By Amanda Robert
Law Bulletin staff writer
After years of munching on Italian and Vegetarian sandwiches at Potbelly Sandwich Works, Matthew J. Revord jumped at the chance to work as the company's general counsel.
"I said, 'I love Potbelly. I'd love to work at Potbelly,'" Revord said. "The only better job than being general counsel of Potbelly would be if someone said, 'Do you want to be general counsel of the Cubs?'"
Revord, who became Potbelly's senior vice president, general counsel and secretary in January 2007, said he considers it a privilege to work for the Chicago icon.
"It's a great company," Revord said. "It's fun, and it's growing."
Revord handles all the day-to-day operational issues that come with running a 215-store restaurant group with more than 4,000 employees in 13 states. With the help of one paralegal, he works on all of the supplier contracts, real estate and development work, litigation, and general human resources and problem-solving for the entire company.
Recently, Revord said, he began devoting more time to Potbelly's newly developed franchise efforts.
"Potbelly, historically, had never been in franchising, and we have now decided that there are places that deserve Potbelly that we're not going to get to on our corporate development timeline for quite some time," Revord said.
Revord regularly works with five different outside law firms, he said, but picks counsel to match the magnitude of each situation. He uses different counsel for a small landlord dispute than for a large employment matter, he said.
Revord said he expects them all to exhibit responsiveness and keen business instincts.
"I want my outside counsel to return my calls quickly, and make me feel as though they value the relationship, not just the next month's bill," he said. "I'm looking for someone who seems to care about the relationship and the long-term growth prospects for Potbelly, which often means being sensitive to the economics of a small company."
A Wilmette native, Revord said his penchant for the law sparked when he was a sophomore in high school.
A friend's father was the managing partner at McDermott, Will & Emery LLP, Revord said, and one day, he told Revord that he'd grow up to be a lawyer.
"I had never really thought about it until then," he said, "but I started talking with him about what he did. It sounded interesting, and sure enough, I ended up being a lawyer."
Revord graduated with a bachelor's degree in government from the University of Notre Dame in 1985. He graduated from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1989 and started his legal career as an associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
Revord said he thought he would become a litigator, but after a few years, he transferred to the corporate side of the firm.
"That was very unusual, not a lot of people had made that change in their careers," he said.
In 1996, Revord moved in-house to Waste Management Inc., in Oak Brook. He handled mergers and acquisitions, he said, as the company acquired an average of five companies per month.
Revord said working in-house brought a more relaxed pace and the ability to learn a business and its objectives.
"Rather than being parachuted in to work on a specific transaction, it was a much higher sense of ownership on a long-term basis," he said.
Revord worked as senior counsel at Sears, Roebuck and Co., in Hoffman Estates, handling M&A, major vendor contracts and litigation from 1997 to 1999.
Matthew T. Myren, senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Enesco LLC, met Revord when they worked together in the legal department at Sears. He said Revord exuded an "infectious energy."
"He loves his work, he loves people, and he found a way to always make the work fun," Myren said. "You never felt when you were working with Matt that it was drudgery."
Myren also complimented Revord's singing voice and compared his ability to sing high harmony to his ability to work as a member of a team.
"You can never tell what part of people's background allows them to function well in a team, but I always think of Matt taking on that high-harmony role that not many people can do," Myren said. "He does the same thing in his work, and he does it well."
In 1999, Revord became vice president and associate general counsel at True North Communications Inc., a large advertising holding company in Chicago. He said he developed a more global practice, completing several acquisitions and divestitures in Europe and Asia.
"We had international interests that Sears didn't really have," Revord said. "That was one of the prime reasons I went there."
In 2002, Revord started as deputy general counsel for Brunswick Corp., in Lake Forest. Revord said the diversified manufacturing company acquired 12 companies in three years to grow a new unit called Brunswick New Technologies Inc.
As BNT's vice president and general counsel, Revord handled a series of acquisitions that increased the division from 10 employees and $15 million in revenues in 2002 to 1,200 employees and $350 million in revenues in 2006.
Mike Henn, executive vice president and chief financial officer for Navman Wireless Holdings, who formerly worked as CFO for BNT, said Revord acted as more of a partner than an "enforcer or watchdog."
"Matt is not afraid to give his opinion when asked," Henn said. "Not just on the legal issues, but on the business consideration, which is particularly helpful for a CFO, when you're using your lawyer as a sounding board for a whole host of risk management concepts and issues."
Revord joined Potbelly after BNT was spun off and sold. When asked why he enjoys his job as general counsel of the restaurant company, Revord said the "Potbelly culture is fabulous."
Revord still eats at Potbelly five days a week - he said discounted meals are a perk of the job.
"Whenever my friends from law firms say, 'Where do you want to meet for lunch?' I say, 'Let's meet at Potbelly,'" Revord said.