The G-word in this case means “… a culture that has combined legal and business skills, technical knowledge, and a team approach to problem-solving…”
This according to Google VP and Deputy GC Miriam Rivera, as reported by Hispanic Business Magazine in a recent article. A related story on law.com is here.
Ms. Rivera has been described as the COO of the Google legal department, which now numbers 160 lawyers. She also has a very interesting and varied experience base (no, not this one):
Raised by a single mother in Chicago, Ms. Rivera won scholarships to Stanford University. She earned degrees in sociology and Spanish, then a combination law degree and MBA from Stanford Law School and Stanford Graduate School of Business.
After school, Ms. Rivera worked as a strategy consultant for Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and as an associate in the business and technology practice at the dot-com law firm of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison. Later she co-founded On Your Mind (also known as Outcome Software), a venture capital-backed business software company. Prior to joining Google, she worked as in-house counsel for Silicon Valley-based software maker Ariba Inc.
While the article mentions that Ms. Rivera was cited by Corporate Counsel magazine last year as one of 10 corporate attorneys most likely to become a Fortune 500 GC in the next five years, I’m not so sure.
After being the DGC of a company that went from $85 million in revenues to $8 billion over a short time, what’s the allure of the Fortune 500?
For Ms. Rivera, who is a finalist 2006 Hispanic Business Magazine Woman of the Year award, the sky may be no limit.
