Opinion ID: 150007
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Moss Applies for a Position at BMC

Text: In September 2006, at the age of 68, Moss submitted his application for an in-house Staff Legal Counsel position with BMC, a company that develops, licenses, and markets software. BMC's job announcement included the following description of the Staff Legal Counsel position: Job Functions & Responsibilities:  Manage the legal aspects of all transactions involving the creation or acquisition of technology for resell [sic] to customers either on a stand-alone basis or as part of a BMC product and subject to either BMC's or another party's end user license, including OEM, Alliance, Development Outsourcing, Resell and other agreements.  Manage the legal aspects of all transactions involving the creation of migration routes for customers of withdrawn BMC products and methods for extracting additional value from those products  Create, implement, and maintain policies, processes and programs around the use of third party code  Provide general legal support for R&D, Alliances, and other business groups Skills Required:  Advanced legal drafting and negotiating skills, especially in an IP licensing practice  Advanced legal and non-legal communication skills  Advanced team leadership and project management skills Education/Training Required:  J.D. from an accredited U.S. law school with top academic credentials  Five or more years experience in a transactional IP practice The Staff Legal Counsel position would report to BMC's Associate General Counsel, Catherine Stallworth. Prior to a restructuring of BMC's legal department, Stallworth had been responsible for the matters that would be assumed by the Staff Legal Counsel and therefore she had the most familiarity with the type of work that would be performed by the successful candidate. Stallworth was responsible for making the final hiring decision. After Moss applied for the position, he received no response from BMC. Stallworth stated that she rejected Moss's application because he did not have relevant experience and was therefore not qualified for the position. BMC continued to seek applications, and received an application from Monika Lim. When Moss received no response to his application, he sent a letter directly to BMC's General Counsel, Denise Clolery. In the letter, Moss outlined in greater detail that he believed he possessed the necessary experience and skills for the open position. After receiving Moss's letter, Clolery forwarded his resume to Stallworth. According to Stallworth, she thought it wouldn't hurt to call and ask Moss about some of the experience that he described in his letter. Stallworth conducted a telephone interview with Moss. During the conversation, Moss stated that he had experience with what BMC referred to as OEM transactions, but that he used different terminology to describe that type of work. Based on the telephone interview, Stallworth scheduled Moss for an in person interview. Moss and Lim interviewed at BMC on the same day. Both candidates interviewed with Stallworth, Clolery, and two other members of the legal department. At the conclusion of the interviews, the interviewers met to discuss the candidates and unanimously agreed that Moss lacked the hands-on experience with the specific transactions necessary for the Staff Legal Counsel position, and would likely be unable to successfully and quickly assume the responsibilities of the position. Moss was not offered the job. BMC hired Lim, who was substantially younger than Moss.