During his time working at law firms and in-house at Micron Technology, attorney Rob Beard says he loved handling deals.
But when Beard was promoted to general counsel at Micron two years ago, the experienced M&A lawyer says he realized he needed to step back from day-to-day involvement with transactional work.
While he acknowledges letting go of tasks he very much enjoyed was difficult, he says it afforded him the chance to provide strategic direction as a legal department leader.
“There are good reasons to get out of the day-to-day work on any deal or any matter and sit above it and think about how the deal or the transaction or the matter impacts the entire company,” Beard says. “It's hard to do that while you're also in the day to day.”
Beard made these comments a few months ago while participating in a Weil, Gotshal & Manges interview series that features alumni of the law firm. Beard previously worked as a Weil associate focused on M&A and capital markets transactions.
Earlier this month, Beard was named Mastercard’s chief legal officer, general counsel and head of global policy.
Beard, who joined Micron in 2014 and served as its primary M&A lawyer for a period, became the GC of the semiconductor company in 2021. It was his first time serving as a general counsel.
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