ONE-ON-ONE
View from the top: John McManus, MGM IN THE FIRST EDITION OF THIS NEW FORMAT, EDITOR IN CHIEF, DR. SIMON PLANZER INTERVIEWED THE CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER OF MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL. JOHN MCMANUS DESCRIBES VIVIDLY WHAT IT’S LIKE TO DO HIS JOB, THE CULTURAL AND LEGAL CHALLENGES OF AN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS, WHAT HE LOOKS FOR IN OUTSIDE COUNSEL AND PROVIDES SOME SAGE ADVICE FOR THOSE JUST STARTING OUT
Simon Planzer: John, you’re the Chief Legal and Administrative Officer and Secretary for MGM Resorts International, to give you your full title. What does your job comprise and what are the most satisfying aspects of your position? John McManus: I suppose the most satisfying aspect is that I get to do an enormously wide variety of things. I work an extremely varied day and I never know from one day to the next what to expect. I also get to work on a great many diverse topics, some exciting, some stressful, but there really is no average day. We have experienced highly publicized incidents, we had a tragic shooting, we have our share of litigation regulatory crises and significant M&A activity. So my days are never boring.
challenges in the business arise. I help identify the various moving parts, pinpoint where we might have an exposure or where we have opportunities, and I help craft solutions to the challenges. Some days a crisis may develop and we need to issue communications to shareholders or the public. I make sure that when we do that, we’re being thoughtful about how we represent ourselves and that we properly consider facts and consequences. There will be other days when there’s a team working on a transaction and I may need to weigh in to help resolve an issue to get to the finish line. Those are the exciting parts and at the end everyone’s happy when we succeed. Some days are easy but there are others where I’m stressed out. My career has permitted me to engage across such a varied number of issues. I used to think I was quite proficient in a few areas, but now the scope of the role is so broad that I feel I know
A big part of my role is as problem solver and counsellor where
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IMGL MAGAZINE | APRIL 2024
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