Facebook’s Problems Spotlight Elevated Role of In-House Lawyers

Anyone ruminating over the elevated role of in-house lawyers might consider the case of Facebook.

Its top two lawyers, Colin Stretch and Paul Grewal, have played both lawyer and spokesperson as the social media giant confronts a dizzying number of legal issues, which are besieging the Wild West of data privacy at tech companies.

As tales of data misuse spilled into the open, Grewal, a former federal magistrate, took to social media to staunchly defend his employer. His blog posts filled the void created by the initial silence from CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg and other top company brass. No ...