Shearman & Sterling is proud to have recently hosted its inaugural Women Senior Counsel Bootcamp event in New York on February 28, 2019. The full-day event centered on providing women attorneys in corporate legal departments the information and skills needed to advance to the position of General Counsel. Attendees had the opportunity to hear panelists from various corporate clients and the media, and ask questions and connect with colleagues who are leading and changing the legal landscape.

Donna Parisi, Global Head of the Finance Business Unit, delivered the opening remarks to this exclusive event. “Prospects for women have improved as a greater proportion of women are gaining in-house experience and competing for the General Counsel position,” she said. “An increased focus on diversity and inclusion at corporations may well signify a continuation of this trend.”

With a full house of more than 125 people from over 70 companies in attendance, we started the event with how to build relationships with CEOs and the Board of Directors and later spoke with industry-leading panelists on topics such as:

• Managing High-Performance Teams;
• The Current Corporate Governance Landscape;
• The Role of a General Counsel in Crisis;
• The General Counsel and Shareholder Activism; and
• Long-Term Careers and Leadership Roles for Women in Law.

Thank you to all our guest speakers and panelists, including Christa D’Alimonte, General Counsel at Viacom; David S. Elkouri, Chief Legal Officer at Halcón Resources; Amy Wilson, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Dow Chemical Company; Roya Behnia, former General Counsel at Pall Corporation; Marla Persky, former General Counsel at Boehringer Ingelheim USA; Eric Grossman, Chief Legal Officer at Morgan Stanley; Sarah Hlavinka, General Counsel at Itron, Inc.; John Gilmore, Managing Partner at BarkerGilmore LLC; Heather Fine, partner at Major Lindsey & Africa; and Stephanie Scharf, Chair of the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession and Founding Partner at Scharf Banks Marmor, LLC.

Thank you also to our Shearman & Sterling panelists and moderators for facilitating such collaborative and engaging discussions, including David Higbee (New York-Antitrust), Sandra Bang (Chief Diversity and Talent Strategy Officer), Doreen Lilienfeld (New York-Compensation, Governance & ERISA), Lona Nallengara (New York-Capital Markets), Gillian Moldowan, Linda Rappaport (both New York-Compensation, Governance & ERISA), Simon Dodds (London- Financial Institutions Advisory & Financial Regulatory) and Clare O’Brien (New York-Mergers and Acquisitions).