(Aug. 6) – Purdue Pharma needed a new chief legal officer to lead the privately held drug maker through a mountain of litigation it faces over the opioid crisis.
Lawyers and executives familiar with the Connecticut company say its leaders sought a general counsel who can simultaneously fight hundreds of lawsuits across the country and seek out-of-court solutions that make Purdue Pharma a leader in addressing the addiction epidemic.
Last month, Purdue Pharma selected Marc Kesselman, who had been a general counsel for three major North Texas businesses during the past decade.
In an exclusive interview with The Texas Lawbook, Kesselman said it is “a pivotal time” for the company and that he is excited to help “build a sustainable and patient-focused business operating with the highest ethical standards.”
“My plan was to spend the rest of my career in Dallas and only an extraordinary opportunity could have pried me away,” said Kesselman, who spent the last two-and-a-half years as the general counsel at Yum! Brands in Plano.
“The chance to join Purdue’s leadership team during this pivotal time was simply too exciting to pass up,” Kesselman said. “The company is taking meaningful steps to address the opioid crisis and has a pipeline of innovation that holds tremendous promise for patients with cancer and other illnesses.
“Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?” he asked.
Lawyers who know and have worked with Kesselman say that he is the perfect lawyer to lead Purdue Pharma, which faces hundreds of lawsuits over its signature brand painkiller OxyContin. More than 20 states, including Texas, sued the drug maker and others for alleged deceptive marketing that led to the opioid epidemic. Scores of cities and counties – Dallas and Harris counties among them – have their own cases.
“Marc is exactly the right person to lead Purdue’s legal department at this time,” former PepsiCo General Counsel Larry Thompson told The Texas Lawbook in an interview Sunday.
“If anyone can help the company work through their myriad of litigation and public policy and governmental policy issues, it is Marc,” said Thompson, who hired Kesselman a decade ago at PepsiCo.
Kesselman, who is in his third week as the new GC at Purdue Pharma, moved to Dallas nine years ago to be general counsel at Frito Lay, which is a subsidiary of PepsiCo. In 2015, he joined Dean Foods as its general counsel and then became GC at Yum in 2016.
“I had spent a total of three days in [Dallas] before deciding to make the move, and could never have imagined what a wonderful time I would have in Texas,” Kesselman said. “I have been blessed to work at three iconic companies with truly excellent attorneys.
“Dallas has an impressive group of corporate general counsel who have formed a tremendously supportive community,” he said. “I have made lasting friendships and learned a tremendous amount just by spending time with many of these leaders.”
Kesselman, who served as general counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and deputy GC of the White House Office of Management & Budget during the George W. Bush administration, will be responsible for Purdue’s overall legal strategy, ethics and compliance, government affairs and corporate governance.