In-House Counsel: Working With Outside Firms

Michael Ross

Consultant
Altman Weil, Inc.

Michael C. Ross has an associate relationship with Altman Weil, Inc. He provides consulting services to corporate law departments in the areas of managing major transactions, law department organization, managing compliance programs, marketing, ethics and conflict of interest issues.

Prior to joining Altman Weil, Michael C. Ross was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Safeway Inc. Beginning in 1993, he was responsible for Safeway's legal affairs in the United States and Canada, as well as security, risk management and environmental, health and safety. Before he retired as an executive officer in May 2000, Mr. Ross successfully managed Safeway's acquisitions of The Vons Companies, Inc. (1997), Dominick's Supermarkets, Inc. (1998), Carr-Gottstein Foods, Co. (1999), and Randall's Food Markets, Inc. (1999). He continues to oversee the company's major acquisitions and successfully managed the acquisition of Genuardi's Family Markets, Inc. (2001).

As General Counsel, Mr. Ross supervised both the legal and real estate law divisions, which included approximately 25 attorneys. He was responsible for annual budgets in excess of $5 million for internal expenses and in excess of $10 million of outside expenses.

Prior to joining Safeway, Mr. Ross was a partner at the law firm of Latham & Watkins where he specialized in corporate mergers and acquisitions, and participated in numerous transactions in a wide variety of industries. He served on the Recruiting Committee and as Chairman of the Finance Committee.

Mr. Ross teaches seminars in the practical aspects of corporate mergers and acquisitions at the University of Virginia School of Law and the University of California School of Law (Boalt Hall). He has also serves on panels for Stanford's Directors' College.

Mr. Ross graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1977 and received his bachelor's degree with honors from the University of Virginia in 1970. He served in the U. S. Navy from 1970 to 1974, completing the last two years of service as a Lieutenant and the Operations Officer of the USS Truckee.

Robert L. Bordon

Deputy General Counsel
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
CA

Education:

Laura Dorman

Vice President and Senior Counsel
Citibank (West) FSB

Laura J. Dorman is Vice President and Senior Counsel for Citibank (West), FSB. Ms. Dorman is responsible for supervising Citibank (West)'s consumer litigation.

Ms. Dorman received undergraduate and master's degrees from Stanford University and her law school degree from the University of Southern California. Following a clerkship for a federal district court judge, she joined a law firm where, as a shareholder, she specialized in commercial litigation. She has also served on the faculty of Golden Gate University School of Law, and has lectured for such organizations as the Continuing Education of the Bar and the American College of Mortgage Attorneys.

Robert Gordon

Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Safeway Inc.
Pleasanton, CA

Bob Gordon is Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Safeway Inc., which is headquartered in Pleasanton. He joined Safeway in 1999. Before that, he was a partner at Pillsbury Madison & Sutro (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman). He is a graduate of Yale University and University of Virginia Law School, and he served as a law clerk to Judge James R. Browning of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

Linda Blackwell Williams

Managing Counsel for Information Technology and Real Estate Legal Services
Chevron Corporation

Linda is Managing Counsel for Information Technology and Real Estate Legal Services at Chevron Corporation. In that position, she counsels ChevronTexaco clients on issues such as data privacy, computer forensics, corporate internet usage policies, and licensing and consulting agreements.

Linda joined Chevron in September 1989 and became Assistant General Counsel for Chevron Products Company in 1993, taking responsibility for the company's litigation docket nationwide. Her responsibilities included direct management of toxic tort docket for all Chevron companies; oversight and direct management of the company's significant litigation; counseling on Human Resources matters; and leading a cross-company litigation management team reporting directly to the Corporate Vice President and General Counsel.

In 1997 Linda returned to the Corporation as Chief Trial Counsel ¿ San Francisco, to manage the west coast litigation group. In 1999 she expanded her management responsibilities to include the Corporation Law¿s Real Estate Group. She moved into her current position after the 2001 merger between Chevron and Texaco.

Linda graduated from UC Davis' Martin Luther King School of Law in 1980. She held the position of Deputy District Attorney in Alameda County from 1980-1985. During that time, she conducted over 150 preliminary examinations, ranging from petty theft to death penalty cases, and tried over 70 court and jury trials to verdict.

Linda entered private practice in January 1985 at the law firm of Fisher & Hurst in San Francisco, handling toxic tort, product liability and employment cases. She developed expertise in toxic tort litigation and administered a caseload of 2,500 such cases. As a result she spent 80% of her time in court trying cases, arguing law and motion or negotiating multi-million dollar settlements.