Illinois 2024
Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel
General counsel and chief administrative officer | CSC Generation Enterprise
Senior vice president, chief legal officer, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer | Ingredion Incorporated
Senior vice president and general counsel | Misumi USA
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, 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
Chief legal officer, general counsel and corporate secretary | Zebra Technologies
Executive vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary | McDonald's
Senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary | Navistar
Chief administrative officer, general counsel, board secretary | Ariel Investments
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
Senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary | USG
Executive vice president and chief legal officer | TransUnion
Executie vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary | Fortune Brands Innovations
Hiranda is executive vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary at Fortune Brands Innovations. She joined the company in December 2021 and oversees global legal operations, corporate governance, compliance...
Executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary | Regal Rexnord
Senior vice president, general counsel and secretary | Dover corporation
Senior vice president and general counsel | Motorola Solutions
Executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary | Albemarle Corporation
Executive vice president, chief human resources officer and general counsel | Treehouse Foods
Executive vice president, general counsel, corporate and legal affairs | Mondelēz International
Laura Stein is Executive Vice President – Corporate & Legal Affairs, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Mondelēz International, a global snacking company with 2023 net revenues of approximately $36...
Senior vice president and general counsel | Chicago Fire Football Club
Laura is a seasoned sports executive and chief legal advisor for Chicago’s Major League Soccer team, the Chicago Fire Football Club. In her role as chief legal and administrative officer,...
Global general counsel and corporate secretary | cleverbridge
Lauren K. Schwartz is a dynamic leader, C-suite advisor, and advocate known for her unwavering commitment to problem-solving and enabling business success. With over 15 years of experience in the...
Senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary | IDEX Corporation
Executive vice president, general counsel and secretary | Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Senior vice president, general counsel and chief ethics and governmental affairs officer | Alliant Credit Union
Meredith Ritchie, a Chicago native, graduated from Hamilton College in Clinton, NY and obtained her JD from DePaul College of Law in Chicago. Meredith has had a diverse legal career...
Executive vice president, general counsel and secretary | Cushman & Wakefield
Noelle Perkins is the EVP, General Counsel & Secretary for Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK), a global leader in commercial real estate services with 52,000 employees in over 400 offices...
EVP, Managing Director, General Counsel for Wholesale Lending and Transaction Banking | HSBC North America
Senior vice president, 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
Head of legal operatons and chief of staff | Mcdonald's
Talita Ramos Erickson is head of Global Legal Operations & Chief of Staff for the Global Legal and Compliance Department at McDonald’s Corporation, based in Chicago. Before joining McDonald’s in 2023,...
Executive vice president, chief legal and human resources officer, corporate secretary | Hub Group
Vice president, general counsel and secretary | Illinois Institute of Technology
The Legal 500 is excited to present the second edition of the GC Powerlist Illinois 2024. Building on the previous edition, this year’s Powerlist once again highlights outstanding in-house counsel in Illinois, chosen for their exceptional skill, impact, and dedication.
When speaking with The Legal 500, many general counsel emphasised the importance of integrating the legal function more closely with business operations. For example, Tanya Jaeger de Foras, SVP and chief legal officer at Ingredion, noted that her team “developed a vision and mission statement that we are one global team, working together to be recognized for adding value by driving outcomes that advance the strategy and protect the company.”
William Abbott, general counsel at Misumi, also shared his approach to supporting company goals, explaining, “We send a personal response to each customer within 24 hours of receipt, then follow up to better understand their expectations, aiming to exceed them whenever possible.”
In a shifting economic and regulatory landscape, general counsel in Illinois are addressing challenges from employment issues like non-compete clauses and data privacy to interest rate changes by the Federal Reserve. Summing up the role of general counsel in these times, Christopher Mermigas, general counsel at RSA Security says, “By involving legal expertise early in the project lifecycle, we can guide teams through potential obstacles and help them navigate complex regulatory issues, enabling smoother processes and increasing chances of success.”
Congratulations to all honorees in this year’s GC Powerlist Illinois. We appreciate their contributions and insights shared during our research for this edition!
The recent news that elite US firm Sullivan & Cromwell had apologised to a judge over AI hallucinations in a court filing prompted a collective wince from the legal profession.
But while some lawyers remain wary of AI, others are striking a more open-minded note, and at the LexisNexis AI Forum hosted this Wednesday (20 May) by Legal 500 and Legal Business, panelists argued that the risks are far outweighed by the opportunities.
Barbara Zapisetskaya, principal technology counsel at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, made the case that hallucinations and other potential pitfalls can be overcome with a shift in mindset.
‘What makes a difference,’ she said, ‘is empowering your lawyers to take responsibility for AI output – helping them become active AI operators, not just passive AI users. You have agency to decide whether you agree with the output or not.’
Zapisetskaya was among a line-up of leading in-house figures speaking on two panels, which covered everything from practical steps for AI implementation to the key decisions GCs need to be making in the coming months.
Financial Times general counsel Dan Guilford began by stressing the importance of building the right culture for AI adoption. In addition to proactively upskilling himself, Guilford talked about how he had implemented a voluntary weekly ‘show and tell’ meeting for team members to share successful use cases – or an exercise that became a gratifying measure of progress.
Other panelists discussed how increased in-house productivity is altering the dynamic with their external counsel.
While some see the use of AI by law firms as a precursor for reduced fees, Russell Davies, head of global operations for legal and compliance at Dentsu, said that faster results – however they are delivered – are something to be valued.
GSK assistant general counsel Anthony Kenny agreed, saying that while there was an expectation that external counsel would be utilising AI, the focus should be on the value of the output, rather than an overemphasis on identifying AI use as a justification to reduce fees.
Speaking on the second panel, MUFG EMEA general counsel James Morgan stressed the critical importance of education, noting that educating the C-suite on the advantages and risks of AI is just as important as enabling large in-house teams to use these tools.
Shanthini Satyendra, vice-chair of the AI Committee, Society for Computers & Law, CEO and founder of Manisain, offered a reminder of the importance of making the connection between tasks and the purpose behind them, extolling the virtues of identifying use cases for AI that can solve a meaningful problem.
Zapisetskaya concurred, adding that one of the most important tasks for GCs across the next six to twelve months is to create AI playbooks and templates, noting that ‘it is easy for lawyers to see problems – much harder for lawyers to see opportunities.’
There was also broad agreement among panellists that GCs should focus on upskilling their junior lawyers on AI, rather than – as some may expect – cutting back their workforce. As Satyendra summarised: ‘Some people are replacing human capital with AI without thinking about what’s required to make AI work. Retain your people and train them up.’
The panels were moderated by Emma Millington, head of the UK Lexis+ Finance Group, and LexisNexis director of segment management Stuart Greenhill.
