Corporate Counsel

Michael Rowles, executive vice president and general counsel of Live Nation Entertainment Inc. HANDOUT. Live Nation Entertainment's legal chief for the last 20 years is making one of the slowest-ever exits from the stage, with Michael Rowles to star in a consulting role beginning Nov. 1 for potentially up to three years. "I've never heard of such a long arc," said Mike Evers, founder of Chicago-based recruiting firm Evers Legal.

Stuart Levey, executive vice president and chief legal officer of Oracle Corp. Courtesy photo Oracle Chief Legal Officer Stuart Levey received total compensation of nearly $15.5 million for fiscal 2026, a modest increase from the prior year as the technology giant navigated a leadership transition, expanded its cloud and artificial intelligence business and continued to confront a series of legal challenges.

Credit: Stocksnapper / Adobe Stock Food companies are facing a wave of lawsuits accusing them of deceiving consumers by marketing products as containing no added sugar even though they contain a low-calorie sugar called allulose. Class actions were filed in the Northern District of Illinois in September against California-based Trader Joe’s and Chicago-based ConAgra Brands, while Coca-Cola subsidiary BA Sports Nutrition faces a complaint in the Central District of California.

Don Riddick CLO of Luminance. Courtesy photo Don Riddick has joined contract intelligence provider Luminance as chief legal officer, adding a veteran technology and in-house lawyer to the executive team of a company that has become one of the most prominent players in the legal AI market.

L-R: Rebecca Goodman-Stephens, CEO of Moses & Singer; Tania Medina Bryant, chief cybersecurity & technology regulation counsel of Marsh; Nancy Hoffman, general counsel of New Tradition; and Theresa Shea, EVP, chief legal officer & corporate secretary of Utz Brands.

Courtney Nelson Wills, general counsel of nVent Electric. Courtesy photo. A day after her successor was named at diabetes care spinoff MiniMed Group, Courtney Nelson Wills has been announced as the new general counsel of fast-growing electrical products company nVent Electric. London-based nVent, which has its management offices in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, posted a 30% jump in sales last year, to $3.9 billion.

Credit: A Stockphoto/Adobe Stock Legal organizations have spent the past two years asking how AI can execute legal work more quickly. They are now confronting a more difficult question: how do they know that AI-enabled work is trustworthy? Most discussions answer that question by strengthening review. Add another approval. Require human oversight. Insist that a lawyer remain in the loop. Review matters.

After more than two decades on the trial bench and the California Court of Appeal reading briefs, listening to arguments and deciding cases, I have seen—to quote the classic Sergio Leone Western—"the good, the bad and the ugly.” One thing I know is that every attorney wants to position their clients for the best possible outcome. That's where neutral analysis can make a real difference.

Credit: Uuganbayar/Adobe Stock Several civil rulings have now recognized some work-product protection for AI-assisted litigation preparation. Most involved pro se litigants acting as both party and advocate; Tate, the only decision clearly involving a represented party, was mixed and expressly non-final.

Credit: stokkete/Adobe Stock As employers rush to incorporate artificial intelligence into their operations, many say they believe the technology will become a powerful organizing tool for unions. Yet few have updated the labor relations strategies they may need to address the resulting workforce concerns. That disconnect emerged as one of the central findings of 2026 Labor Survey Report, released Tuesday by Littler.