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How can in-house attorneys develop their own careers and navigate the C-suite? By taking the time to truly understand an organization's goals.
Attorneys at Crain's General and In-house Counsel Summit on May 13 offered these and other lessons from the trenches and the boardrooms at the annual networking and educational event.
Hosted at the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit, the summit drew about 300 people.
Keynote speaker Mary Ann Hynes, senior counsel at the Dentons law firm in Chicago, reflected on her career and her status as the first woman to hold a general counsel title at a Fortune 500 company.
"Don't be confused; notoriety is not the same as leadership," Hynes said. "Lawyers are usually risk-averse, but leaders consider the risk and reward of a decision."
In 1979, Hynes was the first woman to be general counsel at a Fortune 500 company, CCH Inc., a Riverwoods, Ill.-based provider of information-services and software for tax, accounting, legal and business professionals. She went on to hold general counsel positions at companies in multiple industries. She was the first female officer of Sundstrand Corp., now UTC Aerospace Systems.
Hynes said the best way a new general counsel can lead from...