Anita Nesser

Past

• Vice President & Corporate Counsel at Tempur-Pedic International Inc.
• Associate General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer at Centex
• Associate at Baker Botts LLP

• Associate at Baker & McKenzie
• Vice President & General Counsel at KAYLA FOODS, INC.

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Education

• The John Marshall Law School
• Wellesley College

Connections

82 connections

Industry

Executive Office

Websites

• Quoted - PR Newswire

Anita Nesser’s Summary

Senior executive and legal officer with strong track record of advising publicly-traded companies and providing robust, accurate and concise business advice. Known for presence, command and strong deal-making ability.

Anita Nesser’s Specialties:

Skilled in business transactions (both domestic and international), corporate governance and compliance, protection of global brands and litigation management.

Anita Nesser’s Experience

• Vice President & Corporate Counsel

  Tempur-Pedic International Inc.

  (Public Company; 201-500 employees; tpx; Consumer Goods industry)

  August 2006 — October 2008 (2 years 3 months)

  Relocated to Lexington from Dallas after being recruited to develop an in-house legal function and serve as the first general counsel to the leading manufacturer, marketer and distributor of premium mattresses and pillows worldwide.
  
  • Complete oversight of global legal function; accountable for all matters of legal significance to a $1B publicly traded consumer products company
  • Reduced outside legal budget by 50%
  • Successfully engineered dismissal of putative class action antitrust and securities lawsuits

• Associate General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer

  Centex

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; CTX; Construction industry)

  April 2002 — July 2006 (4 years 4 months)

  Accountable for several matters of importance to a $10B publicly traded homebuilding company, including compliance, corporate governance, intellectual property and political activity. Worked closely with general counsel, senior management team and board of directors to lead company through numerous changes in the corporate governance and compliance landscape.
  
  • Day-to-day management of SEC reporting, corporate governance, Sarbanes-Oxley and compliance matters; provided legal counsel and guidance on corporate governance issues to senior management and the Board of Directors
  • Served as corporate compliance officer; ensured that the Audit Committee, Board of Directors and senior management team was familiar with the compliance program and had reasonable oversight of its effectiveness; managed the process for responding to business conduct issues, and independently reviewed and evaluated business conduct issues within the company to ensure appropriate investigation and resolution

• Associate

  Baker Botts LLP

  (Partnership; 501-1000 employees; Law Practice industry)

  July 2000 — April 2002 (1 year 10 months)

  Practice focused exclusively on worldwide trademark, copyright and domain name protection, prosecution, licensing and litigation, with broad range of responsibility. Supervised team of 2 attorneys and six paralegals; responsible for approximately 8000 files.
  
  • Coordinated and executed trademark protection strategies to meet the specific needs of clients with respect to enforcement of rights, including worldwide search and clearance of trademarks and domain names for use and registration; worldwide trademark filing and branding programs; and anti-counterfeiting programs
  • Prosecuted United States trademark and service mark applications for both domestic and international clients; practiced before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, including ex parte appeals, opposition and cancellation proceedings
  • Litigated civil cases relating to trademark and trade dress infringement

• Associate

  Baker & McKenzie

  (Partnership; 1001-5000 employees; B&M; Law Practice industry)

  May 1998 — June 2000 (2 years 2 months)

  Practice focused on worldwide trademark protection, franchising and international business transactions.
  
  • Actively managed the domestic and international trademark portfolios of numerous brands, including Chuck E. Cheese, Wendy’s, Miami Subs, The Bombay Company
  • Structured, documented and registered franchise programs
  • Advised U.S. companies on legal aspects of doing business in Europe, Mexico and Latin America

• Vice President & General Counsel

  KAYLA FOODS, INC.

  (Public Company; 51-200 employees; Food & Beverages industry)

  March 1996 — May 1998 (2 years 3 months)

  Relocated to Dallas from Chicago after assisting Yogen Früz World-Wide Inc. (now known as CoolBrands Inc.), an established leader in the frozen dessert category with products and brands in over 80 countries, with the acquisition of I Can't Believe It's Yogurt! in 1996.
  
  • Exercised overall responsibility for legal function of frozen dessert company with revenues of $100M
  • Responsible for general corporate matters, corporate secretarial matters, acquisitions, retail real estate leasing matters, supervision of outside counsel in litigation matters; manufacturing and licensing arrangements, franchising, and trademark protection and prosecution for company's brands (including I Can't Believe It's Yogurt!, Java Coast Fine Coffees, Bresler's Ice Cream, Yogen Fruz, Golden Swirl, Swensen's and Ice Cream Churn)

Anita Nesser’s Education

• The John Marshall Law School

  JD , Law , 1991 — 1996

• Wellesley College

  1983 — 1987

Additional Information

Anita Nesser’s Websites:

• Quoted - PR Newswire

Anita Nesser’s Groups:

RECENT PRESENTATIONS

Your Relationship with Your Legal Counsel: Law & Order (The Institute Of Internal Auditors, Central Kentucky Chapter, November 2007)
Panelist, Corporate Compliance Programs (Association of Corporate Counsel, Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter, Annual In-House Symposium, May 2005)
Panelist, Corporate Governance (Texas Lawyer Networking Breakfast and Corporate Counsel Roundtable, December 2004)
Panelist, 404 Meltdown: A Case Study (Haynes & Boone Officers Forum, November 2004)
It’s an Election Year…Is Your Company Politically Correct? (Metroplex Association of Corporate Paralegals, July 2004)
Panelist, Corporate Governance in the 21st Century – 404 Internal Controls and Risk Management – Sarbanes-Oxley Implementation in Small, Medium and Large Corporations (State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting, June 2004)
Panelist, Fraud: Prevention, Detection, Response (Haynes & Boone Officers Forum, May 2004)

•    The John Marshall Law School Alumni
•    Wellesley College Alumnae Association
•    Baker & McKenzie connected
•    John Marshall Law School Alumni
•    Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals

Anita Nesser’s Honors:

PUBLICATIONS

Quoted, “Tempur-Pedic: Georgia Court Dismisses Purported Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit,” Associated Press, December 13, 2007
Recognized, "Texas Rising Star" (Texas Super Lawyers – Rising Stars Edition/Texas Monthly, 2005)
Quoted, "Two Years After SOX, GCs Stay Busy Meeting Requirements," Texas Lawyer, January 3, 2005
Quoted, "Biting The Hand That Feeds," Corporate Secretary, December/January 2005
Featured, "Up-And-Coming In-House Counsel," Texas Lawyer, April 5, 2004
Contributor, "United States of America," Trademark Practice & Forms (Oceana Publications; Kinsella, ed.)(2002)

Anita Nesser’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• consulting offers
• new ventures
• job inquiries
• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests
• getting back in touch