Profile
Shoe-in
Philip Paccione, GC of Skechers, has made a career traveling
untrodden paths.
By Kayleigh Roberts. Photography by Jennifer Sharp, courtesy of Skechers.
for success
PHILIP;PACCIONE;HAS;WON;PRESTIGIOUS;AWARDS;FOR;HIS;WORK;AS;GENERAL;COUNSEL;OF;SKECHERS—FOR
which he has been the only GC, helping to lead the company from startup to shoe-industry staple. Yet, he’s the
kind of man who insists on describing his career path as “typical.” ¶ Paccione’s “typical” path started at the ripe
old age of 15, when his sophomore history teacher lit a fire that would lead him to law school. Instead of teaching
history through memorization, Paccione’s teacher took an adversarial approach, emphasizing that there were two
sides to everything, and encouraging students to take a position and defend it. Paccione, who says he wasn’t a
strong math student, thrived in the analytical environment, and his teacher
vital stats
age 49
College;University of California
Irvine, 1984
law;SChool;Georgetown University, 1988
family;Married with two boys,
ages 7 and 4
hobbieS;Reading, working out,
traveling, watching soccer
and college football
Reading;“Frank: The Voice” by James
Kaplan and “The Imperial
Cruise” by James Bradley
favo Rite
Shoe;Resistance Runner
took notice, suggesting that he consider a career in the law. By the time he
reached college, Paccione knew where he
was going.
From the time he entered University
of California – Irvine as a political sci-
ence and history major, Paccione
focused on a career in law, but he took a
brief detour to New York to attend the
prestigious graduate journalism pro-
gram at Columbia University. After
college, Paccione briefly pursued jour-
nalism, a career he says he felt would
allow him to use the same skills as the
law while exposing him to more subject
matter. Although he left the program
early to attend law school at Georgetown
University, Paccione eventually returned
to Columbia to finish his journalism
degree because he doesn’t like “unfin-
ished business.” This is the drive, so
typical of Paccione, that helped him hit
the ground running as Skechers first—
and only—GC.
Q: How did you get your foot in the door
at your first job?
A: The summer between my second
and third years of law school, I got a
job at the now-defunct Finley, Kumble,
Wagner. The problem was I went back
to school and the firm dissolved, so I
had no place to go after my third year
of law school. However, somebody from
Finley, Kumble, Wagner, who was going
to another firm, Chadbourne & Parke,
had liked my work the summer before
and took me with him.
