Most newly appointed GCs at large banks in 2017 were women

The financial services industry chose more women to fill its general counsel vacancies last year.

 

Six of the 11 GC hires of the 89 financial services companies in the Fortune 500 in 2017 were women, according to data Russell Reynolds Associates shared to Bloomberg’s Big Law Business.

 

The trend comes as GCs are gaining more prominence in business and are earning more.

 

The six women who were appointed to lead the Fortune 500 companies’ lawyers were AIG’s Lucy Fato, Ameriprise Financial’s Karen Wilson Thissen, Assurant’s Carey S. Roberts, Fifth Third Bancorp’s Jelene McWilliams, M&T Bank Corp’s Laura O’Hara, and Western Union’s Caroline Tsai.

 

The appointments of the six “moved the needle quite significantly,” Russell Reynold’s Cynthia Dow said.

 

However, the financial services industry’s GC ranks still remains more male-dominated than other industries, with just over one in five GCs in the sector being a woman, she said. That’s compared to one in four of the GCs among all Fortune 500 companies being a woman.

 

The trend is not happening by chance, Dow said. The increase in women GCs among America’s largest corporations is due to a “concerted effort” and “feels like it’s been a priority,” she said.