On September 11, 2017, the Weinberg Center hosted a discussion on the role of the general counsel and how she should be positively influencing corporate culture. The Center has been working with the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) to examine this issue in light of ACC’s recent research and white paper on this topic. ACC is a global bar association with more than 43,000 in-house counsel members worldwide. Participating in the discussion were the following;
- Veta T. Richardson, president and CEO of the Association of Corporate Counsel. For four consecutive years she has been named to the NACD’s Directorship 100 as one of the most influential leaders in the boardroom and corporate governance community. Her own expertise was shaped through more than a decade as in-house counsel at Sunoco, Inc., where her practice focus was corporate governance, transactions, securities disclosure and finance.
- Gloria Santona, who recently stepped down as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of McDonald’s after three decades at the company. During that time, she worked closely with McDonald’s board of directors as their liaison to senior management. Gloria also has served as an independent director of Aon Corporation since 2004.
- Ann Mulé, Associate Director of the Center, moderated the discussion. Prior to joining the Center, Ann Mulé served as the chief governance and compliance officer, assistant general counsel, and corporate secretary at Sunoco, Inc. where she worked with Sunoco’s Board and Board committees for many years.
As a companion to the video, Veta Richardson from ACC and Ann Mulé from the Weinberg Center interviewed Kenneth C. Frazier, President and CEO of Merck & Co., Inc., on leadership, corporate culture and the evolving role of the general counsel. To read teh interview, click on the following link:
“On Leadership: An Interview with Kenneth C. Frazier, President & CEO of Merck & Co. Inc. (ACC 2017)
To read the ACC white paper, click on the followong link:
“Leveraging Legal Leadership: The General Counsel as a Corporate Culture Influencer.”
For more information about the role of the general counsel, including the complete bios of the discussion participants, click HERE.