These three amazing general counsel are in the running for Corporate Counsel's Best Legal Department GC of Year. This year, the winner of that award will be announced live at The American Lawyer Industry Awards in New York, NY on Dec. 4.

Below are short bios of each nominee taken from their submissions. The winner will have their full profile published in a future issue of Corporate Counsel. Congratulations to these three well-deserving nominees.

Peter J. Beshar General Counsel, EVP of Marsh & McLennan Companies

Since late 2004, Peter J. Beshar has served as the general counsel of Marsh & McLennan Companies and was appointed an executive vice president of MMC in 2006. Prior to joining MMC, Beshar was a litigation partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He previously served as assistant attorney aeneral in charge of the New York State Attorney General's Task Force on Illegal Guns and as special assistant to the Hon. Cyrus Vance in the peace negotiations over the former Yugoslavia. After graduating from Yale University and Harvard Law School, Beshar clerked for the Honorable Vincent Broderick of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

When Beshar joined MMC in November 2004, New York regulators had raised significant issues about improper conduct at MMC and the stock price had plummeted from $46 to $27. Under Beshar's leadership, MMC cooperated fully and successfully settled the state investigation, ­introducing major business reforms to ensure complete transparency. Those reforms positioned MMC for a future of sustained value creation that enabled the largest transaction in MMC's history in 2018. At MMC, Beshar manages a department that combines legal, compliance, government relations and external communications under one umbrella. He operates these teams as one global department with 484 colleagues in 42 countries.

“Throughout his distinguished career, Peter has achieved much in the name of justice, and made a difference in the lives of many through his commitment to public service and his ethos of doing well by doing good. He's curious, creative and passionate. A seeker, challenger, team leader and team builder. He's the epitome of a trusted adviser,” says Daniel S. Glaser, president and CEO at Marsh & McLennan Companies.

Anne-Marie Eileraas General Counsel for North America at Avanade

Anne-Marie Eileraas graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in architecture, and started her career working for an architecture firm in New York. Wanting more agency in her work, Eileraas listened to her friends attending law school talk about creative opportunities in the law and decided to make a change. She enrolled at the University of Chicago Law School, where she was able to take her love for design in a new direction.

As a litigator, Eileraas worked on cases where the law was constantly changing, such as the scope of attorney-client privilege and interpretation of statutes, and did pro bono work in emerging areas of law.

From there, she made the jump to in-house, holding general counsel and leadership positions for companies such as Honeywell and Intuit, and was the CEO of Women's Professional Soccer before arriving at Avanade in 2010.

At the helm of Avanade's most profitable region for the past nine years, Eileraas has grown the department from two attorneys handling reviews in North America to thirteen legal professionals. During that time, she built a team that could scale without having to add resources, implementing new and innovative processes as the company achieved double-digit annual revenue growth.

With more than 15 years' experience as general counsel or CEO of technology companies ranging from Fortune 100 organizations to startups, she has built a reputation as a strong, creative leader.

Another passion for Eileraas is volunteering within the community. First, as a volunteer sheriff's deputy, and more recently as a Search and Rescue volunteer with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's department.

“I've always tried to do volunteer work that's very different from my day job,”she says. For example, last year, Eileraas assisted in the Camp Fire recovery effort in California.

Anat Hakim Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary at WellCare

ANAT Hakim immigrated to the United States from Israel when she was seven years old. Her humble beginnings shaped her belief in hard work, paving her way to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, from where she received her B.A. in 1990 and, then, on to Harvard Law School, graduating in 1993.

Hakim spent 23 years as a commercial and patent litigator, including 17 years working as an associate, then equity partner, at two multinational law firms. This was followed by six years in-house as head of global patent litigation and later head of global commercial litigation and government investigations at Abbott Laboratories, a Fortune 150 company.

In 2016, Hakim joined WellCare as its general counsel and board secretary, where she is responsible for all of WellCare's legal affairs, providing strategic counsel on a broad range of legal, business and operational matters, as well as serving as secretary of the board of directors.

Since arriving, Hakim's department has led the company through five acquisitions, including WellCare's purchase of Meridian in August 2018, the largest acquisition in the company's history.

All told, the acquisitions have added over $6.5 billion in revenue to WellCare. Currently, Hakim's team is helping to lead the company through the recently announced $17 billion acquisition of WellCare by Centene Corp.

“Anat's background and intelligence are impressive, but what makes Anat extraordinary is her leadership and management of both her internal and external teams,” says Ashlee M. Knuckey, a partner at Locke Lord. “She inspires her teams to perform at their highest potential by empowering them to share ideas and approach situations in unique ways, and she always shows her appreciation for their efforts and successes.

“Bottom line: Anat is the type of client you want to walk through fire for, especially because you know she'll be right there with you at 2 am and say thank you when it's all over.”