Fortune has posted a detailed examination of how former Home Depot CEO Frank Blake took ownership of the company’s customer data breach in the latter days of his tenure and, in the process, cemented his reputation as a straight-shooter.

According to Fortune‘s report, “Blake’s response to the breakdown matches his approach to running Home Depot—an approach few foresaw when the board abruptly named him to replace Bob Nardelli in 2007. He tackled the hack with the same forthrightness, humor, and humility that he has displayed in reviving Home Depot.”

Some other companies have suffered greatly after similar disasters, but “Home Depot has shown no public signs of a decline. That is in part because it was the first of several hacking episodes to occur in rapid succession. But it is also because of Blake’s forthright approach,” the article says.

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General Motors has announced the upcoming retirement of its general counsel, Michael P. Millikin.

In its report on the retirement, The New York Times said Millikin has been a central figure in the automaker’s safety crisis and a target of congressional critics calling for broad reforms at the nation’s largest automaker.

Millikin joined the company in 1977 and has been its general counsel for five years. He is expected to retire early next year.

“While G.M.’s internal investigation exonerated him in the delayed recall, Mr. Millikin could still be a subject of federal and state inquiries into the company’s handling of defective ignition switches that can cause vehicles to lose power suddenly and disable air bags,” The Times reported.

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Fannie Mae has appointed Brian P. Brooks, 45, as executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary effective Nov. 10.

Brooks was vice chairman and chief legal officer at OneWest Bank before his Fannie Mae appointment.

Prior to OneWest Bank, Brooks was a managing partner at the global law firm O’Melveny & Myers where he led an office of more than 150 attorneys and played a lead role in crafting the banking industry’s response to the 2010-2011 foreclosure crisis, Fannie Mae reports in a release.

Brooks received his law degree with honors from the University of Chicago, and holds a BA in Government from Harvard University from which he graduated cum laude.

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Recent headlines show that corporate management and general counsel should have policies in place to root out potential employee wrongdoing and to do so quickly, reports JDSupra Business Business Advisor.

It is most important for companies to have clear procedures for reporting wrongdoing, JDSupra says on its website.

“No company can take steps to investigate or manage improprieties it knows nothing about. Every company should have written procedures and periodic training on internal reporting procedures. Employees should understand the personnel to whom issues should be raised, and they should be encouraged to speak up when they have concerns about malfeasance. Often, it is necessary to have both a separate department tasked with handling these concerns as well as a clear chain of command within each department,” JDSupra continues.

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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a senior Deutsche Bank lawyer, Calogero Gambino, has died of an apparent suicide in New York.

Gambino was an associate general counsel, a managing director and the German bank for 11 years.

Police says his wife found him on Oct. 20 hanging by the neck from a stairway banister. New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner spokeswoman Julie Bolcer said the cause of death is hanging and manner of death is suicide.

On behalf of Deutsche, Gambino had been negotiating in an investigation into manipulation of the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, as well as in investigations into manipulation of currencies markets.

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