Managing director, general counsel and corporate secretary | Loop Capital & JLC
Global chief legal officer and corporate secretary | Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL)
Alan K. Tse is the global chief legal officer and corporate secretary of Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc (NYSE: JLL), the Fortune 200 real estate services company with 105,000 employees worldwide....
Executive Vice President, Chief legal and people officer | Obama Foundation
Executive Vice President and General Counsel | Veolia Environmental Services
Chief administrative officer and general counsel | PBC Linear
Formerly senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary | Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)
Executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary | Conagra Brands
Chief Legal officer | Tropicana Brands Group
 Charles Broll is forming a global legal team from scratch, which includes individuals, processes, templates, law firm relationships, and ways of working. Charles is doing this in Chicago and London...
General counsel, corporate secretary and director of human resources | The Belt Railway Company of Chicago
Executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary | Allstate
Vice president, general counsel, secretary and CCO | Brunswick Corporation
Executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary | LRS
Chief legal officer, general counsel and corporate secretary | Zebra Technologies
Executive vice president, global chief legal officer | Walgreens Boots Alliance
Chief administrative officer and general counsel | RR Donnelley & Sons
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary | McDonald's
Senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary | Navistar
General counsel, corporate secretary and chief administrative officer | CSC Generation Holdings
General counsel and corporate secretary | Ariel Investments
Emma is an accomplished investment management professional, board director, community leader and speaker. She is Ariel’s general counsel, overseeing the legal, compliance and risk functions for all the firm’s entities,...
Vice president and general counsel | Levy Restaurants
Folarin Dosunmu is vice president and general counsel for Levy. Folarin is a business advisor to the senior management team and leads the legal team on all significant matters involving...
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and corporate secretary | Exelon Corporation
Executive vice president and chief legal officer | TransUnion
Vice president, general counsel | Kimberly - Clark North America
Senior vice president, general counsel and secretary | Dover corporation
Senior Vice President and General Counsel | Motorola Solutions
General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer | Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN)
General counsel and corporate secretary | Formerly Dyson, Now Martin Brower
John Curtin currently serves as the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Dyson, Americas. John is a seasoned, global legal executive with more than 15 years of experience driving legal...
Executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary | Albemarle Corporation
Executive vice president, chief human resources officer and general counsel | Treehouse Foods
Kristy N. Waterman joined TreeHouse on July 1, 2021, and is our Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary. From that time, she successfully navigated...
Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate and Legal Affairs | Mondelēz International
Senior vice president and general counsel | Chicago Fire Football Club
Laura is a seasoned sports executive and top legal advisor for Chicago’s Major League Soccer professional team, the Chicago Fire Football Club. In her role as senior vice president and...
Senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary | IDEX Corporation
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary | Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Chief Human Resources Officer | Ryerson Holding Corporation
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary | LKQ Corporation
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Ethics & Governmental Affairs Officer | Alliant Credit Union
Chief legal officer | Springfield Clinic
Michelle joined Springfield Clinic as its chief legal officer in March 2022. Prior to joining the Clinic, Michelle served as the vice president of legal affairs for the Illinois Division...
Executive vice president, general counsel and secretary | Cushman & Wakefield
Executive vice president, chief legal officer | Credit union 1
Paul Fichter is the executive vice president and chief legal officer of Credit Union 1 (CU1), an Illinois state-chartered credit union that provides consumer and business financial services to its...
Head of international business and executive vice president, general counsel & corporate secretary | Tampico Beverages
SVP, General counsel and chief compliance and ethics officer | Transdev North America
Senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary | CDW
Rick Kulevich is senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of CDW, responsible for the legal, corporate governance, enterprise risk management, and ethics and compliance functions. He joined CDW...
Senior Vice President and Chief Legal officer | United Airlines
Chief legal officer and general counsel | Generate Biomedicines
Sean Martin is the chief legal officer and general counsel of Generate Biomedicines, overseeing all legal and compliance matters. Founded by Flagship Pioneering, Generate Biomedicines is a private company headquartered...
Vice president and senior counsel | Bank of the West
Executive Vice President and General Counsel | Northern Trust Corporation
Susan C. Levy is Executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Northern Trust, a leading provider of wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking to corporations, institutions,...
Senior vice president, chief legal officer, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer | Ingredion Incorporated
Executive vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary | Hub Group
Vice president, general counsel and secretary | Illinois Institute of Technology
Through The GC Powerlist Illinois, The Legal 500 embarked on a comprehensive research initiative to highlight top in-house counsel situated or carrying out notable work in Illinois. This GC Powerlist edition marks the first of its kind, focusing solely on senior in-house counsel in Illinois. Built on the success of its predecessor The GC Powerlist USA, we are thrilled to introduce a select group of 116 general counsel and chief legal officers on the Illinois legal scene. This group has been chosen on their merits, ahead of hundreds of received nominations.
Despite it being, for many global companies, a period eclipsed by different geopolitical risks, demands to reduce legal spend and challenges retaining staff, general counsel in Illinois report to have triumphed through resiliency and agility. When asked what unique qualities one would need to excel in an in-house role, many concurred that versatility, relationship-building and extending themselves beyond the strict remits of the law were essential.
Simply put by general counsel of RSA Security, Christopher Mermigas, ‘early involvement in daily business matters to appropriately guide and advise an agile, able team is critical to being an effective in-house counsel.’ Theresa Shea, general counsel of Utz Brands also finds that ‘proactive legal assistance is much more effective than reactive.’
Regarding being effective legal leaders, general counsel detail the tough balancing act of keeping legal spend to a minimum and dealing with an increased demand for legal expertise. Many successfully attempted keep their legal spend to a minimum through innovative means. An example by given by Ana Casanueva, general counsel Byline Bank was that she ‘implemented a way to identify outside legal expenses divided by area of law, to allocate costs internally in an efficient way’.
Similarly, Elizabeth Sheyn Brown, general counsel, corporate secretary and chief administrative officer at CSC Holdings, says she ‘improved her legal team by developing a survey that was designed to solicit feedback from stakeholders concerning the legal team and its performance, including what we should change and what should stay the same.’
Looking forward, esteemed in-house counsel included in this publication appear adequately prepared to storm any weather. On behalf of The Legal 500, I would like to extend our sincere congratulations and gratitude for engaging us for the maiden edition of GC Powerlist Illinois 2023!
On November 9th, The Legal 500 proudly introduced the inaugural edition of the GC Powerlist Illinois, hosted in Chicago. The GC Powerlist Illinois is part of a series of regional Powerlist titles meticulously examining the most innovative and transformative general counsel across the United States. This distinguished event acknowledged 117 remarkable general counsel and chief legal officers, with a substantial number in attendance to celebrate their achievements.
The evening commenced with an opening address delivered by Melissa Yebisi, Research Editor, USA, on behalf of The Legal 500. Next Craig Martin, Chairman Midwest at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, graciously welcomed and congratulated the esteemed counsel. The proceedings culminated with a keynote address from Noelle Perkins, EVP, General Counsel, and Secretary at Cushman & Wakefield, who shared an inspiring anecdote illuminating the essence of being a contemporary in-house counsel.
The Legal 500 is proud to have extended the GC Powerlist recognition to counsel in Illinois and eagerly anticipates conducting a comprehensive research endeavor again next year. Heartfelt appreciation is extended to Willkie Farr & Gallagher for their invaluable support of The GC Powerlist Series.
