More Diversity, More Experience: Meet the Fortune 500 General Counsels

2022 was yet another challenging year for general counsels of large public companies, with macroeconomic and geopolitical issues having direct and dramatic impact on corporations.

The war in Ukraine and broader geopolitical uncertainties have forced leaders to take immediate crisis decisions, especially those that have offices or facilities near the front lines.

Economic uncertainty has continued, and worsened due to the energy crisis, signs of a recession, and high inflation. In fact, our Q4 Global Leadership Monitor Survey found 61% of CEOs believe that we are currently in a recession. Overall, economic uncertainty was the #2 issue affecting organizational health, closely following the availability of key skills and talent, during the fall of 2022.

Simultaneously, investor pressure to increase diversity in the C-suite has remained, and the general counsel role continues to be a meaningful way to diversify Fortune 500 leadership teams. Last year, 67% of the 43 GCs appointed to Fortune 500 companies were female, reaching an all-time high. In an equally-powerful development, 38% were ethnically diverse.

General counsel turnover and composition over the last three years

^{Source: Russell Reynolds Associates analysis of Fortune 500 General counsels, 2023}

While gender and ethnic diversity over the past few years has been promising, diverse legal leaders continue to face several barriers in their route to the top legal job. While CEOs and CHROs continue to refine C-suite succession, there is a lot that they, along with GCs developing their own successors, can examine further.

Our third annual report analyzing the Fortune 500 general counsel cohort aims to:

1. Illustrate bright spots and areas for improvement in the diversity of Fortune 500 GCs
2. Reveal companies’ preference for GCs with prior experience in the role and industry, and how such criteria may hinder the development of internal successors as well as limit the diversity of potential candidates
3. Uncover strategies to address these issues