Airbnb Inc. has added a new General Counsel. The move will help respond to the increasing number of legal threats facing the room-rental company as it expands globally.
According to Bloomberg, Rob Chesnut, which is a former Senior Vice President at EBsay, gained the position left by Belinda Johnson. Johnson was promoted to Chief Business Affairs and Legal Officer just last year.
The duty of a General Counsel has been seen as an added importance at on-demand technology startups, including Airbnb and Uber Technologies Inc. These companies face battle against costly legal threats to alter their business models.
Airbnb has fought with governments over the taxes the company hosts pay, and the company has set up offices in various tax havens. Airbnb has also sued for the accused misdeeds of their hosts, including an incident related to a hidden camera in a rental, as reported by Yahoo! News.
"Whenever you've got a business model that breaks new ground and challenges the status quo, it's going to run up against laws that were passed long before the business model was ever conceived," Rob Chesnut stated. Chesnut recently served as an adviser to Uber and to RelayRides Inc.
Bloomberg BNA claimed that Chesnut comes to the company from the Santa Clara-based textbook rental company, Chegg Inc. He served as a Senior Vice President and General Counsel in the company, as well as the Chair of its board for six years.
Chesnut also served as an adviser to Uber and Relayides Inc., which operates the Turo service that allows people to rent out their cars. Airbnb pointed out that Chesnut, who worked at EBay until 2008 before joining the online textbook rental company Chegg, has already resigned from his advisory functions.
Meanwhile, Airbnb insists that hiring a General Counsel will give the spotlight to the importance of top lawyers in tech companies. Moreover, hiring a new General Counsel will most likely combat the pressure rising as the company expands worldwide.
