Daily Diary

In-housers of Parliament

Posted 18/10/2006 by legalweekblogs.com SU

The march of the general counsel to world domination continues apace.

Former Texaco and Coca Cola legal chief Deval Patrick has upped the ante yet further for ‘increasingly influential general counsel’ everywhere by adding an unexpected new chapter to his twisty-turny career.

Patrick, who left the drinks giant last year, is running as the Democrat candidate to be the new governor of Massachusetts, having last month seen off competition from a rival lawyer and a venture capitalist to win his party’s primary. Next month he takes on Republican nominee Kerry Murphy Healey and will be hoping the all-pervasive influence of the Association of Corporate Counsel can swing the ballot in his favour.

Should he succeed, Patrick will have conclusively disproved those small-minded cynics who cruelly suggest a move in-house limits your career options once the thrill of the boardroom (or the junior management committee in charge of biscuit procurement) has worn off.

Time will tell whether many UK general counsel harbour burning political ambitions, although The Diary hereby pledges its full backing to Barclays general counsel Mark Harding when he runs for Mayor of London in 2008.