Company Description: McDonald’s Corporation is the world’s leading and best-known food service retailer with 29,000 restaurants in 120 countries serving 45 million customers daily.
Education: B.S., Michigan State University
J.D., cum laude, University of Michigan Law School
Department Size: 170 in the United States
Immediate Prior Position: Vice President, U.S. General Counsel and Secretary, McDonald’s Corporation
1. Please describe an important career challenge.
Over the last few years, we’ve tried to globalize our legal function. We’ve used a variety of methods ranging from an annual meeting of lawyers from around the world to the development of an intranet site that is accessible by all legal staff. We also created global practice groups who share learning in their functional specialties across borders. Trying to establish a sense of community among people who are seldom able to see each other face-to-face has been a challenge, but I’ve seen it pay huge dividends over the past few months. We recently dealt with a situation that impacted markets from the United States to China, as well as several European markets, and I was delighted to see our global team pull together to a successful resolution.
2. What is the best career advice that you have ever received?
The best advice I’ve received is to learn to be a good listener. The best way to solve a client’s problem or to add value to a process is to spend the time to understand truly the issues and viewpoints of those involved.
3. How does participation in community activities help your career?
I believe that giving back to the community helps broaden your perspective and adds balance to your life. It also helps you to develop a network of contacts outside of your immediate home and work environment. We need to nourish all of the various facets of our personalities so that we can approach our jobs and careers as multi-dimensional individuals. It helps to find an activity or cause that you can feel passionate about so that the time spent on it enhances your energy level. Right now, I’m very excited to see the enthusiasm we’ve created among our employees in undertaking a department-wide pro bono program.
Return to General Counsel Profile List
From the December 2001 issue of Diversity & The Bar®