When Ana G. Rodriguez joined Molex Incorporated as associate general counsel two years ago, she was pleased to be part of a small legal department. Prior to landing in the office of the global electronic components company, much of Rodriguez’s professional life had been spent in large legal departments, until one day she had an epiphany. “Suddenly I asked myself: Do I want to spend the rest of my career as one more attorney in a huge legal department?” recalls Rodriguez.
“Molex is definitely smaller, and I’m the first non-patent attorney that they’ve ever hired, so it’s been very different,” says Rodriguez, the middle child of Argentine immigrants and a southern California native. “But I never anticipated the dramatic changes that have taken place in the relatively short time that I’ve been here.” In 2006, Rodriguez was named associate general counsel and secretary, and this year she was promoted to vice president, co-general counsel, and secretary.
Before coming to Molex, Rodriguez was familiar with electronic connectors—they can be found in cars, computers, appliances, cell phones, and most other 21st century necessities—but she did not know how much money a company can make selling them. “We’re over three billion dollars in sales,” she says. “I’d assumed that original equipment manufacturers like Sony and Microsoft made their own, but no, electronic connectors is its own big industry with its own big players.”
On any given day at Molex, Rodriguez might spend time supporting the company’s finance group, dealing with employment matters, or attending to corporate governance. “In-house is great because you get some of both [business and legal work],” says the University of Michigan Law School graduate. “And my current position strikes a perfect balance.”
Throughout her career, Rodriguez has never thought of herself as a role model. At her first job out of law school as a staff attorney at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Rodriguez routinely encountered women holding senior legal positions. At Molex, where there are not a lot of female officers, colleagues are now coming to her and suggesting that she facilitate networking for women.
“I’d be naïve to think that my gender and ethnicity haven’t given me opportunities and helped my career in some ways,” says Rodriguez. “Even so, I tend to think in terms of how I can be a better business lawyer and be recognized for that accomplishment. Mostly I’ve focused on my work, so I haven’t had to think about diversity issues until somebody comes seeking help. Now they’re coming.” DB
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From the September/October 2007 issue of Diversity & The Bar®