John Conacher Harrison
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| John Conacher Harrison | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Conacher Harrison July 12, 1967 Maidstone, England |
| 🏳️ Nationality | British French German |
| 🎓 Alma mater | University of Reading University of McGill, Montréal |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| 👔 Employer | Airbus |
| Twitter= | |
John Harrison (born July 12, 1967) is an Anglo-German-French lawyer and business executive. He is general counsel of Airbus SE (formerly EADS, Airbus Group) as well as chairman of Airbus UK and has been a Member of the Airbus Group Executive Committee since 2015.
Early life and education[edit]
He was born to a British father and a German mother in Maidstone, Kent but grew up in Sussex and later North Somerset. He was educated at Clevedon, in the Swiss Valley area of North Somerset, and at the University of Reading, where he obtained a Bachelor LLB (Hons) in law. He took a Masters LLM of Laws degree at the University of McGill, Montréal, Canada.
He speaks French and German fluently.
Career[edit]
Harrison started his career at ***Redacted copyright violation*** Clifford Chance in 1991, working in their London, New York and Paris offices. He joined Airbus in 1997, where he served in several senior management roles until 2007. From 2003 to 2007 he was General Counsel of the EADS Defence Division.[1]
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When Harrison became Group General Counsel of Airbus in 2015, the company consolidated the previously separate functions of Corporate Secretary, General Counsel and Head of Ethics & Compliance. He also became a Member of the Group Executive Committee.[3]
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The Boeing dispute
On March 28, 2019, the World Trade Organization Appellate Body published a report which found that the United States had failed to withdraw subsidies granted to Boeing by federal, state and local authorities. Harrison welcomed the result as “a clear victory for the EU and Airbus. It vindicates our position that Boeing, while pointing fingers at Airbus, has not taken any action to comply with its WTO obligations, contrary to Airbus and the EU. With this damaging report, continuing to deny they receive massive illegal subsidies from the United States government is no longer an option. Stated differently, absent settlement, the US will pay – in perpetuity – billions in annual sanctions driven by every single flying Boeing programme, while the [[]]EU would face, in the worst case, only minor issues.”[4] ***Redacted copyright violation***
2020 Airbus Settlement
Soon after Harrison had returned to Airbus, UK Export Finance, a government body that provided Airbus with export credit finance, raised concerns over the practices of the company's overseas business partners and informed Airbus it was required to report its suspicions to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). In April 2016, even though the documents, information and people were located in France, Airbus self-reported to the SFO and hired the law firm Dechert LLP as its UK external adviser.[5]
The High Court judge who approved the deferred prosecution agreement with the SFO praised Airbus for its "exemplary" approach to self-reporting and disclosure. The company accepted the extraterritoriality of the SFO’s powers under the Bribery Act, which the judge recognized was “an unprecedented step for a French and Dutch domiciled company” to take.[5]
Harrison created a “virtual law firm” to handle the investigation, defence work, and remediation, in which partners from Dechert LLP worked in conjunction with Clifford Chance LLP and August Debouzy in France, and Paul Hastings LLP and Arnold & Porter in the US.[5]
“I had never worked in a virtual law firm that had so many firms. John Harrison was clear that everyone had to work together and support the client,” said John Barker of Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C., which served as lead counsel for the settlement of arms trafficking violations with the US Department of State. “The structure was very efficient, and it allowed the company to focus on being transparent and on its remedial plan, which became a cornerstone of building trust with the authorities going forward.”[5]
Harrison was able to use senior individuals at each firm as a brains trust. Not only did they have to deal with specific issues within their jurisdictions, but the group also had to prevent one jurisdiction grabbing from another. “We spent a great deal of time and energy... talking to each other to find creative ways to help authorities get along together," said Robert Luskin of Paul Hastings LLP. "At times we said to them that we felt like children of divorced parents."[5]
Airbus had to collect in excess of 30.5 million documents from over 200 custodians and used predictive coding technology to detect misconduct by going through emails, invoices, and contracts. The company’s global disclosure strategy had to deal with national security laws, multiple languages, differing data protection regimes, and France's national blocking statute, which prevents any French company or citizen from communicating documents that would be evidence in foreign judicial or administrative proceedings. Also, since France does not recognize legal in-house privilege whereas the UK and US do, the group of lawyers persuaded the authorities to establish a consistent approach to legal privilege.[5]
"When you look at this case there are so many things that have happened for the first time,” said Charles-Henri Boeringer at Clifford Chance in Paris. “It really is a historic case from the French perspective."[5]
On January 31, 2020, it was announced by Airbus that it had reached a global settlement in three separate jurisdictions of investigations into bribery and corruption and also into international arms traffic. Airbus was commended for its cooperation with the investigations and its willingness to embrace future compliance.[6]
Airbus agreed to pay penalties of €3,598 million plus interest and costs to the French, UK and US authorities, broken down as follows: PNF €2,083 million SFO €984 million DoJ €526 million DoS €9 million (of which €4.5 million may be used for approved remedial compliance measures).[6]
In France, the company entered into a Convention Judiciaire d'Intérêt Public with the Parquet National Financier (PNF) under which prosecution of Airbus was suspended for three years provided that it complied with its terms and had its compliance programme subjected to targeted audits carried out by the Agence Française Anticorruption (AFA) during that period. Similar deals were reached in the United Kingdom with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and in the United States with the Department of Justice. Both deals involved a Deferred Prosecution Agreement predicated on the continuing monitorship of Airbus by the AFA. In addition, Airbus entered into a Consent Agreement with the Department of State (DoS). Under this agreement, the DoS has agreed to settle all civil violations of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and to retain an independent export control compliance officer.[6]
Sustainability
Under Harrison’s guidance, Airbus ***Redacted copyright violation*** – CO2 emissions produced during the operating life of the aircraft it makes.[7]
The Changing Role of a Corporate General Counsel
John Harrison believes that a strong legal department headed by a general counsel with executive reach is an essential part of modern corporate management.
"With Airbus, I consider the position of general counsel to be an integral part of the management," Harrison told an interviewer for ACC Docket (Association of Corporate Counsel). "From the legal disputes we oversee to capital allocation, I am involved as an equal partner at the table. I believe the company is better protected as a result, because I am able to understand the complex concepts that require legal advice…”[8]
“I enjoyed playing a part in this revolution. I feel quite fortunate to be considered a member of the executive committee, to report to the CEO with access to the board, and to have the tools necessary to be an effective risk manager…”[8]
Since Airbus employs more than 130,000 individuals across 180 locations in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Americas, in three business sectors (commercial aircraft, helicopters, and defence and space), all with complex supply chains, cross-jurisdictional compliance is a vital element of the company.[8]
"We have more than 400 lawyers in the company, yet everything is broken down into business units where smaller groups specialize in their field. The general counsel has to drive strategies and facilitate overarching legal requirements like a managing director, while others make sure that the wheels are turning."[8]
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In 2019, when the prospect of a no-deal Brexit was being contemplated, the then CEO of the group, Tom Enders, urged people not to listen to what he called “the Brexiteers’ madness” in proclaiming that Airbus would always stay in the UK. “Make no mistake,” he warned. “There are plenty of countries out there who would love to build the wings for Airbus aircraft.”[9]
In 2021 Harrison responded to the charge that the company had always intended to stay in the UK. “What we were expressing was we need to know what the future holds for us because we’re making massive investments,” says Harrison. “Who cares what people think, whether we cried wolf or not… We look at every business opportunity as a business opportunity. You’re approaching it from a political angle. And I’m not a politician. I’m a businessman.”[9]
In July 2020, Airbus Group announced that***Redacted copyright violation*** among 15,000 job cuts worldwide, as part of major restructuring caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Although Harrison was unable to rule out the possibility of further jobs cuts, he said that [***Redacted copyright violation***
In June 2021, United Kingdom Kwasi Kwarteng, officially opened Airbus’ Aerospace Integrated Research and Test Centre (AIRTeC) in Filton, Bristol, a £40 million, state-of-the-art research and testing facility jointly funded by the UK government’s Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) programme and Airbus.[10]
The facility is designed to undertake structural testing of large-scale aircraft assemblies, from full-size wings down to the individual components and materials used in aircraft design, in particular aircraft wing, landing-gear systems and fuel system designs.[10]
AIRTeC is central to Airbus’ Wing of Tomorrow programme, which is exploring the best materials, manufacturing, and assembly techniques to help deliver more fuel-efficient, cleaner aircraft. The facility includes a digital manufacturing laboratory and the Airbus low-speed wind tunnel. Harrison said: “AIRTeC will take our research and testing capabilities at Filton to the next level and will make us even more competitive for the future.”[10]
Recognition and Awards
In 2017 Harrison received the International Law Office (ILO) Global General Counsel of the Year Award.[11]
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He was appointed Chevalier of the French Legion d’honneur, in 2017.[12]
In 2020 Global Investigations Review recognized the Airbus settlement as the “Most Important development of the Year” for 2020 and named Harrison as “Outstanding In-House Counsel of the Year”.[13]
On June 17, 2021, the Financial Times included Harrison in a list of the Top 20 general counsel ***Redacted copyright violation***
Other roles
Harrison is a trustee of the British Normandy Memorial Trust. The British Normandy Memorial commemorates the sacrifice of those who died in action during the Normandy Campaign in 1944. The memorial was opened (via video link) in 2021 and the future goal is to raise funds for an education and learning centre to sit alongside the memorial.[14]
Thoughts on Leadership
When English law firm Schillings asked Harrison what was his biggest inspiration from a leadership perspective, he nominated Margaret Thatcher: “I always remember her famous quotation: ‘Don’t follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you.’ In my opinion, this depicts an underrated skill for leaders. When picking the difficult road, or the path less trodden in business, bringing people with you and aligning them with your belief and conviction is vital. Mrs Thatcher personifies that need for leadership and resilience.”[15]
Asked if he had not become a lawyer what role he might have taken on instead, Harrison said “maybe working in politics or as a TV anchor for a current affairs programme... I’ve always enjoyed the cut and thrust of the battle of ideas, trying to tackle thorny issues and spark some debate.”[15]
Personal Life
Harrison was married to Caroline Fagard[16] between 1997 and 2006. His two daughters Clara and Sophia were educated to secondary level in Paris in France, at Stonyhurst College in the UK for A levels, and then at the University of Exeter.
References[edit]
- ↑ "John Harrison Net Worth (2022) – wallmine.com". gb.wallmine.com.
- ↑ "In-house life: John Harrison, Airbus – GC Magazine". www.legal500.com.
- ↑ "Airbus Group Appoints John Harrison as Group General Counsel | Airbus". www.airbus.com. October 28, 2021.
- ↑ "EU and Airbus achieve major win against US with solid basis for billions in countermeasures | Airbus". www.airbus.com. October 28, 2021.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 "How 5 Firms Shepherded Airbus Through $4B Bribery Probe - Law360". www.law360.com.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Airbus reaches agreements with French, U.K. and U.S. authorities | Airbus". www.airbus.com. October 28, 2021.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedauto4 - ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Airbus opens new £40M aerospace research centre in UK". Powder Metallurgy Review. June 9, 2021.
- ↑ Proud, Chris. "2017 – Global Counsel Awards".
- ↑ http://let.iiec.unam.mx/sites/let.iiec.unam.mx/files/007-Airbus-Annual_Report_2017.pdf
- ↑ "Made by McGill – A Conversation with Mr. John Harrison, General Counsel of Airbus, and Joydeep Sengupta | Perspectives & Events | Mayer Brown". www.mayerbrown.com.
- ↑ "John Harrison". British Normandy Memorial.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 https://www.schillingspartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Schillings_GLL_Leave_a_Legacy_report_2021.pdf
- ↑ HARRISON (FAGARD), Prénom Nom : Caroline FAGARD; Vit à : PARIS, France; ans), Née en : 1969 (53; Analyste, Profession. "Caroline FAGARD HARRISON (FAGARD)". Copains d'avant.
External links[edit]
Media related to John Harrison at Wikimedia Commons
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References[edit]
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