Arthur is also the founder & CEO of VirtualTerms.com, an innovative online platform that streamlines and standardizes common business agreements to make it fast and easy for both parties to agree so they can quickly move on to doing business.

In his prior role at Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Arthur was selected by the CEO and Executive Leadership Team as an Action Champion Award winner recognizing employees who deliver superior business results, drive efficiency and effectiveness, and exemplify its values, and was a key member of the Small Legal Department of the Year selected by Texas Lawyer. He also was a prior finalist for the Dallas Business Journal’s Best Corporate Counsel – Rising Star award and was selected multiple years as a Texas Monthly Super Lawyer – Rising Star for In-House Counsel.

Arthur Swanson graduated with honors from Duke University School of Law in Durham, North Carolina. Prior to law school, Arthur graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington with a B.A. in Business with a concentration in Finance. Prior to law school, Arthur was a bond underwriter underwriting surety bonds in Seattle for a variety of construction clients and projects. Arthur was previously Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at Keurig Dr Pepper where he led the company’s Litigation and Commercial practice areas. Arthur has also practiced at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Sidley Austin and Baker Botts in Dallas and Seattle.

Arthur’s background includes corporate, commercial and M&A matters, litigation, and extensive experience managing marketing & advertising, R&D, regulatory, intellectual property, and information technology legal matters, with extensive C-suite, corporate board and external affairs experience. He has served as the Secretary to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of Dr Pepper Snapple Group, helped lead the Sustainability, Enterprise Risk & Compliance functions for Dr Pepper Snapple Group, and served on the Audit Committee of the National Council of Better Business Bureaus and on the Board of Directors of Don’t Quit LLC.

At Vela Wood, Arthur provides clients a depth and breadth of knowledge and experience across corporate and commercial matters. These include M&A, finance, marketing & advertising, sales & distribution, and information technology. Arthur also consults and can help you manage litigation with other legal providers. With his breadth of experience, Arthur can help you manage through a myriad of legal issues and find the right solutions, and is ideally suited to serve as your go-to legal partner or external general counsel.

Select Representations

*Some transactions reflect Arthur’s work at prior firms.

  • Represented newly spun-off company in connection with three IT infrastructure, managed security, and application support outsourcing agreements, along with a variety of other information technology agreements, and assisted the newly formed company with creating a variety of new agreement forms for Marketing, HR, IT, and Procurement
  • Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s public company spinoff from Cadbury Schweppes, and later transaction to form Keurig Dr Pepper*
  • Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s acquisitions of Bai and of Limitless sparkling water beverages, sale of All Sports sports drink, and asset acquisitions of various manufacturing and distribution businesses*
  • Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s investments in Body Armor sports drink, High Brew coffee, AShoc energy, and Don’t Quit meal replacement and related distribution and/or manufacturing agreements*
  • Distribution rights agreements with evian water, Forto coffee shots, Peet’s ready to drink coffee, and various other brands*
  • Agreements to create and sponsor a MTV reality show called “Band in the Bubble,” with the Celebrity Apprentice to feature new Snapple products and special 7UP graphics in two season finales, with Maroon 5 to feature the band on their own specially created Snapple “Tea Will Be Loved” tea benefiting Feed America, and movie/TV joint promotion agreements with the Avengers, Spiderman, X-Men, and Americas Got Talent*
  • Sponsorship agreements with the Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears, St. Louis Rams, Texas Rangers, College Football National Championship & Conference, Grammy’s, Country Music Awards, and other large and small properties*
  • Various creative, media, talent/spokesperson, promotion and other agency agreements, and review of product advertising*
  • Software services and IT hosting outsourcing agreements with two major outsourcing providers, and various software license and IT services agreements*

Speaking Engagements

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly;…. who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”

– Theodore Roosevelt 

Fun Facts:

  • He played rugby at Duke.
  • He’s appeared as an extra in one movie and two TV episodes.
  • He’s on a lifelong quest for the world’s best onion rings (Kid Valley rings with Walla Walla Sweets have yet to be topped).

Education:

  • Duke University School of Law, J.D., with honors.
  • University of Washington, B.A., Business