When Doug Lankler attended Cornell Law School in the late 1980s, he met Zach Shulman, and the two quickly struck up a friendship. On September 18, Lankler ’90 and Shulman ’90, director of Entrepreneurship at Cornell, reunited at the Law School’s Landis Auditorium for a fireside chat about Lankler’s journey from Cornell Law to his pivotal role as general counsel at Pfizer during the COVID-19 pandemic. In conversation with Shulman, Lankler recounted his formative experiences, commitment to compliance and corporate ethics, and the unique challenges he faced during the pandemic.
Starting his career as a litigation associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Lankler soon moved into public service as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he received the U.S. Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award.
“My dad was an assistant district attorney in Manhattan. He worked in a homicide bureau,” said Lankler. “He would come home and tell stories about his job. I could tell he really loved what he did … My older brother and I both became lawyers because of dad’s passion for it.”
Before joining Pfizer, Lankler recalled the moment he realized he didn’t want to continue as a trial lawyer. It occurred when a member of a Japanese crime family, whom they had pursued for three years, was being sentenced. “It should have been a joyous moment for me since justice prevailed,” he said, “but I remember feeling more sad than anything. I realized at that moment that I was done.”
In 1999, Lankler joined Pfizer, where he developed a groundbreaking compliance program, leading to significant organizational changes. Between 2003 and 2006, the newly formed “zero tolerance” compliance program resulted in the termination of several managers and others. “Regardless of how great a performer the person might have been—if we concluded that the person was in violation of our policies or law they were gone,” said Lankler. In 2013, Lankler was named general counsel and executive vice president at Pfizer. “I have had a lot of luck throughout my career,” he said. “I was in the right place at the right time.” “He calls it luck, which partly I guess is a little bit of the right timing, but I want you all to think about the fact that good things happen to good people,” said Shulman.
When asked why he’s remained at Pfizer, Lankler replied, “Mission!” He noted that his proudest moment has been the development and release of the Pfizer vaccine in March 2021, calling it the “career privilege of a lifetime.”
Shortly before the pandemic, Lankler was up for consideration for the general counsel position at another large company. He reflected on not getting the role, stating, “If I was there watching these guys do this, I would have been devastated.” While working for Pfizer has been mostly positive, there were challenges. After the initial success of the vaccine rollout, anti-vaccine backlash intensified in 2022, leading to a significant drop in the company’s stock. “Politics got involved, and we lost billions of dollars,” said Lankler.
The hardest part for Lankler was witnessing the impact on his colleagues’ morale. They felt they had done a good thing but faced the difficulty of layoffs. Pfizer eventually moved forward and improved profitability with new drugs like Paxlovid. “At this point, we have moved on from COVID and are focused on oncology,” said Lankler.
Before the chat ended, Lankler encouraged the students in attendance. “First of all, pat yourself on the back. It is definitely harder for you than it was for us… For you to do all you have done, it is really impressive.”
