Heather McAllister grew up in Pittsburgh, about 250 miles west of the anthracite-rich borough of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, where a 19th-century newspaper publisher named Thomas J. Foster took a particular interest in the plight of the men—and their families—for whom coal was both their livelihood and the biggest threat to their survival. Foster’s newspaper having chronicled […]
Features Women in Law
Tracy Preston – Neiman Marcus Group Inc.
With much credit due to its thriving online operation, Neiman Marcus seems to be tackling challenges in retail by pioneering new frontiers into the digital world. Recently achieving back-to-back profitable quarters has set the luxury retailer on a course for positive growth it hasn’t seen since 2015. In her office at the Dallas headquarters, General […]
Beth M. Kotran – Ferrero North America
As general counsel for the North American operations of the global confectionery heavyweight Ferrero, Beth M. Kotran has literally achieved—well almost—what she had so aspired to after leaving private practice in 2002. “I was focused on one piece of a bigger pie,” she tells Vanguard from her office in Parsippany, New Jersey. “I wanted to […]
Bobbie K. Risner – Garner Environmental Services Inc.
Her early career spent in family law, Bobbie K. Risner may find its lessons ever applicable as she goes about her responsibilities of the past 18 years as general counsel of Garner Environmental Services Inc. in Deer Park, Texas. Garner being one of the nation’s most sought-after companies when it comes to disaster remediation, Risner’s […]
At Cargill, the legal department knows no borders
While conducting an exercise meant to encourage information sharing between the legal leaders of Cargill’s various Central American offices, Michelle Canelo, legal manager for the region, had her big aha moment. It began with one lawyer discussing a problem he had encountered, and his eventual solution. Another attorney, representing a different country, chimed in to […]
When hurricanes abound, be aware of a used car
It’s always buyer beware in the used-car market, but it’s been especially so since autumn 2017 when hundreds of thousands of vehicles were soaked by Texas and Florida floodwaters following Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. Many of them could wind up for sale all over the country. Their appearances notwithstanding, it’s what’s under the hood […]
Kristina Schaefer – Fishback Financial Corporation – First Bank and Trust
At first glance, there might not seem to be many similarities between working on the family farm and overseeing the legal department of a banking company. But there are indeed, says the personable Kristina Schaefer, who’s done both on the high plains. “My upbringing prepared me very well for banking,” says Schaefer, who for the […]
GC Erin Bagley puts the “cover” in Coverys
Amidst the cacophony of the national health insurance debate—over who pays what and how; and of when liability comes into play—one voice always seems drowned in the din: that of practitioners providing the care. It’s a conundrum Erin Bagley knows only too well. As general counsel for Coverys, a medical professional liability insurer headquartered in […]
Alejandra Castro – Bayer Corporation
When discussing what inspired them to choose their profession or specialty, most lawyers will cite a famous TV or film attorney, or perhaps a parent or relative who practiced law. For Alejandra Castro, it was a poet, and that poet was her. “When I was writing poetry, I became interested in the rights of creation, […]
Robin Smith – LEGO Systems Inc.
Little children worldwide are finding that playing with LEGO bricks engages both their brains and hands in ways that their video games will not, and the international toymaker could not agree more. That was among the reasons that Robin Smith, the Americas vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, found herself in Shanghai in late […]
