Kelly Mahon Tullier is executive vice president and general counsel at San Francisco-based Visa.

Tullier graduated from Louisiana State University and Cornell Law School. She worked at a law firm and as a general counsel at several companies before being named general counsel at Visa.

Visa is a digital payments company, known for its global processing network, VisaNet, which handles more than 65,000 transaction messages a second.

Legal Team

The legal and compliance teams have over 250 team members, who include both specialists and generalists. They are based in Foster City and San Francisco, California, as well as other locations globally. Tullier is in charge of legal and compliance functions, and is office leader for the New York City office.

"While I am involved in many matters with various team members around the world, I generally don't handle matters alone," Tullier said. "I was the lead lawyer on our $21 billion acquisition of Visa Europe, which closed in 2016, but I worked with a broad group of great lawyers to get the deal over the finish line."

Outside Counsel

"As a matter of principle, we do most our work in-house, although we do engage outside counsel for some key areas: large litigation matters; M&A; regulatory; and other areas in which we may need expertise, or surge resources, depending on volume," Tullier said. "We use a variety of firm partners."

Typical Day

"I think most GCs will tell you that no day is typical except for one thing: back-to-back meetings," Tullier said. "Our office environment is terrific – fast paced and intellectually challenging work performed by smart and personable people – who can also be really fun, even when we are in the trenches."

Her main office is in New York City, but she is also often in San Francisco, the location of the company's headquarters. She also travels to London "as we have been integrating Visa Europe. I try to get to our major hubs as often as I can: Miami, Singapore and Dubai, as well as cities where we have legal and compliance leaders, like Moscow, Mexico City, Shanghai, and Sao Paulo. I love nothing more than visiting our offices around the world, and I wish I could do so more often," Tullier said.

Personal

She is married with one 13-year-old-son at home, and two adult stepsons working and going to college.

Last Book Read

"The Diary of Anne Frank," which was read with her son for a school project. "I like to read everything, but I mostly love to read anything from the The New York Times Best Seller list to relax – generally on planes," she said.

What Keeps Her Up at Night

"I try not to let work issues keep me up at night," Tullier said. "After 25 years of being a lawyer, and 21 as an in-house lawyer, I can always find something to keep you up at night."

Priorities as General Counsel

"The development and growth of my team, as well as being a great partner to senior management and our board," she said.

Role of Women in the Legal Profession

"I love that women are taking on more senior leadership roles in law, though we still have a long way to go," Tullier said. "It is the focus of many of us to drive the change that will result in more women in leadership roles."

Role of Chief Legal Officer in the Wider Organization

"I think all chief legal officers play a very broad role in different ways as senior leaders of our companies, including setting strategy and driving a high-integrity and positive culture," Tullier said.