David Drummond

As Google seeks to “make the world’s information universally accessible and useful” where does it draw limits around free expression? And how does Google respect its users’ privacy while complying with government demands for information?

These are the sorts of legal issues that take up David Drummond’s time.
He joined Google in 2002, initially as vice president of corporate development. Today as senior vice president and the company’s chief legal officer, Drummond leads Google's global teams for legal, communications, government relations, corporate development and new business development.

Drummond was first introduced to Google in 1998 as a partner in the corporate transactions group at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, one of the nation's leading law firms representing technology businesses. He served as Google’s first outside counsel and worked with Larry Page and Sergey Brin to incorporate the company and secure its initial rounds of financing.

During his tenure at Wilson Sonsini, he worked with a wide variety of technology companies to help them manage complex transactions such as mergers, acquisitions and initial public offerings. Drummond has led Google’s efforts to create a huge digital library, which now contains more than seven million titles. A broad array of authors, academics, librarians and public interest groups found the Google Books project controversial. In late 2009 Google and its partners, the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, redrafted an agreement to resolve the conflict.

Drummond earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Santa Clara University and his J.D. from Stanford Law School.