Come next year, General Motors will have a new general counsel, as Michael Millikin has decided to call it a day.
Millikin had come under fire as recently as this summer, when Congress took CEO Mary Barra to task for not firing him for his part of the February 2014 ignition switch recall, especially when five company lawyers under him were given the axe — a result of the publication of the Valukas report — but not he. Barra had this to say about him:
Mike has had a tremendous career, spanning more than 40 years, with the vast majority of it at GM. He has led global legal teams through incredibly complex transactions, been a trusted and respected confidant to senior management, and even led the company’s global business response team following the tragedy of 9/11.
Millikin served as GM’s general counsel since 2009, and has been with the automaker since 1977, when he was brought in from his previous role as an assistant attorney in the U.S. District Attorney’s Office in Detroit. He will remain in his position until the transition period for the new GC is complete.
GM has already begun an external search for his replacement.
“been a trusted and respected confidant to senior management”
I’m guessing that was the fireable offense. Or at least it should have been.
“been a trusted and respected confidant to senior management”
In other words he taught senior management how to cover their collective butts by throwing coworkers under the bus while getting away with murder
lie2me, that’s the job and responsibility for any corporate counsel, to minimize litigation and to manage risks to ensure minimum liability,in the interest of the owners and shareholders.
You can’t blame a man for doing the job he was hired to do.
I’d guess the opposite. He knows where the bodies are buried so he couldn’t be fired. Early retirement isn’t punishment.
I guess he wasn’t billing by the hour…
I’m sure there was additional compensation, possibly in the form of a severance package, delivered at the proper time, like right now.
From what I have read…he was part of the problem at G.M.
Cameron & company,
I’d be interested in reading a piece about GM’s 9/11 response team: what caused its creation, who was on the team, what was its goals, and what did it deliver?