Potbelly Promotes Former Wendy’s Lawyer Dixon to Legal Chief

Potbelly Corp. has a new top lawyer in Adiya Dixon, a former Big Law associate who left the in-house legal world two years ago to start her own women’s beauty brand.

The Chicago-based sandwich chain on Tuesday announced Dixon’s hire as chief legal officer and corporate secretary. She succeeds Potbelly’s longtime law department leader, Matthew Revord, who stepped down Dec. 18.

Dixon joined Potbelly last month as a senior vice president and senior legal counsel before being promoted, the company said.

“It is an honor to join our hardworking franchisees and over 6,000 Potbelly associates that serve warm, delicious food and comfort to our communities,” Dixon said in a statement announcing her hire.

The former corporate associate at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York wasn’t immediately available to discuss her new role.

Dixon reunites with Robert Wright, a former executive at fast food rival the Wendy’s Co. who was hired by Potbelly in July as president and CEO. Dixon spent nearly five years in-house at Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy’s, where she served as both a corporate counsel and international counsel.

Revord, who was Potbelly’s sole in-house lawyer, had worked at the company since 2007 and helped take it public in 2013. Potbelly disclosed Revord’s resignation in a Nov. 9 securities filing. He didn’t return a request for comment about his exit.

Potbelly gave over $1.3 million in total compensation—including almost $820,000 in cash—to Revord in 2019, according to a proxy statement filed by the company for that fiscal year. He sold nearly $36,000 in Potbelly stock in September, securities filings show. Bloomberg data indicates Revord still owns $911,000 in company stock.

Revord’s departure came after the struggling sandwich maker reported a 30% slide in third quarter sales and announced a corporate restructuring plan. The latter involves “staff reductions above the shop level” and the closure of up to 30 of Potbelly’s roughly 440 stores, according to the company.

Yubi Beauty

Dixon, before rejoining Wright at Potbelly, had left Wendy’s, the company where he was once COO, to launch her own business called Yubi Beauty.

TIME Magazine called the e-commerce company that sells a patented makeup brush and sponge for women one of the best innovations of 2018.

Dixon, who serves as Yubi’s founder and CEO, has said previously that as a working Black mother of two she was inspired by her grandmother, a New Jersey beautician, to put her legal career on hold and embark on the endeavor.

Potbelly said Dixon also started her own legal consulting company. Her LinkedIn profile states that for the past year she ran AAD Squared, which until this month provided cross-border mergers and acquisitions and due diligence counsel to clients.

In a statement, Potbelly’s new leader Wright called Dixon a “terrific attorney with the broad business experience that is a perfect fit for Potbelly’s needs as we exit this pandemic and return our focus to driving top-line growth.”

Belt Tightening

Potbelly was one of many national restaurant chains this year to receive financial rescue funds from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program.

The company agreed to return an initial $10 million SBA loan in April, but ongoing business complications related to Covid-19 led the company to accept another $10 million PPP payment in August.

In May, citing an analysis from a consulting firm, Bloomberg News reported that Potbelly was among several national restaurant chains facing an elevated risk of bankruptcy. Potbelly sought to avoid that fate by reportedly hiring restructuring counsel to renegotiate hundreds of store leases.

In mid-November, trade publication Restaurant Business reported that Potbelly had been sued over the summer by the landlord for its Chicago headquarters after allegedly failing to pay more than $800,000 in rent and related fees.

Potbelly, which court records show is being represented by Chicago’s Kozacky Weitzel McGrath in that dispute, claims it’s entitled to rent relief for being unable to use that office as a result of stay-at-home orders in Illinois related to Covid-19.

Sidley Austin and Mayer Brown advised Potbelly in its settlement of a proxy fight earlier this year with activist investors led by Vann Avedisian. Both law firms also counseled Potbelly in 2018 on a similar agreement with hedge fund Privet Fund Management LLC. Mayer Brown advised Potbelly on its initial public offering, while Sidley took the lead for underwriters on that listing.