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Roberta Loomar spent nearly ten years at Apotex, and the SVP and General Counsel helped shepherd the organization’s sale to a private equity group. It was a moment for both celebration and recalibration. It’s not uncommon for a GC to work themselves out of a role, and this was precisely the case.
Loomar didn’t sign up with the first organization she found looking for a legal leader. She took some much-needed time off. But DifGen, an organization Loomar had met during her time at Apotex, found itself needing a fractional—and then full-time—General Counsel.
The last year has been an incredible evolution of Loomar’s already deep skill set. A General Counsel who has created compliance departments and legal functions in her previous roles, an in-house performer who was once asked to oversee patent infringement litigation, something she’d never done in a field she wasn’t at all familiar with—Loomar’s adaptability in her space is relatively unrivaled.
And after helping with the sale of a mature, 5,000-person global company to a private equity group, Loomar elected to bring her skillset to a 600-person “just-out-of-startup-size” rising player in the pharmaceutical R&D and manufacturing space. Even its scope is different. DifGen is rooted in pharmaceutical research with a focus on developing IP, contract manufacturing, and licensing its developed products to companies like Loomar’s former employer. In short, Loomar has had to look at her role in a much different light.
“I really had to start fresh here as the sole attorney at a company that had no real legal policies and procedures or forms,” the GC explains. “One of the things I love about being an in-house attorney is that you learn something new every day, and that definitely continues to be the case in this new role.”
Throughout her career, Loomar has taught herself about pharmaceuticals, chemistry, and how to be a contract, regulatory, and employment lawyer. In many ways, Loomar seemed intent on becoming a General Counsel the hard way, by approaching her legal role from as many different vantage points as possible. It’s also what makes her such an effective one-person team who also knows when to call in specialists.
“I think I can say that as a GC in this industry, I know a lot, but I don’t know everything,” Loomar says. “I’ve been very clear that I can aid this organization in most things, but I still sometimes need to bring in outside expertise.”
Since coming to DifGen, Loomar is proud of what she’s been able to accomplish. She established the company’s first true legal department, creating bespoke policies, procedures, and standard contracts suited to its R&D and manufacturing focus.
Loomar has also improved contract negotiation and risk management, especially by revisiting and renegotiating past agreements and ensuring new agreements better protect DifGen’s interests. The GC says it’s not that the previous work was bad, but in-house lawyers invariably understand the needs of their business on a level that outside counsel often can’t afford to take the time to learn.
The GC has also helped guide the evolution of compliance and legal infrastructure, adapting lessons learned from more mature companies. Through this lens, Loomar hopes she’s helped transition DifGen from an emerging company to a more mature company, institutionalizing governance practices critical for its next phase of scaling.
DifGen currently owns two manufacturing facilities in the South Florida area, as well as operations in India that conduct research and development as well as manufacturing, and the General Counsel imagines things will continue to expand.
That focus on growth includes recruiting and training additional legal and compliance staff as DifGen’s ambitions increase. Loomar also says it will be critical to continue to build a legal function that can support exponential advances in global operations, strategic partnerships, and IP development.
For other in-house lawyers, or those hoping to become one, Loomar challenges them not to turn down opportunities that might help them grow, even though there may be some short-term pains.
“Don’t be afraid to say yes to new opportunities,” the GC explains. “Even if you have no idea how to do it. Use it as an opportunity to grow professionally, develop new skills, and remember that this job is all about lifelong learning. You need to always be working on development, and that’s coming from someone who’s been practicing law for thirty-five years.”
Loomar’s expertise is matched with humility and curiosity, one that challenged her to take on a role that many with her experience would shy away from. It’s anything but easy to help an organization that has just graduated out of startup status in its next phase of growth. The GC could have, for all intents and purposes, sought out a GC role at an established company gig. She didn’t. “Easy” isn’t what Loomar is after, even though she’s earned it. She relishes a challenge.
