Cybersecurity in Regulated Industries with AMEX GC Laureen Seeger

As a naturally competitive person, Laureen Seeger thrived throughout her career as a litigator. After law school, she clerked and was offered a job in the Atlanta-based law firm of Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP. In the South during the 1980s, there were virtually no women in courtrooms and she had to fight hard for first chair privileges. 14 years later, she went in-house and eventually became general counsel at McKesson, a massive healthcare supplies provider. Now she is general counsel of American Express in another highly regulated industry requiring strong cybersecurity measures. So what advice does she have to offer from her experience as GC for these two major companies?

In this episode of In-House Legal, Randy Milch interviews Laureen Seeger about her path to AMEX, industry regulation and cybersecurity, and the importance of brand trust. It is important, she says, for small- and medium-sized firms to invest in security measures, which often involves educating staff on encryption and best practices. Seeger discusses the regular audits American Express administers to their third party affiliates, the benefits and downfalls of cyber insurance, and how her department prepares the AMEX board of governors with the cyber security  information they need to govern properly. She explains how cyber breaches can be much more expensive than periodically assessing business environment, putting protections in place, fishing internally for employees that need training, and encrypting information.

Laureen Seeger is executive vice president and general counsel of American Express Company, a position she assumed in July 2014.  As the corporation’s chief legal officer, Seeger oversees the law, government affairs and corporate secretarial functions for American Express and its subsidiaries. Prior to American Express, Ms. Seeger served as executive vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer of McKesson Corporation and was with the Atlanta law firm of Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP from 1992 to 2000.