SEC settles case with Monster's former GC

06/19/07

SEC settles case with Monster's former GC

Former general counsel for Monster Worldwide, Inc., Myron Olesnyckyj will no longer practice before the SEC. His suspension is part of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's settlement of civil fraud charges against him pertaining to a stock-options backdating case. Olesnyckyj, however, has neither admitted to nor denied the charges. On February 15, he pled guilty to charges that he had backdated stock-option grant dates in a federal court. Olesnyckyj misled auditors by concealing company expenses in financial disclosures. Due to be sentenced on August 25, he faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison. However, since he has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in a case against Monster founder Andrew McKelvey, his sentence is likely to be lighter. McKelvey chose to leave the company rather than be questioned by company attorneys investigating stock-option misappropriations.

Internap hires S1's legal head
Leading Internet route control-solution provider Internap Network Services Corporation has named Richard P. Dobb as its new vice president and general counsel. Dobb will be responsible for steering the company toward developing policies and procedures and for ensuring its overall legal compliance. A specialist in corporate governance and securities law, Dobb has considerable experience in areas including intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, and commercial law. He joins Internap from S1 Corporation, where he served as chief legal officer and corporate secretary. At S1, Dobb managed legal issues for the company's 20 subsidiaries spread across 16 nations. Internap serves more than 3,000 customers in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Apart from route control solutions, it provides integrated content delivery and web hosting, video and audio streaming, reporting and analysis, advertising placement, and live-event broadcasting, among other services.

SBA appoints new GC
An independent agency of the federal government, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has appointed Frank R. Borchert, III, as its new general counsel. He will serve as chief legal adviser to SBA administrator Steven Preston and the agency's senior staff on matters pertaining to the SBA's policies and programs. Borchert comes from Capital One Financial Corporation, where he was executive vice president and deputy general counsel and headed the company's legal department. Established in 1953, the SBA protects and provides counsel regarding the interests of small businesses. It aims to maintain healthy competitive enterprises and to strengthen the economy.

Blue Coat Systems appoints new GC
Blue Coat Systems, Inc., has named Betsy E. Bayha as its senior vice president and general counsel. Bayha brings with her 25 years of experience counseling technology-oriented companies. She joins Blue Coat Systems from NetIQ Corporation, where she was senior vice president and general counsel. The appointment comes with an announcement by the company that it has received approval from the NASDAQ Listing and Hearing Review Council and will continue to be listed on the exchange. Blue Coat had received a noncompliance notice from the NASDAQ citing it for late financials, along with a delist warning. Blue Coat Systems provides applications that help protect networks from viruses and prevent practices that waste bandwidth, such as file sharing.

New GC at Juice Media Worldwide
Garrett Thomas has been named as the new general counsel for Juice Media Worldwide. He will be primarily responsible for the company's intellectual property and transactional work relating to proper risk management implementation. In addition to overseeing the company's legal matters, Thomas will be involved in planning the company's various operations, including those related to marketing, distribution, and long-term goals. A lawyer by profession, Thomas has had 30 years of experience in business. He formerly served as the CEO of Quake Wireless and of American Millennium Corporation. A business-intelligence leader, Juice Media Worldwide has four areas of expertise: software development, media and web services, tracking and analysis, and marketing automation.

Communications major names new GC
High-performance network applications company Tekelec has announced the appointment of Stuart Kupinsky as its senior vice president of corporate affairs and general counsel. Kupinsky comes from Cadence Innovation, LLC, where he was senior vice president and general counsel. He will report to the company's CEO, Frank Plastina. Having worked for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Kupinsky brings to the company significant expertise. He has also served as general counsel for Exide Technologies and Teligent, Inc. A leader in the field of communications, Tekelec is speeding up its transition to IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) networks. Based in Morrisville, NC, the company provides platforms for managing media and delivering network solutions.

CFTC reorganizes top legal staff
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently witnessed a major reshuffling of its top legal staff. Terry Arbit has been promoted to deputy general counsel for regulation and administration. Arbit, who was serving as counsel to the chairman and has been with the Commission since 1996, will assume his new responsibilities immediately. Brad Berry, who has been appointed deputy general counsel for litigation, comes from Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr, LLP. At Wilmer Cutler, Berry was a partner and a member of the law firm's litigation group as well as its communications and electronic commerce group.


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