Andrea L. Zopp
Exelon Corporation
Executive Vice President and General Counsel
Over the past few weeks, the new executive vice president and general counsel for Exelon Corporation, Andrea L. Zopp, has immersed herself in the substantive legal issues of a complicated industry that is affected heavily by regulation and politics.
The learning curve for taking over the legal function of the Chicagobased corporationone of the nation’s largest electric utilities, with approximately $19 billion in annual revenues’has been steep, but Zopp is unfazed. “Former trial lawyers make very good general counsel,” she shares. “We’re used to learning in depth about a particular area in a relatively short time. When I was at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal earlier in my career, I worked on a case for McDonald’s involving kitchen equipment. Believe me, I learned more about stoves than I ever dreamed possible.”
Prior to joining Exelon in 2006 (initially on the human-resources side of the house), Zopp served as senior vice president and GC for Sears Holdings Corporation; and before that she was a vice president and deputy GC at Sara Lee Corporation. Once a federal prosecutor, she also served as First Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney in Illinois. “My job was very much like that of a chief operating officer, and I thought of our office as the in-house legal department of Cook County, a $3 billion operation,’ explains Zopp. “It was great experience for a future GC. I learned how to manage lawyers and budgets; deliver legal services; and deal with our different county clients, including the sheriff’s office, the tax assessor’s office, and the hospital system.’
When Zopp graduated from Harvard School of Law in 1981, she notes, not many women or minorities held senior jobs in the corporate legal arena or the U.S.attorneys’ office. “In the beginning, there was a lot of barrier-breaking; and when you’re the first, the bar is a little higher,” she recalls. “Fortunately for me, I worked under a lot of people who cared more about the quality of my work than my gender or color. Most of them were white males.”
“Former trial lawyers make very good general counsel. We’re used to learning in depth about a particular area in a relatively short time.”
Her new role at Exelon comes with challenges,but Zopp’s enthusiasm is not dampened. “A utility doesn’t have to look for customers but because we’re a commodity company and a big piece of our revenues come from our generating facilities, we feel the down economy like any other business,” she explains. “Still, to be on the cutting edge of a critical and current issue like energy—making sure it’s delivered affordably and safely is an exciting opportunity that I wouldn’t want to miss.” DB
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From the September/October 2009 issue of Diversity & The Bar®