Interview
Jean Lee is CEO of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA), the umbrella body which brings together diverse corporate counsel and their supporters to effect change in the profession. A former JP Morgan in-house lawyer, Lee has taken over the helm on the eve of the MCCA’s 20th anniversary. She reflects on what that means for the MCCA and progressing the diversity and inclusion agenda in the profession.
Reflecting on the MCCA’s 20th anniversary, I do think there has been a significant shift in the last 20 years. I think that is as a result of the elevation in the role of the in-house lawyer; Ben Heineman, former general counsel of GE, is credited as the godfather who revolutionized the role of in-house lawyers.
He believed in hiring the best and wooing the best talent to his legal department. As a result of his model, GE lawyers are always considered to be at the top of the tree. More generally, perception of the role has shifted from mediocre at best to being considered at the top of your game if you are a GC at a Fortune 500 company. Today, in-house lawyers and general counsel have so much more power than maybe even they realize, particularly in regards to D&I where they can control a lot more.
