Google In-House Lawyers Find Unusual Perks, Groundbreaking Work

Launched from a garage by two students, Google has grown to become the Internet's biggest success story. Legal Week's Michelle Madsen talks to European general counsel Nigel Jones about the paradox at his company's heart.

Judging by its unofficial jeans and t-shirt uniform, colorful logo and offices packed with games and pets, you could be fooled into thinking that the world's biggest Internet company still sees itself as an extension of a college common room. But under the seemingly casual exterior lies a very serious company indeed.

And Google's legal team is no exception to the rule. European general counsel Nigel Jones is a mix of affable informality and sharp intellect. As Google's first lawyer outside California, Jones has built up the legal department to almost 45 in Europe, the Middle East and the African region since he joined in 2003 from rival search engine AltaVista, and heads up the in-house team from its offices in Victoria, central London.

A Dream Job?

Finding the right sort of lawyer to fit Google's playful ethos yet steely business sense is ' judging by the army of recruiters assigned to the job ' a challenge. This is not due to a lack of any interest on the part of candidates, according to Jones, but because it takes a very particular sort of person to fit the Google mould.

'We have a very diverse team in terms of interests and backgrounds,' says Jones, explaining that each lawyer is the initial point of contact for a different area of the business, although which lawyer ends up dealing with a matter is flexible.

Keeping its small-company culture intact in the face of rapid expansion is a priority for Google's management (the company's staff has increased four-fold over the past three years to a current tally of around 14,000).

Prospective Google lawyers can expect up to 15 interviews, including one with one of the company's founders, as a final hurdle before getting the job.

Over the past year, Jones, who reports to U.S.-based general counsel Kent Walker, has conducted a lengthy search for new members of the team and is now hunting for the right lawyers for Google's Amsterdam, Madrid, Zurich, Milan and Moscow arms, establishing a legal function in all these major cities.

It is not difficult to see why lawyers are lining up to work at Google. Although the company's central London offices might not have the space to accommodate the gym, swimming pool and volleyball court that its U.S. headquarters ' the celebrated Googleplex in Mountain View, CA ' houses, Google's UK lawyers still enjoy three free meals a day, travel subsidies and gym membership. On top of that, staff can bring their dogs to the office, are given a budget to decorate their work area and Google sporadically doles out useful seasonal gifts like free branded bikes and tents to its employees.

Another Google peculiarity is the much-discussed '20% time,' which theoretically allows all employees, including lawyers, to spend a fifth of their time on projects or devising ideas outside their usual remit. In London, members of the team are yet to come up with the next industry-changing innovation, but have got involved in various projects including Google Grants ' a scheme that allows charities free online advertising ' and Google.org, the company's philanthropic arm.

Aside from the perks, lawyers at Google are safe in the knowledge that they have a wealth of groundbreaking work on their plates. Each member of the team is assigned to a different product, such as Google Maps or YouTube, but will also specialize in a certain practice area.

Jones says the department is organized on a flat structure, dispensing with titles, while lawyers work with the business on a day-to-day basis.

This sort of commercial proximity is, according to Jones, key to the way that Google's lawyers are seen by the rest of the business. He comments: 'The members of the legal team at Google are viewed more as facilitators than gatekeepers.'

Other members of Jones' team include former Slaughter and May lawyer Trevor Callaghan, who joined Google in Oct. 2005 as senior product counsel, and Cindy Yip, a legal counsel looking after commercial contracts, who moved from Simmons & Simmons last year.

Until recently, Google has had a strict policy of recruiting lawyers with a passion for IT more typically associated with programmers, engineers and coders. But Jones concedes that Google's rapidly expanding business means there are spaces opening up in the team for lawyers who can continue their level of technology with a more traditional corporate leaning ' people capable of supporting a $10.6 billion business in its growing media-focused interests. As the firm expands abroad, Google can also be less reliant on its traditional U.S. advisers, Palo Alto, CA-based Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Wall Street leader Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

'As we do more deals with broadcasters and publishers, it is interesting for us to have lawyers who come from and understand those industries,' says Jones. 'But first and foremost, they have to understand and be enthusiastic about technology.'

With Power Comes '

It is not only the media-facing arms of the business like YouTube that Jones is talking about. Increasingly, Google is becoming a regular feature in headlines, and he wants to have lawyers on board who understand both worlds.

A belief in the technology their company creates is certainly shared by Yip, Callaghan and Jones, and it is a belief that goes hand-in-hand with a desire to push boundaries ' both legal and technological. Given that most of the legal issues Google's new products face are the first of their kind, it is not surprising that the team like to keep much of their work in-house ' the reason, according to Jones, why Google still does not have a panel of outside counsel.

However, as Google's position as the world's dominant Internet company grows, so does its power to dictate, at least in a virtual world. That has made the company ' which features on the cover of The Economist this month with the tag-line 'Who's afraid of Google?' ' an increasingly visible litigation target for rivals fearful of its power.

Last year KinderStart, a small California search engine, sued Google for loss of revenue after Google removed it from its results. Winning the right to shape its search results as it sees fit, Google has been criticised for dictating what does and does not appear on the Web, while its negotiations with the Chinese government have provoked some criticism from the California tech community that has been among the company's loudest supporters.

Other critics of the company have rounded on its growing database of personal information gleaned from users, one of the most contentious issues facing all Internet businesses.

Privacy expert and former Baker & McKenzie associate Peter Fleischer joined Google last year from Microsoft and has led the Internet giant's drive to stay ahead of the game when it comes to striking a balance between data retention and data protection.

Reporting to Jones, it fell to global privacy counsel Fleischer to act as Google's public spokesman on the key announcement that it was to overhaul its data retention practices to make it harder to identify the specific computers used in searches.

By anonymizing the server logs on its servers for 18 months ' effectively scrambling codes so that search histories cannot be traced to any particular computer ' Fleischer said that Google has committed itself to safeguarding its users' privacy. The move, which was volunteered by the Internet giant, is the first time that any Internet company has implemented such a policy, but does not give any hints as to what Google plans to do with all the other information it stores on its servers, such as e-mails and other documents.

Google's announcement alerted many users to the fact that information about their Web use could be tracked back to them, laying the company open for a backlash of criticism. However, it is the first search engine to initiate such a policy. Other big players, such as Yahoo!, Ask.com, AOL and MSN, are yet to commit to similar measures.

'Our philosophy is that privacy is a basic issue of the Internet of which Google has become a symbol,' says Fleischer.

'People use our products because they like and trust them; user privacy is very important to us,' adds Jones. 'We will not do anything to undermine that trust.'

Launched from a garage by two students, Google has grown to become the Internet's biggest success story. Legal Week's Michelle Madsen talks to European general counsel Nigel Jones about the paradox at his company's heart.

Judging by its unofficial jeans and t-shirt uniform, colorful logo and offices packed with games and pets, you could be fooled into thinking that the world's biggest Internet company still sees itself as an extension of a college common room. But under the seemingly casual exterior lies a very serious company indeed.

And Google's legal team is no exception to the rule. European general counsel Nigel Jones is a mix of affable informality and sharp intellect. As Google's first lawyer outside California, Jones has built up the legal department to almost 45 in Europe, the Middle East and the African region since he joined in 2003 from rival search engine AltaVista, and heads up the in-house team from its offices in Victoria, central London.

A Dream Job?

Finding the right sort of lawyer to fit Google's playful ethos yet steely business sense is ' judging by the army of recruiters assigned to the job ' a challenge. This is not due to a lack of any interest on the part of candidates, according to Jones, but because it takes a very particular sort of person to fit the Google mould.

'We have a very diverse team in terms of interests and backgrounds,' says Jones, explaining that each lawyer is the initial point of contact for a different area of the business, although which lawyer ends up dealing with a matter is flexible.

Keeping its small-company culture intact in the face of rapid expansion is a priority for Google's management (the company's staff has increased four-fold over the past three years to a current tally of around 14,000).

Prospective Google lawyers can expect up to 15 interviews, including one with one of the company's founders, as a final hurdle before getting the job.

Over the past year, Jones, who reports to U.S.-based general counsel Kent Walker, has conducted a lengthy search for new members of the team and is now hunting for the right lawyers for Google's Amsterdam, Madrid, Zurich, Milan and Moscow arms, establishing a legal function in all these major cities.

It is not difficult to see why lawyers are lining up to work at Google. Although the company's central London offices might not have the space to accommodate the gym, swimming pool and volleyball court that its U.S. headquarters ' the celebrated Googleplex in Mountain View, CA ' houses, Google's UK lawyers still enjoy three free meals a day, travel subsidies and gym membership. On top of that, staff can bring their dogs to the office, are given a budget to decorate their work area and Google sporadically doles out useful seasonal gifts like free branded bikes and tents to its employees.

Another Google peculiarity is the much-discussed '20% time,' which theoretically allows all employees, including lawyers, to spend a fifth of their time on projects or devising ideas outside their usual remit. In London, members of the team are yet to come up with the next industry-changing innovation, but have got involved in various projects including Google Grants ' a scheme that allows charities free online advertising ' and Google.org, the company's philanthropic arm.

Aside from the perks, lawyers at Google are safe in the knowledge that they have a wealth of groundbreaking work on their plates. Each member of the team is assigned to a different product, such as Google Maps or YouTube, but will also specialize in a certain practice area.

Jones says the department is organized on a flat structure, dispensing with titles, while lawyers work with the business on a day-to-day basis.

This sort of commercial proximity is, according to Jones, key to the way that Google's lawyers are seen by the rest of the business. He comments: 'The members of the legal team at Google are viewed more as facilitators than gatekeepers.'

Other members of Jones' team include former Slaughter and May lawyer Trevor Callaghan, who joined Google in Oct. 2005 as senior product counsel, and Cindy Yip, a legal counsel looking after commercial contracts, who moved from Simmons & Simmons last year.

Until recently, Google has had a strict policy of recruiting lawyers with a passion for IT more typically associated with programmers, engineers and coders. But Jones concedes that Google's rapidly expanding business means there are spaces opening up in the team for lawyers who can continue their level of technology with a more traditional corporate leaning ' people capable of supporting a $10.6 billion business in its growing media-focused interests. As the firm expands abroad, Google can also be less reliant on its traditional U.S. advisers, Palo Alto, CA-based Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Wall Street leader Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

'As we do more deals with broadcasters and publishers, it is interesting for us to have lawyers who come from and understand those industries,' says Jones. 'But first and foremost, they have to understand and be enthusiastic about technology.'

With Power Comes '

It is not only the media-facing arms of the business like YouTube that Jones is talking about. Increasingly, Google is becoming a regular feature in headlines, and he wants to have lawyers on board who understand both worlds.

A belief in the technology their company creates is certainly shared by Yip, Callaghan and Jones, and it is a belief that goes hand-in-hand with a desire to push boundaries ' both legal and technological. Given that most of the legal issues Google's new products face are the first of their kind, it is not surprising that the team like to keep much of their work in-house ' the reason, according to Jones, why Google still does not have a panel of outside counsel.

However, as Google's position as the world's dominant Internet company grows, so does its power to dictate, at least in a virtual world. That has made the company ' which features on the cover of The Economist this month with the tag-line 'Who's afraid of Google?' ' an increasingly visible litigation target for rivals fearful of its power.

Last year KinderStart, a small California search engine, sued Google for loss of revenue after Google removed it from its results. Winning the right to shape its search results as it sees fit, Google has been criticised for dictating what does and does not appear on the Web, while its negotiations with the Chinese government have provoked some criticism from the California tech community that has been among the company's loudest supporters.

Other critics of the company have rounded on its growing database of personal information gleaned from users, one of the most contentious issues facing all Internet businesses.

Privacy expert and former Baker & McKenzie associate Peter Fleischer joined Google last year from Microsoft and has led the Internet giant's drive to stay ahead of the game when it comes to striking a balance between data retention and data protection.

Reporting to Jones, it fell to global privacy counsel Fleischer to act as Google's public spokesman on the key announcement that it was to overhaul its data retention practices to make it harder to identify the specific computers used in searches.

By anonymizing the server logs on its servers for 18 months ' effectively scrambling codes so that search histories cannot be traced to any particular computer ' Fleischer said that Google has committed itself to safeguarding its users' privacy. The move, which was volunteered by the Internet giant, is the first time that any Internet company has implemented such a policy, but does not give any hints as to what Google plans to do with all the other information it stores on its servers, such as e-mails and other documents.

Google's announcement alerted many users to the fact that information about their Web use could be tracked back to them, laying the company open for a backlash of criticism. However, it is the first search engine to initiate such a policy. Other big players, such as Yahoo!, Ask.com, AOL and MSN, are yet to commit to similar measures.

'Our philosophy is that privacy is a basic issue of the Internet of which Google has become a symbol,' says Fleischer.

'People use our products because they like and trust them; user privacy is very important to us,' adds Jones. 'We will not do anything to undermine that trust.'