General Counsel
CIGNA Corporation
Carol Ann Petren was named executive vice president and general counsel of CIGNA Corporation. Petren, who has served since 2003 as senior vice president and deputy general counsel of MCI, Inc., will report to CIGNA Chairman and CEO H. Edward Hanway.
As deputy general counsel of law and public policy at MCI, Petren was responsible for federal, state, and international regulatory matters; investigations; litigation; employment law; federal and state government affairs; law department operations; and compliance. From 2001 to 2003, she was deputy general counsel of the law department at Sears, Roebuck and Co., where she managed litigation, product and general liability, and employment matters. Prior to joining Sears, Petren spent 18 years in litigation defense practice with law firms in Washington, DC.
Earlier in her career, Petren served as a prosecutor in Jackson County, Mo., as assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri, and as counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. Petren graduated magna cum laude from Boston College and received her juris doctorate and master’s degrees from the University of Missouri School of Law.