Spotlighting A 14 A STEADY COURSE
TO SUCCESS Lewis A. Steverson BY PATRICK FOLLIARD
Without hesitation, Lewis Steverson will tell you that last year was the toughest of his professional life. In addition to being promoted to senior vice presi- dent, general counsel, and secretary of Motorola Solutions, Inc. in August and tackling the challenges his new position entails, Steverson spent the entirety of the year ironing out the innumerable legal details of one of the biggest and most complicated spin-offs in American corporate history.
DIVERSITY & THE BAR® MARCH/APRIL 2011
fter a year like that, many executives might welcome a post-spin slowdown, but Steverson, in
signature form, remains busy helping to move the company forward. “T e intense three-year eff ort peaked in 2010 and
culminated in January,” Steverson says. T at’s when Motorola, Inc.—the 80-year-old electronics giant—com- pleted the spin-off of its mobile devices division and changed its name to Motorola Solutions, Inc. Motorola Solutions is home to the fi rm’s consistently profi table business that sell communications gear for public safety, government, and enterprise customers, including two-way radios designed for fi rst-responders. “We have a lot of con- tracts with federal, state, and local governments,” Steverson says of Motorola Solutions. T e company from which Motorola spun off is now known as Motorola Mobility, Inc., and consists of the company’s former mobile devices division, including a broad portfolio of Android handsets, and in-home equipment like set-top boxes. Unlike many general counsel who arrive at their
positions from the outside, Steverson came up through the company ranks, literally working in every single business that Motorola has had since 1995. Prior to his current position, he was senior vice president of law for Motorola, Inc.’s Enterprise Mobility Solutions business, and has held a long list of other law-related positions within the company. “I’m extremely acquainted with the company’s business matters and sometimes get involved handling substantive legal issues in ways another GC might not,” Steverson says. “Because [Motorola Solutions CEO] Greg Brown and I were in the business together before we held our current posi- tions, he looks to me to handle matters that might oth- erwise be handed off to another commercial attorney or litigator on my team. More and more, I’m working on delegating. I have an outstanding team that can handle any legal issue thrown their way—and at some point I’m going to need to get some sleep.” In his current position, Steverson manages all of the
multi-billion-dollar company’s legal aff airs and heads a world-wide team of more than 100 lawyers and 150 other legal personnel. While he likes litigation, merg-
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