Conversations with Bob Mundheim, Speaker Series with National Leaders in Business and Law to Begin on February 6
The popular annual speaker series from professor of Corporate Law and Finance Robert Mundheim, Conversations with Bob Mundheim returns this semester and welcomes its first guest on Monday, February 6.
Mundheim moderates informal conversations with national leaders in business and law, relating their experiences in and perspectives about corporate governance, markets, ethics, and career development. The series is free and open to the public and will be of particular interest to law and business students.
All sessions take place noon-1:15 p.m. at University of Arizona Law, registration is required, please RSVP to Shannon Walker to reserve your spot.
2023 Schedule
February 6: David Leitch
David G. Leitch retired as Vice Chair of Bank of America in 2022. He was Global General Counsel at the bank in 2016–21, responsible for overseeing the company’s legal functions globally. Prior, Leitch was General Counsel and Group Vice President at Ford Motor Company (2005–15). Previously, he served in the White House as Deputy Counsel to President George W. Bush; as Chief Counsel for the Federal Aviation Administration; as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel; and as a partner with Hogan & Hartson, LLP (now Hogan Lovells). Leitch served as law clerk to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, as well as to federal appellate judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III. Leitch is a former chair of the Supreme Court Fellows Commission, appointed by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.
February 13: Michele Coleman Mayes
A member of the Board of Directors of Gogo, Inc., Michele Coleman Mayes is vice president, general counsel, and secretary for the New York Public Library. Previously, she served as executive vice president and general counsel for Allstate Insurance Company, as a senior vice president and general counsel of Pitney Bowes Inc. (2003–07), and in several legal capacities at Colgate-Palmolive (1992–2003). From 1976 through 1982, she served in the U.S. Department of Justice as an Assistant U. S. Attorney in Detroit and Brooklyn, eventually assuming the role of Chief of the Civil Division in Detroit. She formerly chaired the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession. She is co-author of the book Courageous Counsel: Conversations with Women General Counsel in the Fortune 500.
February 20: Eric F. Grossman
Eric F. Grossman is Morgan Stanley’s Chief Legal Officer and Chief Administrative Officer and a member of the firm’s operating and management committees. As Chief Administrative Officer he is responsible for Community Affairs, Corporate Affairs, Global Sustainable Finance, and the Multicultural Client Strategy Group. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 2006 as global head of litigation, he was a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell. He clerked for the Honorable Richard J. Cardamone, U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, from 1993 to 1994. He is the president of the board of directors of Advocates for Children of New York. He also co-chairs the New York State Business Council for Access to Justice and is a vice chair of the Serve America Movement.
February 27: Anne Gates
Anne Gates retired in 2017 as president of MGA Entertainment, the largest privately held global toy company in the United States. Prior she spent more than 20 years at the Walt Disney Company, in various roles including executive vice president and CFO of the Consumer Products Division, based in Los Angeles, and Managing Director for Consumer Products Europe and Emerging Markets, based in London. In 2010, she was named to the Power List of Britain’s 100 most influential Black people. Currently, she is an active board director, spanning diverse industries, including Kroger, Tapestry, Inc., Cynosure, Raymond James Financial as well as multiple nonprofit boards. In fall 2021, Gates was named to the NACD Directorship 100.
March 13: Travis Laster
The Honorable J. Travis Laster was sworn in as Vice Chancellor of the Court of Chancery in October 2009. Prior to his appointment, he was one of the founding partners of Abrams & Laster LLP, a corporate law boutique specializing in high stakes litigation involving Delaware corporations and other business entities and advising on transactional matters carrying a significant risk of litigation. Before forming Abrams & Laster, he was a director in the Corporate Department of Richards, Layton & Finger P.A. Previously, he clerked for the Honorable Jane R. Roth of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Delaware State Bar Association, and the Rodney Inn of Court.
March 20: Victoria Mars
Victoria Mars is Chairperson for The Salzburg Global Seminar based in Washington, D.C. and Salzburg, Austria, as well as The Center for Large Landscape Conservation in Bozeman, Montana. She is a retired former Chairperson and member of the Board of Directors for Mars, Inc., and served the company for more than three decades in a variety of operating and management roles, culminating in her design and leadership of the Mars Ombudsman program. A graduate of Yale University and the Wharton School of Business, she is also a recipient of the Heineken Award and the Ambassador Wilkins Award, recognizing outstanding contributions in business, philanthropy, sustainability and cultural relations between The Netherlands and the U.S.
April 10: John J. Cannon III
John Cannon is a senior member of the Compensation, Governance and ERISA Group and co-chair of Shearman & Sterling’s Corporate Governance Advisory Group. In his practice, he focuses on all aspects of compensation and benefits, including ERISA and corporate, securities, bankruptcy, employment, and tax laws. He has extensive experience in executive compensation and corporate governance matters, Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley, and the compensation issues raised in the mergers and acquisitions context. Cannon joined Shearman & Sterling in 1985 and became a partner in 1994. He is a member of the American Law Institute and serves as an Adviser to the Restatement of the Law of Corporate Governance.