About

Formerly a federal prosecutor at the US Attorney’s Office in Chicago and one of the founding forces behind the first Inspector General’s Office for the State of Illinois, Deborah L. Steiner joined Latham & Watkins as a commercial litigation specialist for seven years before joining RR Donnelley & Sons Company (RRD) in April 2012 as general counsel. Becoming general counsel of RRD in late 2016, Steiner has firmly established herself at the head of the company’s legal department, a move that was not without considerable exertion. ‘Moving from peer to boss is not an easy transition’, she explains. ‘The skills I learned to allow me to be successful in this area – listening, having grace for big feelings, change management – are skills I will use for the rest of my life. While not strictly legal in nature, this experience has deepened my ability to lead and perform at the top levels of the legal profession’. She has fit into the corporate side of the general counsel role extremely adeptly, considering this a particularly rewarding aspect of her position: ‘One of the most interesting parts of my job is that of wearing a business hat and participating in business strategy decisions, including setting and driving strategy. This has deepened my ability to operate as a general counsel and also further honed my business attorney skills and aptitudes’. One of the major projects Steiner has worked on in recent months was the divestment of the company’s print logistics services in 2018, helping to streamline the company and drive energies to core business in the process.