The chief legal officer of an Irving, Texas-based engineering firm was named the company's interim CEO last week following the resignation of its CEO, which is a sign, experts say, that he earned the trust of his board during his tenure as the company's top lawyer.

Carlos Hernandez, who has served as Fluor Corp.'s chief legal officer and secretary since 2007, will serve as the interim CEO until a permanent replacement is found. It is not clear if Hernandez will be in the running for the permanent CEO position or if the company will only consider outside applicants.

Before joining Fluor, Hernandez worked as general counsel of ArcelorMittal Americas, a steel production company based in Chicago, according to his profile on Fluor's website. According to his LinkedIn profile, he also served as the general counsel and secretary of the International Steel Group. He graduated from the University of Miami School of Law in 1979.

Hernandez replaces David Seaton, who stepped down May 1. In the press release, Hernandez thanked Seaton for his 34 years of service and his dedication to Fluor.

“He led significant transformation of the company including the rebuilding of our self-perform construction capabilities, implemented our integrated solutions model and initiated our data centric execution approach,” Hernandez said in the press release.

Fluor reported a $58 million loss in the first quarter of 2019.

Alan Boeckmann, the CEO of Fluor from 2002 to 2011, has returned to the company to serve as the executive chairman. He said in the press release that the board has great confidence in Hernandez.

“We trust that he will provide the needed direction for the company and build upon Fluor's leadership position in the marketplace,” Boeckmann said.

A spokesperson for Fluor did not respond to request for comment and Hernandez could not be reached for additional comment.

Mike Evers, the founder and principal of legal recruiting firm Evers Legal Search, said it is rare for an attorney to come to him with the career goal of becoming a CEO. He explained many of the orders he gets are for a “lieutenant” position who will be reporting to the general counsel or chief legal officer.

“Usually the general counsel or the chief legal officer, whatever the top legal position is, is the pinnacle of an in-house lawyer's career,” Evers said.

In a recent survey by ALM affiliate Global Leaders in Law and Morrison & Foerster, nearly 40% of the participating 200 senior in-house counsel believe their next career move would be stepping up to serve as CEO.

In March, C. Allen Parker, Wells Fargo's then general counsel, took over as the interim CEO of the bank. However, the bank's board announced on the same day that Parker would not be the permanent CEO and it would be looking for an outsider to be the permanent replacement.

Evers said normally an internal promotion to a CEO goes to a business unit president with business development responsibilities or a chief financial officer. Although, without knowing the specifics of Hernandez's promotion, he speculated there is a level of trust between him and the board. He said oftentimes a company's top lawyer will be in front of the board of directors to answer legal questions.

John Gilmore, co-founder and managing partner at consulting firm BarkerGilmore, said Hernandez is a perfect fit for the position. Gilmore said he worked with Hernandez while searching for a new CEO for the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution, where Hernandez serves as chairman of the board. Hernandez, Gilmore said, has done a lot for the company, has the trust of the board, and will balance risk without being risk-averse and will help the business achieve its goals.

The ability to gain the board's confidence, Gilmore said, is what will lead to general counsel and chief legal officers to getting top executive roles. Reputation, he added, also plays a big role when moving from a legal role to CEO.

“He is respected throughout the whole legal community,” Gilmore said. “Most of the general counsels in Fortune 500 companies know who he is.”