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
General counsel and chief administrative officer | CSC Generation Enterprise
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,...
Senior vice president, chief legal officer, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer | Ingredion Incorporated
Executive vice president, chief legal and human resources officer, corporate secretary | Hub Group
Vice president, general counsel and secretary | Illinois Institute of Technology
Senior vice president and general counsel | Misumi USA
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!
On Thursday 20th March, Legal 500 returned to Frankfurt for the 2025 edition of the GC Summit: Germany. The event brought together some of the leading legal minds in the country for an afternoon of engaging panel discussions and interactive sessions. The agenda spanned a range of topics, current in today’s dynamic market and tailored to in-house counsel.
Vanessa Westphal, Head of legal services group at Merck, opened the programme with a keynote speech, in which she touched upon the importance of embracing uncertainty. In a market where the ways in which in-house counsel operate is rapidly changing, from the resources available to transactions themselves, Westphal advised how the legal industry can strengthen both its legal and non-legal ‘backbone’: in-house teams should focus not only on legal prowess, but also improve cultural and management expertise to ensure smooth operations across the organisation.
The first panel of the day, sponsored by Seitz, discussed the crucial role that labour law can play in times of crisis. Dr. Kathrin Bürger and Dr. Stephan Pötters of Seitz were joined on stage by Prof. Dr. Marlene Schmidt, partner at Apitzsch Schmidt Klebe Rechtsanwälte, Ralph Wangemann, managing director of human resources and labour director at Opel Automobile, Dr. Tom Gellrich, partner and managing director at AlixPartners, and Olaf Möllenkamp, chairman, Conciliation boards. In light of the election process in Germany, the panel discussed the ever-relevant topic of labour law and examined how the current environment does not make for a classic crisis: various different factors, from digitalisation to ESG aspects, come together to create a complex type of crisis that requires a more nuanced approach to labour regulations.
Ashurst took to the stage for the second panel, considering the influence that environmental, social and governance (ESG) measures and artificial intelligence (AI) can have on joint ventures. Dr. Alexander Duisberg, Marina Arntzen and Dr. Stephan Hennrich, partners at the firm, discussed the hot topic with Maler James, head of the centre of competence for strategic business units and finance at compliance at Volkswagen, Philip Nicolai, general counsel commercial and technology at Schaeffler Group, and Thilo M. Tern, managing partner at Silvester Group. The experts analysed how these elements can be utilised to make joint ventures successful and more sustainable – and ultimately act as dealbreakers or dealmakers.
Following a short break for coffee and networking, experts returned to the stage to discuss how to navigate today’s challenging M&A market. Dr. Christian Traichel and Dr Marco Hartmann-Rüppel, partners at Taylor Wessing, were joined on stage for the firm’s panel by
Carsten Burger, managing director at DC Advisory, Viktor Strauch, partner at Borromin, and Alexander Deicke of Körber. The panel considered how to manage transactions, taking into account risk, uncertainty and regulation.
The final panel of the day brought fresh perspectives on the age-old question: to litigate or to arbitrate? Nicole Boehler, Director of legal operations Europe at Autoliv, engaged in lively debate with Horst Daniel and Dr. Eveli Lume of Squire Patton Boggs, weighing up the pros and cons of litigation and arbitration. The panellists discussed factors such as bias, confidentiality, costs and recoverability. The interactive panel saw plenty of involvement from the audience, with questions from attendees touching on international mediation and third-party funding.
In a true show of the relevance and significance of the panel topics, delegates continued their animated conversations and debates over final networking drinks.
On behalf of Legal 500, we extend our gratitude to our expert panellists, sponsors, and all attendees for coming together for such a productive, engaging and successful event.
