Julie Sweet, Accenture

In 2015, Julie Sweet left her role as general counsel at Accenture to put her business judgment to use as the global consulting firm's chief executive for North America. More than four years later, that move paid off: On Thursday, Sweet was named Accenture's new chief executive.

The move comes on the heels of a shake-up within Accenture's legal department and highlights the growing trend of companies elevating their attorneys to nonlegal positions to make business decisions.

Sweet, 51, succeeds David Rowland, who had been serving as interim chief executive since January, when then-Accenture CEO Pierre Nanterme died of colon cancer. Her appointment is effective Sept. 1, according to a company statement announcing her promotion.

Before joining Accenture, Sweet, who speaks Mandarin, was a partner for 10 years in the corporate law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where she worked in both New York and China, on the mainland and in Hong Kong. Through a company spokesperson, she declined to comment on her new position.

“Julie is the right person to lead Accenture into the future, given her strong command of our business and proven ability to drive results in our largest market,” Rowland, who, effective Sept. 1, will serve as executive chairman, said in the news release. “We are on a positive growth trajectory at Accenture and are very well-positioned to continue building on our strong momentum.”

Last month, Accenture announced that Chad Jerdee, who replaced Sweet as GC and chief compliance officer when she took the North American operations business position in 2015, will take on a new role overseeing Accenture's global strategy and programs focused on responsible business, corporate sustainability and citizenship.

Jerdee's deputy GC Joel Unruch will replace Jerdee, becoming Accenture's GC and chief compliance officer, effective in September.

Jerdee's promotion, as well as Sweet's four-plus years ago, represents the increasing trend of high-ranking in-house lawyers' moves to executive decision-making roles within their companies.

In March, for example, Wells Fargo's general counsel, C. Allen Parker, was named interim CEO. At the time, the board of directors indicated he would not be in the running to become the permanent CEO.

More recently, in May, Carlos Hernandez was made interim CEO of Fluor Corp. and later the permanent CEO, and Stanley Pierre-Louis was named the permanent CEO of the Electronic Software Association.

Last month, Matthew Sorrentino, the senior vice president and chief legal officer at Lehigh Valley Health Network, was named acting CEO while the organization looks for a permanent replacement. And in a newly created role, Aleksandra Miziolek, then GC at Novi, Michigan-based automotive systems and components company Cooper Standard, was promoted to chief transformation officer responsible for directing transformation initiatives for long-term growth.

In addition, 81% of the 200 senior corporate counsel in the U.S., Asia and Europe who participated in The GC {Re}defined study released in April by ALM's Global Leaders in Law and Morrison & Foerster believed it was fundamental for them to have a seat at the C-suite table. And nearly 40% of GCs believed their next career move would be stepping up to serve as CEO.