Laura Schumacher ’88 has built a career on service.
As vice chairman of external affairs and chief legal officer of AbbVie and its predecessor company Abbott for 32 years, she’s impacted the lives of many. Last year, she was selected by the American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession as one of five winners of the 2022 Margaret Brent Award. Founded in 1991, the prestigious award recognizes outstanding female lawyers who have achieved excellence in their industry and have advanced career opportunities for women in the legal field.
Schumacher’s time at University of Wisconsin Law School provided her with firsthand insight into the need for equal access to justice in our legal system and encouraged her of the need for all attorneys to do their part to ensure representation for all. We met with Schumacher to discuss her life and experiences.
What’s been the most rewarding aspect of your career?
The single most rewarding aspect of my career has been the privilege of doing my part to help impact the lives of the patients we serve. Everyone who dedicates their career to health care knows that it is a privilege and a great source of personal pride to be able to work in a field that is dedicated to helping others. The legal challenges have been both intellectually rigorous and strategically important. Playing a leadership role in two great companies, both Abbott and then AbbVie, has been enormously fulfilling.
On a personal level, I am also extremely proud of the culture we have created at AbbVie to give back to our communities and to those in need. Through the work of our AbbVie Foundation, and through our Pro Bono program in the Legal Department, we have made a giving a part of our company’s culture.
I have been with AbbVie since the inception of the company in 2013 and throughout that time, I have been proud to work alongside our employees who constantly step up to help others in times crisis or in times of great need. Since our founding, AbbVie has given almost $650 million in charitable contributions and it has been incredibly rewarding to help families thrive, support disaster relief and strengthen K-12 education.
Two recent grand openings exemplify the impact we can and have made for communities. In January, I was proud to attend the opening of a new Family Commons for patients and families at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, made possible thanks to a $50 million AbbVie donation and last year, thanks to AbbVie’s $40 million donation, we opened the new Neal Math and Science Academy, a brand-new middle school for students in North Chicago, Illinois.
Additionally, I am particularly proud that, in 2005, we established a pro bono program in the Legal Division at Abbott, which we continued at AbbVie. This was created to encourage our team to pursue the work that they were passionate about. We held ourselves accountable for driving this important work by making it a requirement that each member of the legal team, regardless of level, set aside 10 hours of company time annually for pro bono work.
Through this program, we have supported numerous important causes, including grants of asylum, a first-of-its kind global online guide to street children’s rights, issuance of Emergency Orders of Protection against domestic violence and assistance in drafting directives for healthcare and financial powers of attorney. This work can be emotionally taxing, and I commend our volunteers that have touched on some of the most urgent issues in our society. And I’m honored that this work was recently recognized with the 2022 William H. Avery Award for Equal Access to Justice from the Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Family Services.
What’s been the biggest challenge?
Increasing diversity in the legal field. This is both a challenge and a meaningful opportunity not only for me, but for our entire legal profession. I have long believed that true leadership means using our influence for the greatest good possible.
For example, attorneys at AbbVie volunteer to mentor law students through the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association and informally with outside law firms. We have also established an intellectual property first-year law school internship program for minority students — an area of the law historically trailing other practice areas in diversity.
You were one of five women honored with last year’s Margaret Brent Award. What did this mean to you?
Receiving this award was a tremendous honor, especially being recognized with so many outstanding female lawyers working for lasting change in our industry. Embracing equity, equality, diversity and inclusion has always been important to me personally. I believe as women leaders, we play an essential role to help inspire, encourage and pave the way for future generations.
We launched our Diversity in Law initiative in 2018, making diversity and access to opportunities central to our recruiting, development and retention efforts at AbbVie. Then we leveraged our relationships with outside counsel to bring social justice and gender representation to the forefront of our work outside our walls. Our focus is on making measurable change and our work here is just beginning.
Who has been an influential role model?
Role models come in lots of different places and there is no single role model. But I have been the beneficiary of strong mentoring throughout my career, and I believe that it is extremely beneficial to establish those relationships to facilitate navigating the challenges of a legal career. It can be quite challenging for women especially, as the legal profession has been to slow to change. I have served as a role model for many women, and I believe that we can facilitate change if we all recognize the need to pull others up and to teach and coach the next generation.
What were some of your early career lessons?
The legal industry can be challenging and sometimes unrelenting. It often falls upon women and other underrepresented individuals to speak up, demand a voice and assert their ideas. Don’t wait for the invitation to share your opinion or voice your concerns.
Early on in my career, I found it was important to find and develop strong relationships with mentors and others you admire. Start by assessing your personal goals and current professional relationships. Ask yourself: Who are the people you respect and what stands out about them? Who has stood out to you in their approach to dealing with the professional environment around you?
Developing a positive and dynamic mentoring relationship with someone you admire can be a very effective way to help you achieve your full potential.
How did your Law School education or experience shape your career?
The most profound Law School experience that shaped my career is my participation in the Legal Defense Program (as it was called then). This program allowed third-year law students to participate in the criminal justice system and to appear in court, under the supervision of licensed attorneys. This program provided me firsthand insight into the need for equal access to justice in our system and the responsibility for all attorneys to do their part to ensure representation for all. I handled one particularly difficult case (of first impression in the law) relating to a woman with unique psychological disorders. Her story was heartbreaking and formulating the defense strategy for her case was one of the most impactful experiences of my early exposure to the law. It instilled in me the strong drive to do my part to help those in need and it sparked my own commitment and drive to establishing a community of attorneys that similarly recognized the importance of giving back. It is the reason I created the pro bono program at Abbott and AbbVie and is one of the most significant experiences of my career. It’s also the reason that I have dedicated much of my career to ensuring equal and diverse representation in the legal profession – both in-house and at outside law firms.
I’m proud that this work has been recognized through several honors, including the Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Family Services William H. Avery Award for Equal Access to Justice, The American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, the National Association of Women Lawyers Leadership Award for commitment to advancing women lawyers and promoting diversity in the legal profession, the Benchmark Award from the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law for the work to increase diversity in the legal profession, and the inaugural Outstanding Contribution to Furthering the Advancement of Diversity in the Legal Profession Award from Chambers and Partners.
Why did you decide to go to law school?
When I was in high school, I participated in Girls State, a week-long leadership program in which young women are exposed to roles and responsibilities in running a mock government. I was assigned the role of an attorney in this program, and it was my first experience with the responsibilities of being an attorney. I enjoyed the application of legal principles to fact and was intrigued and somewhat awed by the responsibilities inherent in the role.
Interview by Kassandra Tuten