GM names new top lawyer as embattled Millikin retires

DETROIT -- General Motors has named Craig Glidden, the top attorney at a global plastics and chemicals refiner, to succeed departing chief counsel Michael Millikin.Glidden, 57, oversaw legal, communications, government-affairs and compliance functions at LyondellBasell Industries, a Dutch company with U.S. headquarters in Houston. Before that, he was general counsel at Chevron Phillips Chemical Co.“Craig Glidden has had a distinguished career managing complex legal issues around the world," GM CEO Mary Barra said in a statement. "His broad legal and senior management expertise fits perfectly with our strategic priorities and plans for global growth."He replaces Millikin, 66, who is retiring in July after a 38-year career at GM, including more than five years as its general counsel. Millikin came under fire last year for his legal department's handling of a defective ignition switch that has been linked to at least 56 deaths.An internal investigation found that some high-ranking lawyers knew about the defect for years but didn’t report the problem to top executives. In hearings on Capitol Hill last summer, several U.S. senators questioned why Millikin was able to keep his job in the wake of the investigation, which determined that Millikin didn’t find out about the defect until after GM issued a recall, in February 2014. Five of the 15 employees fired in connection with the ignition-switch matter were in Millikin's legal department, including the head of GM's litigation department and its top safety lawyer.Barra defended Millikin before lawmakers, calling him "a man of incredibly high integrity" and "the person I need on this team."She repeated her praise for Millikin in today's statement.“I’d like to thank Mike for all he has done to support GM throughout his 38-year career, and especially in the time he served as general counsel," she said.Southern rootsGlidden was in private practice before his job at Chevron Phillips. He got a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University in 1980 and a law degree from Florida State University in 1983, where he was editor-in-chief of the university's law review.In the statement, Glidden said GM "has made significant progress in recent years and I look forward to further advancing the business goals.”The transition comes as GM still faces legal uncertainty from a Department of Justice investigation into its handling of the ignition switch defect. There also is a slew of ignition-switch lawsuits pending as GM awaits a federal bankruptcy judge’s decision on whether the company can retain legal protections that shield it from liability in accidents that occurred before its mid-2009 bankruptcy.

GM names new top lawyer as embattled Millikin retires

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