HOJ 021: Kerry McLean: Walking Precincts, Best Place to Work & Connectedness

Heels of Justice

Welcome to Heels of Justice; these are the stories of women lawyers who are trailblazers in their field and paved the way for the rest of us.

Today, the Heels of Justice interview Kerry McLean, Senior Vice-President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Intuit.

Kerry joined Intuit in 2006, most recently serving as Deputy General Counsel. Prior to joining Intuit, Ms. McLean spent over six years at Wind River Systems, Inc., most recently as the Director of Legal. She also worked as an associate at Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin PC (now Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP).

Key Takeaways

[1:43] Sarita thanks Kerry for hosting her at the Intuit offices for the Heels of Justice podcast and asks her to talk about what led her to law.

[3:25] From politics to the law, how to choose? … Acceptance letters often accompany other great news!

[6:43] Going to law school with a baby, easier or harder than with a job? Kerry did both, learn to prioritize!

[9:38] Kerry summarizes her path from plaintiff’s law to where she is today — how people can change the course of your career.

[14:05] Sarita asks Kerry to talk about what Intuit does.

[14:58] Intuit is recognized as one of the best places to work consistently, what’s the secret? Kerry touches on the company’s core values.

[16:34] Kerry talks about how she became a GC and what she did when she took the reins.

[21:38] The three core principles — the ethos — Kerry came up with for the organization.

[23:58] Getting good at managing people, helping people how to figure out how to solve their own problems.

[25:51] How Kerry approaches professional development at Intuit: managerial development is key.

[27:36] Sarita asked one of Intuit’s employees what it is she loves about the company; there are three!

[29:17] Sarita’s husband’s question: what is Kerry’s goal for her employees?

[30:58] Kerry touches on some of the challenges she has faced as a woman in the industry.

[35:00] If Kerry had advice for her younger self, what would it be?

[36: 49] Has there been a moment in her career that Kerry has advocated for herself?

[37:29] Sarita asks Kerry what her mantra is and thanks her for sharing so much of her experience on the Heels of Justice podcast and she signs off until next time.

That’s it for this episode of Heels of Justice; if you like the stories we’re telling, please visit our website. You can join our mailing list, learn more about our guests, and see what we have planned for the future.

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Disclaimer: The opinions you have heard are ours or our guest’s alone. They’re not the opinions of our employers, or our clients, or our bosses, and not our husbands, kids or pets, or anyone else’s.

Mentioned in this episode (chronological order)

Intuit

Skyline High School in Oakland

UC Davis

Planned Parenthood

Mary V. King

UC Hastings Law School

Arnold & Porter

Lewis and Clark

Wind River Systems

Stock Option Backdating Scandals

Laura Fennell

Turbotax

Quickbooks

Quicken

Sonoma County Habitat for Humanity Playhouses

Annie Khalid Hussein

More about the Heels of Justice hosts Sarita Venkat, and Katherine Minarik

Heels of Justice on the Web

Heels of Justice on Twitter

Heels of Justice on Instagram

Heels of Justice on Facebook

Sarita Venkat on LinkedIn

Katherine Minarik on LinkedIn

Katherine Minarik on Twitter

Katherine Minarik at cleverbridge

Personal stories (edited)

“I was at a very “proper” law firm where we wore stockings and skirt suits every day except for Friday. But when I went in-house it was just such a different environment. … it was a B2B software company with a very large sales force and for some reason, legal had to attend the sales conferences. At my first sales conference, they were doing some presentation and all of a sudden music starts and from all of the exits men come out dressed as pirates and women come out dressed as wenches and sit on men’s laps, singing about pirates and the company. … I remember telling my husband afterward that I just couldn’t believe this was what I was doing with my life.”

More about our guest

Kerry McLean at Intuit

Kerry McLean on LinkedIn