Los Angeles (September 4, 2020) – The Board of Directors of the Atlantic Legal Foundation is pleased to announce that at its recent meeting in August, the Board elevated its Director Jonathan Graham to serve on its Executive Committee.
Jon officially joined the Board in 2018, but his involvement with the Atlantic Legal Foundation goes back to 2014 when he was General Counsel of science and technology conglomerate Danaher Corporation and introduced his former Danaher President and CEO, H. Lawrence Culp, Jr. as the Atlantic Legal Foundation’s Annual Award Honoree for 2014. Jon has since moved on after building the legal department over 9 years at Danaher to become the Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of biotechnology giant Amgen in Southern California. And, Larry Culp has become the Chairman and CEO of General Electric. Mr. Culp’s timely remarks on leadership in a crisis were reproduced in Atlantic Legal’s Annual Report for 2019. Notably, years earlier, Jon Graham served GE as its Vice President of Litigation and Legal Policy after a distinguished 16 years career with Williams & Connolly LLP following graduation from the University of Texas School of law in 1987 and a clerkship with the Honorable Joseph T. Sneed on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
In addition to serving on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Legal Foundation, Jon has assumed responsibility as Chairman of the Foundation’s critical Annual Awards Committee following many years of distinguished service as Chairman of that Committee by ALF Director Bob Haig of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP. Unfortunately, Atlantic Legal was unable to hold an Awards Dinner earlier this year to recognize a distinguished honoree for 2019 because of the pandemic. Importantly, Jon’s company, Amgen is working diligently to contribute its antibody and immunology expertise to the vital research to contain the pandemic while continuing to maintain its clinical trial, supply and delivery capabilities in producing critical medications for patients.
Jon is no stranger to being recognized for his distinction as a leader in the legal profession and as a C-Suite executive. In 2018, Jon was honored to be included among the elite of chief corporate legal officers by being named to the Financial Times Global GC 25 and recognized for his legal leadership in the innovative, biotechnology healthcare sector. More recently, Graham’s varied and critical work at Amgen earned him recognition among 13 corporate counsel named Legends in Law by the Burton Awards in a June ceremony which was to be held at the Library of Congress in Washington DC but has been postponed to June 14, 2021 due to the pandemic.
Mr. Graham has been recognized for being a paragon of the legal profession in ” . . . holding himself, his in-house team and his outside counsel to the highest professional and ethical standards, while never losing sight of the often-overlooked fact that law is a profession and that, at its core, it serves the public good.” Jon’s ideals are consistent with the mission and programs of the Atlantic Legal Foundation, which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public interest law firm with a demonstrable four-decade record of advancing the rule of law by advocating limited and efficient government, free enterprise, individual liberty, school choice and sound science. To accomplish its goals, Atlantic Legal provides legal representation and counsel, without fee, to parents, scientists, educators, and other individuals, corporations, trade associations and other groups. The Foundation also undertakes educational efforts in the form of handbooks, reports and conferences on pertinent legal matters.
Atlantic Legals’ Board of Directors and Advisory Council include the active and retired chief legal officers of some of America’s most respected corporations, distinguished scientists and academicians and leaders of national and international law firms.
The Foundation currently concentrates primarily in seven areas: representing prominent scientists and academicians in advocating the admissibility in judicial and regulatory proceedings of sound expert opinion evidence; parental choice in education; corporate governance; the application of constitutional guarantees to individuals and corporations; enforcing arbitration agreements; combating abusive class actions; and addressing other threats to free enterprise.
Atlantic Legal’s cases and initiatives have resulted in the protection of the rights of thousands of school children, employees, independent businessmen, and entrepreneurs. In case after case, Atlantic Legal brings about favorable resolutions for individuals and corporations who continue to be challenged by those who use the legal process to deny fundamental rights and liberties. Please visit www.atlanticlegal.org and www.defendcharterschools.org where the Foundation’s most recent activities are detailed.
We are pleased and proud to recognize Jonathan Graham for his professional achievements and his elevation as a key part of the Atlantic Legal Foundation’s leadership team.
CONTACT: Hayward D. Fisk: danfisk@atlanticlegal.org
