Phyllis Harris, GC, American Red Cross. Photo: Beth Hall

Phyllis Harris, Walmart Inc.'s senior vice president and head of legal operations, is leaving the company at the end of February to become general counsel and chief compliance officer of the American Red Cross.

Harris took time from writing up annual evaluations Wednesday to talk with Corporate Counsel about her decision. “It was a combination of personal and professional reasons,” she said. “Our children—two daughters and a son—are all grown and living on the East Coast. Then this incredible opportunity presented itself to be general counsel of the most iconic nonprofit organization there is.”

Walmart is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, while the Red Cross is based in Washington, D.C.

“I love this company and what it stands for,” Harris said. “I've been here 13 years and I have great friends here. And I so respect our CEO and his vision to transform retail to ensure we remain competitive. But it's time [to change], given where I am in my career.”

Harris is known for her mentoring skills and open door policy. “I tell young people all the time to own their career, so for me, it's owning my next step,” she explained.

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Harris is the second top lawyer to leave Walmart since the arrival of a new chief legal officer, Rachel Brand, a year ago from the U.S. Department of Justice. In December Walmart announced that Jay Jorgensen, its executive vice president and global chief ethics and compliance officer, was leaving the company to pursue other opportunities.

At the Red Cross, Harris replaces Craig Mendelsohn, who was named interim general counsel a year ago when then-general counsel David Meltzer resigned under pressure. Meltzer had let go of an employee after sexual harassment allegations were made, but still gave the employee a strong recommendation for a new job, without mentioning the allegations.

The Red Cross said in a statement, “We look forward to Phyllis joining the Red Cross team on Monday, March 4. Phyllis has an extensive legal background, with a combination of both government and corporate experience. She comes to the Red Cross from Walmart, where she served for 13 years. . . managing a team of 70 attorneys and support staff. We are confident she will lead the office of general counsel and our organization in a way that will further strengthen our ability to deliver our vital mission.”

Harris joined Walmart in 2006 as vice president of environmental compliance. The field was her area of expertise after 20 years with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where she worked first as a regional counsel in Atlanta, then as deputy assistant administrator in Washington, D.C.

She became Walmart's chief compliance officer in 2011, and four years later she took over the company's legal operations, including outside counsel management, diversity and attorney development programs.

She also has served nine years as a director for the Environmental Law Institute, a nonpartisan legal and policy think tank; chairs the board of trustees at Converse College in South Carolina; and is a director of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

For a profile in last April's Corporate Counsel magazine, Harris talked about aspects of her Walmart job, including her open door policy and six mentoring circles to help less experienced lawyers understand “how to navigate the world.”

Harris described her job as having two key components: building the data and analytic capability to drive quality, both inside the legal team and among outside counsel; and overseeing the legal teams in employment, intellectual property and corporate governance. The role let her pursue Walmart's policy of seeking diversity among its outside counsel.

“We are very transparent about how we expect them to staff our matters,” Harris said at the time. She said she used data analytics to track the firms and their diversity efforts.

“Law firms that choose not to staff our matters with more women, people of color and disabled [people]—they are not going to get new work from us,” she said. “We hold them accountable.”