Scholastic Names Chris Lick as New General Counsel

Chris Lick becomes Scholastic's new general counsel from June 1, succeeding Andrew Hedden after 17 years of legal leadership at the publishing giant.

on May 29, 2025

Scholastic Names Chris Lick as New General Counsel

The world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books Scholastic has promoted Chris Lick to the position of general counsel, succeeding Andrew Hedden, who is retiring from the job.

Lick is now senior counsel at Scholastic. In his new position, he will be charged with offering strategic legal advice in the US and internationally across disciplines like IP, litigation, compliance, content development, and strategic alliances and acquisitions. He will join on 1 June, reporting directly to president and CEO Peter Warwick.

New York-headquartered Scholastic publishes and distributes a broad-range of children's books – including fiction and non-fiction books and school textbooks – to book clubs, book fairs and school libraries.

Warwick added: "Chris has emerged as a valued strategic partner to Scholastic's executive management, offering good judgment that best aligns our company values and our business objectives for growth. We are looking forward to having him in this new capacity and thanking Andy for his prior service."

Lick joined Scholastic nearly 17 years ago, working in a variety of senior legal roles. He joined in July 2008 from Kilpatrick Stockton, where he was an associate, and began his legal career at Sidley Austin.

He stated: "Since day one at Scholastic, it has been an honor to work with an exceptionally gifted legal team and contribute to the company's mission of getting books into kids' hands. We're expanding the ways we do exactly that and I'm excited to work closely with Peter, the managing executive committee and the board to drive our success."

Hedden, on a related note, takes on a role as senior counsellor following 17 years as GC and over half a century of legal career. Like Lick, he joined Scholastic in 2008, having already served as a partner at Baker McKenzie and now-defunct US firm Coudert Brothers.

Earlier this month, US bookstore chain Books-A-Million brought back Catherine Hogewood to serve as GC, seven years since she last occupied that position. The recruitment is less than a year since the company appointed Courtney Adair as GC.

And last March, US on-campus bookstore Barnes & Noble Education appointed former Six Flags GC Christopher Neumann as its head of law.