Gucci’s
non-lawyer
chief legal
officer gets
sacked
By Natalie Fraser
GUCCI AMERICA INC. recently
fired its chief legal officer—for not
being a lawyer. Prior to working for
Gucci, Jonathan Moss voluntarily
went on inactive status with the California Bar, where he was licensed.
His inactive status became an issue
in a trademark infringement suit
brought by Gucci against Guess Inc.,
according to Law.com. When Gucci claimed Moss’s communications
regarding the litigation were privileged, Guess countered that they
were not, because he was not a lawyer. Gucci subsequently sacked him.
In an affidavit in his defence, Moss
says he never hid his inactive status
from Gucci — and received excellent
performance evaluations from the
company. It’s a hard way to learn the
perils of not paying your fees. END
