Newegg CLO: Lawyers Matter, Law Firms Don’t

As it becomes more common for lawyers to hop between firms, corporate counsel are increasingly making decisions about whether to continue working with a firm or an individual lawyer.

For Lee Cheng, chief legal officer at online retailer Newegg, Inc., the choice is simple: The lawyer, not the law firm is important.

Earlier this month, one of his lead patent litigators Yar Chaikovsky switched firms — departing McDermott Will & Emery to join Paul Hastings. Cheng heard about it secondhand, but wasn’t fazed: Chaikovsky displays all the right qualities of an outside counsel and will continue to work for the firm, Cheng said.

Cheng spoke with Big Law Business ...