With a reported one billion active users, and rising list of legal issues, commentators suggest that it’s little surprise that the internet site is expanding its legal team by 38 per cent.
The figure was suggested by Sam O’Rourke, Facebook’s deputy general counsel, speaking at an event organised by the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
When Mr O’Rourke joined the company in 2008, he was only its fifth lawyer. Now, even with 65 lawyers and staff on its books, he says the company is ‘still growing pretty substantially’.
Other Silicon Valley companies are also reportedly following suit. Andrew Vu, senior associate general counsel for Wal-Mart’s global e-commerce division confirmed the company would also soon be hiring legal staff.