Eight people overseeing the legal affairs of a nearly $11 billion business means there’s always work to do.
How the eight-person legal team of Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp.—where, by the numbers, each lawyer supports over $1 billion in revenue for the business unit of Louisville, Ky.-based Yum Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM)—manages that kind of workload was one of the reasons the group was honored at the Business Journal’s 10th annual General Counsel Awards.
The group was presented the In-House Legal Team Award during the Nov. 13 event at Hotel Irvine (see stories on the other winners, pages 1, 4, 6, and 8).
‘Incredibly Lean’
Not only does the fast-food chain’s legal department run efficient, they also handle quite the range, from labor issues to licensing contracts with companies outside the traditional food services space—and everything under the sun related to the company’s aggressive and sometimes quirky marketing efforts (Taco Bell hotel, anyone?).
“Taco Bell is really [a] landmark in Orange County. They employ thousands of people in the state of California and their legal team is incredibly lean,” said Virginia Miller, a shareholder in the Newport Beach office of civil litigation firm Call & Jensen APC. “They really, on some level, are a reflection of so many different law firms.”
Miller, who nominated the Taco Bell team, pointed to the company’s lawyers’ various backgrounds before going in-house, including Global Chief Legal Officer Julie Davis and her start at Irell & Manella LLP.
In fact, the relationship between the company and its outside counsel partnerships is what Davis called out in her acceptance speech before her peers in the legal community during the Business Journal’s awards event.
“Sometimes, the days are long and the issues are challenging when you don’t know the law in Australia or there’s a new California regulation that comes out called AB5, and you’re wondering what does that mean for you in so many areas,” Davis said.
“We know that we have you, outside counsel, to help us.”
Innovation Requires Engagement
Taco Bell’s aggressive push to be innovative on the marketing front has also drummed up interesting projects for the legal department, with recent accomplishments that included the company’s first ever hotel activation in Palm Springs in August, called The Bell.
There’s also been licensing deals for clothing and other merchandise sold on its online store, called the Taco Shop, in addition to a one-year contract with T-Mobile.
Kiosks for ordering at restaurants also required the work of the legal team so that more than 7,000 restaurants will have the technology by the end of the year.
All of that’s on top of the usual business of opening new restaurants, assisting franchisees and employee issues.
Call & Jensen’s Miller recalled a matter from earlier this year that was ultimately settled outside of court as just one example of the legal team’s competency and effectiveness.
“They’re a great client to work for,” Miller said. “They’re engaged. They’re responsive. We strategize together. They’re business minded, but they’re not necessarily going to roll over and just settle a case because they don’t want to deal with it anymore.”
