Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Bar Memberships
Timeline
Generic

Joseph Chontos

Palos Verdes,CA

Summary

Performance-driven and proven general counsel with more than 30 years of experience providing counsel to senior business and government leaders, including C-suite executives, Board of Directors members, Senate-confirmed political appointees, and general officers regarding critical and sensitive matters. Dedicated to applying excellent communication skills to facilitate optimal decision-making by leaders. Passionate about building, leading, and participating in teams both to achieve goals and to develop subordinates and colleagues. Results-oriented individual well-versed in interfacing and consulting on business processes to drive results based on sound overall business judgment always with personal humility, good humor, and a sound moral compass.

Overview

33
33
years of professional experience

Work History

Vice President - General Counsel and Secretary

Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc.
04.2022 - 10.2023
  • Led and managed the Company's legal and corporate secretary functions, as well as its ethics and international trade compliance functions (26 employees)
  • Responsible for all public company functions, including conduct of all Board of Directors, Special Shareholder, and Annual Shareholder Meetings, and for all required record-keeping and SEC filings
  • Managed and led the legal and corporate functions during a highly contentious conflict among a split Board of Directors that included litigation in the Delaware Court of Chancery and that culminated in a proxy contest that went to a shareholder vote
  • Onboarded and trained new Board members in the wake of the proxy contest, and facilitated the new Committee chairs' review of Committee charters and associated policies
  • Co-managed and led the process to sell the Company, including selection and management of outside counsel, which process resulted in the sale of the Company at a significant premium to the stock price

Deputy General Counsel

Aerojet Rocketdyne
03.2018 - 04.2022
  • Responsible for managing all litigation and investigations. M&A, environmental, IP, employment, ethics, and real estate matters for this $2B public company

Corporate Director - Division Counsel

Northrop Grumman
04.2014 - 03.2018
  • Responsible for all legal matters for the Company's Mission Systems sector's largest ($3.5B) division, the Airborne C4ISR Division

Vice President - General Counsel

Electric Boat Corporation
08.2000 - 03.2014
  • Responsible for all legal matters at this then $4.5B, 12,000-employee, nuclear engineering and ship construction business, managing a 10-person law department

Associate General Counsel

General Dynamics
01.1999 - 03.2014
  • Responsible for M&A support (including post-merger integration), business unit oversight, government contracts and cost accounting matters, FCPA and export control matters, and support of governance matters and SEC filings

Partner and Associate

Jenner & Block
05.1999 - 08.2000
  • Represented clients in commercial and government contracts matters, bankruptcy and patent infringement litigation, including claims litigation and bid protests, and in various corporate transactions, as both acquiror and target

Captain, United States Army

Department Of Defense
08.1990 - 05.1995
  • As Counsel to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cooperative Threat Reduction, negotiated assistance agreements directly with former Soviet nuclear republics for nuclear weapons dismantlement projects under the Nunn - Lugar Program
  • As a member of the Army Office of General Counsel's Honors Program, provided ethics counsel to senior Army leadership and legal counsel for all aspects of the Army's participation in the base closure (BRAC) process

Education

J.D. -

University of Chicago Law School
Chicago, IL
06.1990

Bachelor of Arts - Government And Foreign Affairs

University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
05.1987

Bar Memberships

  • Maryland
  • Washington DC
  • California (registered in-house counsel)

Timeline

Vice President - General Counsel and Secretary

Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc.
04.2022 - 10.2023

Deputy General Counsel

Aerojet Rocketdyne
03.2018 - 04.2022

Corporate Director - Division Counsel

Northrop Grumman
04.2014 - 03.2018

Vice President - General Counsel

Electric Boat Corporation
08.2000 - 03.2014

Partner and Associate

Jenner & Block
05.1999 - 08.2000

Associate General Counsel

General Dynamics
01.1999 - 03.2014

Captain, United States Army

Department Of Defense
08.1990 - 05.1995

J.D. -

University of Chicago Law School

Bachelor of Arts - Government And Foreign Affairs

University of Virginia

Similar Profiles

CREATE PROFILE
Joseph Chontos