electric’s in-house law department and what qualities Denniston seeks out in his legal team.

Part I Excerpts:

“Ben Heineman, my predecessor, began the revolutionary process of hiring people who were partner-level lawyers out of the government and giving them jobs, rather than hiring them internally.” ...