Exclusive: General Counsel Forum Honors Hunt GC David Hernandez for Ethics

© 2016 The Texas Lawbook.

By Mark Curriden

(Oct. 5) – David Hernandez stood before 300 business lawyers Tuesday night to accept the General Counsel Forum’s annual Robert H. Dedman Award for Ethics and Law.

“I would love to tell you that I became a lawyer for a noble cause – to right the wrongs of the world,” Hernandez, who is the general counsel of Hunt Consolidated, told the audience. “But this is an ethics award, so I better tell you the truth.”

Hernandez said that his mother, who was the daughter of Italian immigrants, dreamed of success for her son. Success at that time meant becoming a lawyer or doctor.

“I certainly didn’t dream about becoming a tax lawyer,” he says. “But I have come to love being a lawyer.”

Betty Ungerman, deputy general counsel at Lennox International and vice chair of the General Counsel Forum, said Hernandez “truly embodies the ethics and integrity we honor.”

Hernandez is the 16th recipient of the Dedman Award and the second lawyer from Hunt Consolidated to receive it. In 2011, the GC Forum honored former Hunt GC Dennis Grindinger, who is now the firm’s executive vice president over South American Operations for Hunt Oil.

Other past GC Forum honorees include former AT&T General Counsel Wayne Watts, Fluor General Counsel Carlos Hernandez and former Pioneer Natural Resources General Counsel Mark Berg.

“I’m not a lawyer and I have no clue what general counsel do,” Hunt Consolidated Executive Chairman Ray L. Hunt said at Tuesday’s gala. “But I know that you could not have picked a better person than David Hernandez.

“David is a man who is truly balanced,” Hunt said. “He is brilliant, but does not take himself too seriously.”

Born in Baltimore to parents who were pharmacists, Hernandez grew up in Virginia Beach. After receiving a bachelor’s of science degree in finance from the University of Virginia, he went to the University of Chicago for his doctor of jurisprudence.

Hernandez spent a half-dozen years practicing tax law at Hughes & Luce and Vinson & Elkins.

In 1998, Electronic Data Systems lured Hernandez to join the company as its vice president of tax. During his time at EDS, he engaged in extensive tax policy analysis with policymakers in Congress and at the U.S. Treasury Dept. He even testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on the competitive importance of the U.S. Research and Development Tax Credit.

Nine years ago, Hunt Consolidated named Hernandez as its senior vice president and general counsel.

“It is truly an honor to be the general counsel of a company that is based on the highest ethical standards,” Hernandez said in an exclusive interview with The Texas Lawbook. “Ray Hunt and the Hunt family are dedicated to giving back to the community and running the company in an ethical way.

“I literally learn something from Ray every single day that makes me a better lawyer, a better father and a better person,” he said.

Hernandez bemoaned what he called “the lost art of mentorship.”

“The model of senior lawyers training younger, inexperienced lawyers for years or even decades has disappeared,” he said. “It was an invaluable part of being a lawyer and the legal profession.

“Unfortunately, law firm economics have greatly diminished mentoring programs,” he said.

Hernandez said that he leads Hunt’s annual update to the company’s code of conduct.

“For us, the code of conduct is a living document that is relevant to who we are as employees and a company,” he said. “It’s not just a box to check. We do it because it is the right thing to do.”

Hernandez said that one of the biggest challenges for today’s general counsel is to communicate the code of conduct and the rules to be followed to employees throughout a global company such as Hunt.

He pointed out that there is so much focus today by regulators in the U.S. and internationally on enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that companies with global operations, such as Hunt, need to make sure that those who work with and for the company remain in compliance with the law.

“The role of the general counsel has changed significantly in recent years,” he said. “GCs have become more strategic to the business as an adviser.”

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