Michael Lirocchi
Veteran In-House Lawyer & Trusted Legal Business Partner
- Role
- Director, Legal at NetApp
- Location
- Irvine, CA, US
- LinkedIn followers
- 500 followers
About Michael Lirocchi
Senior Legal Executive | Legal Technology & Commercial Operations | Global Business Strategy I am a strategic legal partner who consistently transforms complex challenges into business opportunities, and a seasoned legal executive with 25+ years of expertise bridging legal strategy and business outcomes in the technology sector. Throughout my career at NetApp, Jabil Circuit, and as an entrepreneur, I\'ve consistently demonstrated the ability to transform complex legal challenges into strategic business advantages. At NetApp, I\'ve served as a trusted advisor to senior executives, driving transformation initiatives that directly impact revenue growth and operational efficiency. My expertise spans global partner ecosystems, international acquisitions, joint ventures, and commercial strategy implementation. Key Strengths- Strategic Business Partnership: Collaborate with senior leadership to align legal strategy with business objectives, transforming legal from a support function into a strategic enabler - Global Deal Execution: Successfully led negotiations for multiple technology acquisitions, international joint ventures, and headquarters relocations - Legal Innovation: Pioneered the transformation of legacy contracting models into scalable, automated platforms, reducing resource requirements while expanding access - Cross-Functional Leadership: Excel at leading cross-functional initiatives spanning sales, product, finance, and operations teams across international boundaries My clients appreciate and recognize me for delivering pragmatic legal solutions that drive business growth while effectively managing risk. I am passionate about leveraging legal expertise to create measurable business impact in dynamic technology environments.
Experience
Director, Legal
Jul 2024 — Present · San Jose, CA, US
Primary legal business partner to NetApp’s Chief Commercial Officer and responsible for global legal support for functional teams reporting into the Chief Commercial Office (Enterprise & Commercial strategy, Global Strategy & Technology Office, NetApp Learning Services, Worldwide Business Desk, and the Worldwide Partner Organization). • Manage negotiation of technology and supply chain agreements, as well as STaaS, OEM, distribution and reseller agreements, data privacy, security and handling agreements. Advise executive leaders and their teams on liability exposure and risk management, regulatory, data governance and compliance matters. Provide dispute resolution advice and manage commercial litigation.• I led the conversion of a legacy, high-touch partner contracting model to a no-touch, automated and scalable global contracting process for partners. This eliminated the need for contract drafting, negotiating and editing, and delivered a 76% efficiency savings in human hours on a go-forward basis. I successfully migrated five thousand partners from their legacy agreements to this contract model.
Education
CSU Long Beach
B.A., Political Science: Theory
1990 — 1994
University of the Pacific - McGeorge School of Law
J.D., Intellectual Property
1995 — 1998
Find verified contacts for anyone on LinkedIn
Unifers gives sales teams verified emails and direct dials, enriched profiles, and outreach that lands in the inbox.
Free plan included · No credit card required
This profile is compiled from publicly available professional sources. Unifers is not affiliated with or endorsed by LinkedIn. Request removal of this profile.