Washington, DC—Dentons, the global law firm, today named veteran General Counsel and corporate director Gail A. Lione as senior counsel. A former general counsel of three US corporations and a director of public and private, profit and nonprofit institutions, Lione is widely recognized as one of the most influential women in corporate America.  

For more than 23 years, Lione served as General Counsel of three companies in three different industries: global marketing/manufacturing; publishing, printing and digital imaging; and insurance, banking and financial services. Most recently, she was the Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer of Harley-Davidson, Inc. She also served as President of The Harley-Davidson Foundation until she retired from the company.  For the seven years prior to joining Harley-Davidson, Lione was General Counsel and Secretary of US News & World Report and its affiliates, The Atlantic Monthly Company, Applied Graphics Technologies, Inc. and Applied Printing Technologies. Her first General Counsel position was with Sun Life Group of America in Atlanta, where she managed the legal affairs and all regulatory activities of five insurance companies licensed in 50 states.

Lione joins a group of former General Counsels at Dentons, including Rick Palmore, who served as executive vice president and General Counsel at General Mills, and previously Sara Lee, and Bill Ide, who was senior vice president and General Counsel at Monsanto. Together they are focused on providing advice to companies, boards and general counsel on the strategic issues they face.

Lione is a sought-after board member for corporations as well. She currently serves on three corporate boards including Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE: BMI) where she is the lead director and a member of the Corporate Governance and Compensation Committees; The F. Dohmen Co. where she is a member of the Audit Committee; and Sargento Foods, Inc., where she is a member of the Compensation Committee. Lione also serves as a Senior Fellow of the Governance Center of The Conference Board.

"Gail's acumen, reputation and extraordinary range of experience as a leading executive will be an enormous asset to our clients to whom she will be a trusted advisor on the myriad challenges they confront daily," said Mike McNamara, managing partner of Dentons US. "Gail is well known in c-suites and board rooms across the US, where her intellect, integrity and no-nonsense pragmatism are highly valued.  Within the Firm, Gail will be an inspirational role model and mentor for our women and diverse lawyers in particular, as she has paved the way for so many in Corporate America"

"I know from our history together that Gail is a long-time supporter of diversity," said Palmore, senior counsel at Dentons, founder of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) and the author of A Call to Action, an industry-altering manifesto on diversity in the legal profession. "She was an inaugural signer and enthusiastic supporter of the LCLD and I am thrilled to be reunited with her in these efforts here at Dentons."

Throughout her career, Lione has been a member of many industry, civic and charitable boards. She currently is Vice Chair of the National Women's Leadership Council for United Way of the USA, a member of the MillerCoors Inclusion and Diversity Advisory Council, a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Rochester. In Washington DC, she is on the Boards of Dog Tag Inc., a veterans educational support organization, and the International Senior Lawyers Project. In Milwaukee, Lione is on the boards of the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Milwaukee Ballet and is an emeritus member of Milwaukee Women Inc.

Lione has received numerous community and industry awards throughout her career, among the most notable are the ABA Mayre Rasmussen Award for the Advancement of Women in International Law, the Milwaukee Biz Times Woman Executive of the Year, Top 20 Women in Atlanta by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Top 10 Women in Milwaukee by Milwaukee Magazine and Top 40 Under 40 by Atlanta Magazine.

Lione is currently an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, where she teaches intellectual property law, drawing on her experience in the strategic management and protection of intellectual property portfolios. In January 2015, she was elected as a member of the American Law Institute.

Lione earned her JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and a BA, magna cum laude, from University of Rochester, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

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