San Antonio-based USAA was founded in 1922 by a group of Army officers who decided to self-insure each other, forming the United States Army Automobile Association. In 1923, the company began to extend eligibility to the other branches of the armed services, and was renamed United Services Automobile Association (USAA) the following year. By 2009, eligibility had been extended to include all who are serving or have honorably served in the U.S. military.

The $30 billion company, which is a member of the Fortune 100, provides a full range of financial products and services, including banking, insurance and investment services, to its 12.4 million members. It has more than 33,000 employees globally and 12 campuses in six cities nationwide.

Deneen Donnley serves as USAA's executive vice president, chief legal officer, general counsel and secretary.

Legal Team

USAA's legal department employs 350 people, including about 175 lawyers. As an alternative to using outside counsel in locations where there is sufficient volume, Donnley said, about 120 of those represent USAA members who have been sued, and another 120 in-house lawyers serve as advisory attorneys. The department also includes a 22-member government industry relations team that works on local, state and federal issues.

The overall department, Donnley said, “covers all the things you would think we would cover,” including matters involving property and casualty, as well as life insurance, intellectual property, technology and privacy, labor and employment and transactional, governance and regulatory issues.

Outside Counsel

“We use a variety of outside counsel—some local firms, some regional firms, some national firms, depending on the subject matter expertise that is needed,” Donnley said.

The department has plans to evolve to a preferred-counsel model in which certain firms are turned to regularly, she added, as a way to both drive a strategic partnership and have a greater impact on outside counsel diversity. 

“We're looking for all the types of diversity that can be measured, including military background,” Donnley said, adding that about one-fourth of the company's employees are either veterans or military spouses. “It's important that we have that type of representation in our outside counsel. It leads to a shorter list with a deeper relationship.”

Daily Duties

Although Donnley said no work day is the same as the next, her responsibilities generally fall into three main categories. She is a member of the company's 11-person executive council that deals with implementing USAA's strategy and overseeing its operations.

“I wear a dual hat in that role,” she said. “I am giving that team legal advice, but I am also one of the executives at the table giving business guidance.”

In addition to running the legal department, Donnley also serves as USAA's corporate secretary. In that position, she spends a fair amount of time interacting with directors and working on governance-related issues. She also deals with matters involving subsidiary boards, sits on internal boards and is involved with nonprofit work on behalf of the company.

Route to the Top

After graduating from Fordham University School of Law in 1992, Donnley was a staff attorney at the Federal Reserve Board, doing bank holding company-related work for 5.5 years. She calls the job a “fork in the road” that led to her career as a banking lawyer.

Donnley then spent two years as an associate with a corporate and bank regulatory practice in the Delaware office of Pepper Hamilton. In 2000, she went in-house at ING Direct as general counsel and employee No. 27 at the then-startup bank. Ten years—and $90 billion for ING—later, Donnley moved to San Antonio to serve as GC at USAA's banking division.

About five years later, in September 2015, she was promoted to her current position.

“You have to always be willing to take a risk.” Donnley said of her career path. “Being a GC eight years out of law school was certainly a risk, but sometimes being uncomfortable is something that's important.”  

Personal

Donnley has a grown daughter and spent most of her daughter's childhood as a single mother, which informed a work-life balance that became “a critical part of my life,” she said.

A dog lover, she has three dogs—aged 13, 5 and 2–two of whom she adopted during her time in San Antonio. Donnley said she also enjoys the arts, travel and reading.

Last Book

“Homegoing,” by Yaa Gyasi, a novel that tackles 250 years of history on two continents—Africa and North America.