Universal Music Group gc Jeffrey Harleston will lead the company’s equality task force

As lots of big companies react to the death of George Floyd, supporting calls for justice and equality, the role of general counsel seems to become key in this kind of processes. One example is Universal Music Group, where CEO Lucian Grainge announced in an internal memo that he appointed Jeffrey Harleston to lead the company’s equality task force, as underlined by Law.com and a report from Variety.

Jeffrey Harleston is general counsel and executive vice president of business & legal affairs for Universal Music Group (UMG). He is a member of UMG’s executive management board and he is responsible for overseeing all business transactions, contracts, and litigation for UMG’s operations worldwide. In addition, he is also responsible for the company’s government relations, trade and anti-piracy activities.

«Jeff is convening a group of qualified executives from throughout the company to review our current programs, identify gaps and deficiencies, update our plan where it’s outdated, propose new initiatives, and ensure that these issues remain at the top of our agenda» Grainge wrote. Two years ago, in 2018, Harleston also received the Diversity Award from the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) for Southern California.