Guardian US today announced the appointment of Kai Falkenberg as its first-ever General Counsel. Falkenberg will serve as the principal legal advisor to the Guardian US, providing legal and business advice, managing legal complaints and litigation resulting from the publication and distribution of in-depth journalism and other content, and providing expertise on labor, data, tax, contracts, and other matters. Falkenberg will report both to Guardian US Managing Director Steve Sachs and Guardian US Editor Betsy Reed, and serve as a member of the Guardian’s global legal team, based in London.
Falkenberg brings more than 20 years of expertise in media law including M&A, data privacy, intellectual property, labor relations, compliance, litigation and other matters. Most recently, she served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at G/O Media, a digital publishing company that includes Quartz, Gizmodo, Deadspin, Jezebel, Kotaku, The Root, and The Onion. Prior to that, Falkenberg served as Acting Commissioner and First Deputy Commissioner of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment, where she oversaw NYC Media, the country’s largest municipal broadcast network, and the regulation of all film and television production in NYC; Editorial Counsel at Forbes, Inc.; and as an attorney at leading media law firm Davis Wright Tremaine. Kai still teaches media law at her alma mater, Columbia Law School, including the country’s first course on the Law & Regulation of Social Media. She serves on the board of a number of organizations including the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, the Gotham Institute for Film & Media, 70 Faces Media, and the Cartoonists Rights Network International. She previously served on the board of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
