Who Gets the GC Job at Fortune 500 Companies?

Law.com reports insiders get the job 49% of the time and outside candidates 51%. Let’s look at the stats:

• 13.6% (68 out of 500) of the Fortune companies changed GCs in 2024. 33 were filled with internal candidates, 35 with outside candidates.
• Apparently it’s “harder for internal candidates to land legal chief roles” now because of the “broad range of skills” required, including serving as a business adviser. 
• Companies usually want an experienced GC. Of the 35 outside candidates who got the top job, 31 were already leading legal at other public companies. (The other 4 were either DGCs or from top firms.) 
• GC turnover is on the rise. In 2021, 42 left; 2023 it was 66, and in 2024 it was 68. 
• When companies turned to outside hires, they hired men and women at almost equal levels (18 men, 17 women out of the 35). But for internal hires, men were hired twice as often (22 men, 11 women out of the 33). 
• Companies that hired outside candidates included eBay, Estée Lauder, Hormel, IBM, John Deere and Kraft Heinz. Companies that hired internal candidates included CSX, FedEx, Hertz, Norfolk Southern and Southwest Airlines.