In Fortune 500, About One in Five GCs Is a Woman
Women are gaining ground in the ranks of general counsel at the nation’s top 500 companies.
Nearly one out of every five general counsel in the Fortune 500 is now a woman, according to a survey by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association. The number of GCs—94, up from 85 last year—is the highest ever, Corporate Counsel reports. More than 10 percent of the women GCs are minorities.
Veta Richardson, executive director of the MCCA, told Corporate Counsel that the progress is partly due to the economy, which put different companies on the Fortune 500 list, some of which have women in the top legal job. They included more recession-proof health care companies, including Bristol-Myers Squibb with Sandra Leung as GC, Pfizer with Amy Schulman as GC, DaVita with Kim Rivera as GC, and St. Jude Medical with Pamela Krop as GC.
Richardson hopes to see more gains for women, who make up about half of law school graduating classes. “We want the [GC] population to reflect the ratio of women graduating from law school,” she told Corporate Counsel.
Additional information:
Minority Corporate Counsel Association: “MCCA 2010 Survey of Fortune 500 Women General Counsel”
