More Fortune 500 women GCs than ever before, study says
A recent survey released by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) says more women than ever served as GCs in the Fortune 500 in 2011.
August 09, 2012 at 06:46 AM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Law.com
A recent survey released by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) says more women than ever served as GCs in the Fortune 500 in 2011. Women now hold 21 percent of the top legal positions in Fortune 500 companies—that's 108 women GCs and CLOs.
The Survey of Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 Women and Minority General Counsel revealed some other interesting stats about women in top legal department positions:
- The number of women general counsel has accelerated in recent years, and 23 have been added since 2009.
- About 16 percent of the 2011 top legal officers identified themselves as minorities, the most diverse in the survey's history. They included 90 whites/Caucasians, 11 African Americans, four Hispanics, two Asian/Pacific Islanders and one of Middle Eastern origin.
- Although women GCs are based at Fortune 500 companies across the country, only six states comprise 50 percent of them. They include California with 12 companies, New York with 11, Texas with 10, Illinois with eight, New Jersey with seven and Virginia with seven.
- Among Fortune 1000 companies (those ranked 501 to 1000 in revenue), there were 78 women general counsel, down by four since 2011. (According to the report, the cause of this was six companies leaving the Fortune 1000 to join the Fortune 500.) The number of general counsel women of color at these companies remained steady at five.
“The representation of women general counsel at Fortune 500 companies has grown steadily since MCCA began tracking this information in 1999,” Joseph K. West, MCCA President and CEO, said in the press release. “We see this trend continuing as more companies recognize the outstanding legal and leadership skills of these professional women.”
The MCCA report is good news for Project 5/165, InsideCounsel's joint effort with DLA Piper Partner Stasia Kelly, a former Fortune 500 GC, to reach the day when one-third—or 165—of Fortune 500 general counsel are women.
“Women have the numbers; now is the time for action,” Kelly said in a recent InsideCounsel column. “The conditions are ripe, if not immensely favorable, for women to help other women. Think about the current life spans for GCs and CEOs—on average, between five and seven years. That translates into movement and fluidity—and opportunities galore for women to mobilize, in terms of those who have already arrived helping those who are still on the way up.”
MCCA's full survey will appear in the September/October issue of Diversity & the Bar, the organization's bi-monthly publication.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Beyond the Title: Developing a Personal Brand as General Counsel
Step 1 for Successful Negotiators: Believe in Yourself
Deluge of Trump-Leery Government Lawyers Join Job Market, Setting Up Free-for-All for Law Firm, In-House Openings
4 minute readTrending Stories
- 1'Largest Retail Data Breach in History'? Hot Topic and Affiliated Brands Sued for Alleged Failure to Prevent Data Breach Linked to Snowflake Software
- 2Former President of New York State Bar, and the New York Bar Foundation, Dies As He Entered 70th Year as Attorney
- 3Legal Advocates in Uproar Upon Release of Footage Showing CO's Beat Black Inmate Before His Death
- 4Longtime Baker & Hostetler Partner, Former White House Counsel David Rivkin Dies at 68
- 5Court System Seeks Public Comment on E-Filing for Annual Report
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
