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Sep 01, 2020

Allstate reveals succession plan for top attorney

Rhonda Ferguson to join company later this month

Rhonda Ferguson will join The Allstate Corporation on September 28 as executive vice president and general counsel.

She will succeed Susie Lees, who has announced her intention to retire in 2021 having spent 32 years at Allstate. Lees will remain chief legal officer (CLO) and corporate secretary and, during the transition, will expand her focus on Allstate’s ESG initiatives.

Ferguson is moving to Allstate from Union Pacific Railroad, where she has been executive vice president, CLO and corporate secretary with responsibility for all legal, regulatory and corporate governance matters.

She joined Union Pacific in 2016 having spent almost a decade as vice president, corporate secretary and chief ethics officer at electric utility FirstEnergy in Ohio. Earlier in her career, she was assistant general counsel and assistant corporate secretary at Ferro. In private practice she was a partner at BakerHostetler and a litigation associate at Thompson Hine.

‘Rhonda is a terrific addition to the Allstate family,’ Allstate chair, president and CEO Tom Wilson says in a statement. ‘She is a thoughtful and focused leader who brings expertise and wisdom to her new role. Rhonda is collaborative yet challenges conventional wisdom, which will be invaluable as Allstate transforms how we serve customers and society.

‘We look forward to celebrating Susie’s many contributions to Allstate early next year.’

Ben Maiden

Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Governance Intelligence, an IR Media publication, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. Ben was previously managing editor of Compliance Reporter, covering regulatory and compliance...