Corporate Counsel General Electric

PAUL HIGGITT

CORPORATE COUNSEL - COMMERCIAL

404-***-**** ATLANTA GA 30329 ****@*******.*** HTTPS://WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/IN/PAULHIGGITT/

Summary

• Experienced General Corporate Counsel (major Wall Street and London law firms ) with 20+ years of cutting edge global Fortune 500 expertise complex general corporate, contract negotiation & management and legal operations management expertise.

• Expert in successfully applying innovative legal solutions to unique issues posed by emerging technologies and new global corporate business expansion initiatives

• Industry expertise includes: Software Services (SaaS), Digital Transformation, Information Technology, Ecommerce & Internet Services, Social Media, Digital Security, Telecommunications, Manufacturing, Broadcasting, Consumer Goods, Cable, Mobile Communications, Hi-Tech,, Transportation, Fiber Optics, Financial Services, Professional Services, Media & Entertainment, Hospitality, Pharmaceuticals, Biotech, Retail & Commercial Real Estate, Management Consulting, Legal Services,

• Past clients include Citibank, Microsoft, Mitsubishi UFJ, Citibank, Bank Of Boston, Toyota Finance, Banque Paribas, Credit Lyonnais, Aetna Insurance, Time Warner, News Corp, Nokia, Viacom CBS, Cox Enterprises, Sotheby's, Reuters, Novartis, British Telecom

• Technology expertise includes: Digital Communication, Data Storage, FinTech, Manufacturing Software, Hi Tech Healthcare (software & hardware), Medical Equipment, Consumer Electronics, Digital Game Software, advanced Cellular Technology, Satellite Compression Technology, Hi-Tech Medical Devices, Bio-Tech, Robotics (software & hardware), Video Telephony, Hi Definition TV, advanced Laser Technology, Digital Graphics & Imaging, Virtual Reality Software and Hardware, Digital Flat Screen Technology (including software) and Environmental Tech (irrigation and agricultural systems)

• McKinsey trained in strategic corporate management

• Senior business executive with direct P&L operating expertise - a lawyer who understands, from experience, practical and cost saving business priorities.

• Corporate Counsel for the Digital Transformation Division of a Major US Media Company . Managed and directed 100% of the group's legal business for 52 independent profit centers across multiple highly matrixed, cross-functional teams numbering over 120 people, boosting contract output by 78% and radically reducing external legal costs by 68% through streamlining of processes and standardization of contract formats bringing projects to completion 4 months ahead of schedule.

• International Team Leadership - Leading land motivating multi-cultural, multilingual (US, Japanese, Latin America, Europe, Asia) legal and cross-functional teams reporting directly to C Suite decision makers

Skills

20+ Years high level Fortune 500 General Corporate, Commercial & Technology Transaction legal expertise • Complex transactional Commercial & Technology Contract Agreement review, negotiation & drafting expertise including Technology Development & Licensing,Sales, Service, Distribution, Data & Content Licensing, Purchase, Software Licenses, Outsourcing Agreements (both information technology & business process), Procurement, Service & Supply, Franchise, Management & Shareholders, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), Joint Ventures, Partnership Agreements, NDAs, MSAs, Employment, Non-Competition, Agency, Copyright & IP, Loans, Financing, Agency, Confidentiality, Leases, Employee Stock Option & Incentive Agreements, Cost Sharing, Guarantees, Technology Transfer, Letters of Intent, Promissory Notes and Commercial Paper• Business Oriented Decision Maker• Complex Projects & Document Management • Strategy Formulation (McKinsey trained) • Applying cutting edge technology solutions to business and legal problems • Complex Contract Database Management • Data Privacy & Protection• Working Independently • Self Starter • Collaborative • Entrepreneurial • Pragmatic • Team Player • Provide Guidance to C Suite decision makers • Excellent Interpersonal Skills• Professionalism• Legal Operations Management • Professional Services Relationship Management • Building lasting Trusting Relationships• Exceptional Analytical & Critical Thinking Skills• Cost Benefit Analysis • Significant P&L Management Expertise • Oral & Written Communication • Outstanding Business & Legal Judgment • Legal Process Optimization • Exceptional Research Skills • Superior Communication Skills • Inspires Respect & Confidence • Contract Structuring & Negotiating • Multilingual • International Cultural Sensitivity • Internal Policy & Procedure Contract Compliance • Legal Compliance • Problem Solving • Comfortable with Ambiguity• Flexible under Pressure• Complex Due Diligence • Regulatory Compliance • Business Unit Advisory • Legal & Business Risk Assessment • Ability to persuade with confidence• Cross-Functional Team Management expertise (Legal, C-Suite, Operations, Marketing, Sales, Finance, Tax, Product Development)• Process Innovation•

Professional Experience

CAVANAGH GROUP ATLANTA GA 11/1998 – PRESENT

Consultant

Global Strategic Partnerships, International Operations, Contract Negotiation, Ecommerce

●Negotiate domestic and international media alliances and corporate data mobile application partnership agreements for global telecom giant Nokia including Sony, BMG, Time Warner, Universal, EMI/Virgin leading to an 8% increase in annual sales revenue.

●Developed corporate strategy and executed all business partnership contracts and corporate alliance development functions including revenue partnerships for a San Francisco based online digital calendar start-up. Deals negotiated with multiple internet companies and the interactive division of Rupert Murdoch's global satellite company Sky Broadcasting and German media company Bertelsmann

●Partner benchmarking, leadership communication, teams alignment,legal contract tracking and prioritization, alliance strategy plan development.

●Managing all legal compliance and local and international regulatory and technical compliance issues

●Worked collaboratively and cross-functionally with internal client senior executives in Product Development,Strategy, IT, Marketing, Finance, Sales and Operations groups to identify internal legal and operational needs

●Negotiate and draft all partner and supplier agreements. Preparation of quarterly partner contract adherence reports

●Performed all strategic contract, lead partnership contracts due diligence

●Market segment analysis, spearheaded real time trend and fact based competitive analysis,strategic plan development, and managing peer review process between internal and external partners /stakeholders

COX MEDIA (DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION DIVISION) ATLANTA GA 9/1997 – 11/1998

General Counsel

https://coxmedia.com/

[Largest privately held US Media company - $21 billion annual revenue and 55,000 employees https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cox_Enterprises ]

·Legal Operations management. P& L managed and directed 100% of the operations of the organization's legal department.

·Personally negotiated,manage and drafted hundreds of information technology and commercial contracts and agreements generated by the Group's multiple strategic operations on a daily basis including contract negotiation, all due diligence for 52 separate profit centers nationwide including supplier agreements,intellectual property / data protection agreements, real estate agreements, licensing agreements, services agreements, consulting agreements, sales agreements, employment and compensation contracts,NDA / confidentiality agreements, and contracts with outside vendors

·Joint Ventures and Alliances- personally negotiated and managed all technology and profit sharing alliances with major tech media companies including Microsoft, AOL, Knight Ridder, Hearst, Gannett, NBC and ABC). Complex deal negotiation, execution and alliance and operations management.

·Initiated a radical overhaul of the Group's legal management system spearheading a best practices initiative and scale optimization initiative that doubled outpoint within three weeks.

·As In-House counsel devised on all local, state and federal compliance issues

·Boosted legal contract output by 78% and significantly reduced external legal costs by 68% through extensive contract process efficiency improvements including contract templates and the establishment of an innovative contract life cycle management system. Managed all corporate development staff training improving technical skills.

·Streamlined established legal contract process metrics and procedures, initiating enhanced scalable contract tracking and contract compliance capabilities and standardization of contract formats.

CAVANAGH GROUP NEW YORK, NY 7/1995 - 8/1997

Consultant

●Lead all strategic partner Identification, positioning and acquisition contract negotiation initiatives for a local NY based Ecommerce and local internet content startup

●Saved company from certain demise by proposing and locating a strategic acquirer - $10 million deal.

●Formulated all strategic plans and conducted all dynamic partner due diligence, contract and risk analysis, contract negotiation and relationship management initiatives.

TIME WARNER / HBO NEW YORK, NY 4/1994 - 7/1995

Senior Vice President (International) - Strategic Alliances & New Operations

www.warnermedia.com www.hbo.com

·Built a network of new local TV stations in Europe with major global media partners. Launched Hamburg 1 TV station in Hamburg Germany ($25 million investment) 6 months ahead of schedule and 25% under budget.

·Worked on all legal and regulatory compliance matters collaboratively with US General and local European law firms in English, German & French. Extensive foreign travel.

·Government Regulatory Negotiation. Negotiated and won rare and valuable German broadcast license over stiff local competition.

·Managed multiple cross functional legal teams developing rigorous legal cost control metrics and innovative contract management process enhancements.

·Negotiated and drafted all global corporate development transactions, strategic partnerships,international joint ventures, contracts with all vendors, real estate contracts,statements of work and intellectual property protection contracts. Full P& L management expertise

VIACOM CBS NEW YORK, NY 7/1992 – 4/1994

Consultant (Global Partnerships & Strategy) to the President of Showtime Networks

www.viacomcbs.com

●International Strategy and Partnership Development- Developed global cable market joint venture strategy for, Showtime, leading US cable organization, for Europe, Latin America, Pacific Rim and Middle East reporting directly to the President leading to a 30% increase in cost saving associated with new market penetration and a 75% increase in response time. Worked closely with outside law firms and General Counsel.

●Complex Data Analytics, Market & Sales Analytics, Competitive Analytics - Formulated and produced a complex analytical data driven system enabling real time evaluation & prioritization of international partnership opportunities leading to a 30% reduction in new market penetration costs and a 75% increase in response time

MITSUBISHI UFJ / MUFG BANK NEW YORK,NY 3/1990- 6/1992

Senior Vice President - International Strategic Mergers & Acquisitions (N. America)

www.mufg.jp/english/ (FORMERLY TOKAI BANK)

[Largest Bank in Japan,5th in the World -Total Assets $3.4 trillion (2020) 13,000 Employees https://www.mufgamericas.com/ ]

·M&A Operations, Marketing, Cross-border Relationship Management Experience, Deal Research and Strategy - Managed all operations aspects and contract negotiation and legal compliance of the cross-border Strategic IP and software Alliances and M&A Investment Banking division of this major Japanese commercial bank. Grew operations from scratch into a world-class global deal-making concern.

·Collaborate closely with C Suite members of leading Japanese corporations and outside legal counsel to maintain consistent strategic vision. Extensive use of Microsoft office for financial modeling.

·International and cross-cultural Operations Management expertise- Led a group of 12 multinational professionals in US and coordinated efforts of 30 more in Japan. Full Profit and Loss responsibility and training for total group of 350.

·High impact Revenue Sourcing – Led an integrated US M&A market penetration strategy leading to a 200% increase in annual revenues and a six-fold increase in Group's annual deal flow

MCKINSEY & COMPANY NEW YORK, NY & LONDON, UK 6/1988 - 1/1990

Consultant (Financial Institutions Group)

www.mckinsey.com

●Domestic Operations Management and C Suite Advisory - Completed a comprehensive organization diagnostic study or total overhaul of lending, capital markets and international operations for the Bank of Boston, a major U.S. regional bank leading to cost savings of over 38 % and increased profits of 28% over two years.

●Insurance Operations Improvement & Project Management – Restructured the competitive strategic vision, value delivery models, internal policies & client relationship / marketing plans for Axia, the Property and Casualty insurance claims division of Aetna Insurance leading to a 26% increase in revenues, a 30% reduction in processing costs and a 36% increase in customer satisfaction.

DENTONS NEW YORK NY 7/1987 – 6/1988

US Corporate Attorney- Debt & Equity Refinancing

www.dentons.com (formerly Sonnenschein Carlin Nath & Rosenthal)

[World's 5th l largest Law Firm Annual Revenue: $2.89 billion Number of Attorneys: 10,000+ Global 0ffices: 190 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dentons]

·Complex Debt and Equity Financing- Managed and negotiated all legal aspects of the the $180,000,000 Macy’s complex securitized commercial paper refinancing contract for Citibank increasing its liquidity by 18% and reducing its borrowing costs by 22%.

PAUL,WEISS RIFKIND WHARTON & GARRISON NEW YORK, NY 3/1985 – 7/1987

US Corporate Attorney - Strategic Alliances and Mergers & Acquisitions

www.paulweiss.com [Leading Wall Street law firm [Annual Revenue: $1.4 billion (2019) 1,000+ Attorneys]

Mergers & Acquisitions- Complex Contract Management

·Solely managed and negotiated all legal contracts associated with the $45,000,000 Leveraged buy out of California based concrete company by AEA Investors, a leading NYC based investor group achieving IRR rates of 85%

·Member of 20 lawyer team selected to manage the $ 2 billion Fox / Metromedia the complex asset purchase acquisition of 5 TV stations by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Managed and oversaw the execution of hundreds of separate legal contracts

·Negotiated, structured and closed all the contracts associated with the $50,000,000 tender offer for computer publishing corporation by Thomson Reuters. Performed all due diligence,non-disclosure and legal analysis. Maintained daily correspondence with client counsel.

HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS LONDON, UK 7/1981 – 1/1984

UK Attorney – International Corporate Law

www.herbertsmithfreehills.com

[Major Global Law Firm specializing in Litigation, International Corporate Law [Annual Revenues: $1.4 billion (2019) Number of Attorneys: 2100 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Smith]

·International commercial legal transactions- spearheaded all legal matters including legal research,drafting, negotiating and structuring of international joint venture contracts, global employment agreements,partner distribution contracts & supply side licensing contracts for major companies such as General Electric and Novartis.

·Infrastructure Regulatory Compliance Legal Advisory- collaborate and advised senior management as to the legal, regulatory & financing options associated with the establishment of national fiber optic system for British Telecom and of European operations and local UK partner alliances for major European financial institutions banking corporations e.g. Credit Lyonnais and Banque Paribas

·Merger and Acquisitions White Knight Partner Due Diligence and Hostile Takeover Defense – Member of the team charged with protecting Sotheby’s, the world famous auction house, from hostile takeover and selecting a US white knight partner

·International Anti-Trust- Advising major global corporations as to the application of European Community Anti-Trust regulations pursuant to Articles 101 (anti-competitive agreements) and 102 (Abuse of a Dominant Position) of the TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union).

Education

OXFORD UNIVERSITY,UK

·Law (fully US accredited Juris Doctor)

·Masters (Law)

Professional Qualifications

·US Corporate Attorney (New York State Bar)

·UK Attorney (UK Bar)

Languages

·English, French, Portuguese, German

Digital Skills

·Microsoft Office / Microsoft 365- Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Teams, OneNote, OneDrive Outlook

PandaDocs Agiloft Concord Outlaw Docusign Zoom Microsoft Teams Westlaw LexisNexis Adobe Acrobat Open Office DropBox Google Drive Skype

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