Timothy Howard 
Assistant Counsel at Merck & Co., Inc.
Tell us about yourself:
I grew up in a small town in Kansas. I attended the University of Kansas and then Michigan Law School. I clerked for U.S. District Judge Ann D. Montgomery in Minneapolis after law school, then worked for Dorsey & Whitney in Minneapolis and Steptoe & Johnson in Washington, DC before joining Merck in 2006.
Tell us what a day is like in your field:
I spend a lot of time on the phone with my outside counsel who handle investigations and litigation for the company. I also spend a lot of time traveling to attend court hearings, depositions and meetings with opposing counsel and the government.
Tell us what you like about working at your company:
I like the fact I can employ my legal education and law degree in support of an enterprise dedicated to improving the health of mankind. Having battled health problems at various points in my life and won most of those battles as a result of the healing power of medicine, I can appreciate Merck’s mission in a very personal way. That is not something I ever envisioned being able to do when I decided to go to law school.
Give us one best practice tip:
When a crisis hits, resist the urge to fight back too rapidly and too loudly through the press. Don’t get out ahead of your facts. The long-term detrimental ramifications of knee-jerk categorical denials much more often than not far outweigh the short-term benefit of such denials.
