MODERATOR
E. Leigh Dance
Founder and Executive Director
Global Counsel Leaders
SESSION
Client Perspectives:
Defining ESG Roles and Strategies in the Enterprise
OCTOBER 27
8:00am – 9:00am / US Central Time
BIO
E. Leigh Dance has worked with both corporate legal and compliance functions and global law
firms for more than 25 years to help them perform better, faster. She leads ELD International LLC, which has completed projects for law firms and corporate clients in more than 30 countries on all continents. Dance is known in legal and business circles as a skilled strategist, thought leader, change maker, international networker, speaker and moderator.
Dance is co-author of the first annual comprehensive report of ESG Issues for Corporate Legal and Compliance Leaders, published at the end of 2020 and available at https://globalcounselleaders.com. The 2022 edition will be available at the start of 2022.
Dance has a vast global network of personal relationships with global buyers of legal services. She is founder and executive director of Global Counsel Leaders, including its Leaders Circle roundtable group, which counts many global corporate legal and compliance chiefs as members. Global Counsel Leaders produces roundtables, conferences and white papers on critical issues facing in-house legal and compliance teams globally.
Law firms and legal networks retain Dance and her team to reality check their marketing and BD strategies with international clients, for market research, to speak at retreats and other events, and to develop and execute successful initiatives with high-level legal service buyers.
Global corporate legal and compliance teams retain Dance on projects to improve productivity, structure and strategy, including transformation. For nearly 4 years she has partnered with DXC Technology’s award-winning Legal team, leading communication and strategic projects to support transformation.
Dance has assisted on law firm convergence and provider management projects. She advises and supports General Counsel and their teams to improve communications internally and externally in areas of reputational risk-- including corporate governance and crisis management. Dance also organizes and moderates global corporate legal and compliance retreats and develops learning and professional development programs for in-house teams. She is actively involved in a number of inclusion and diversity programs.
Since 1995 Dance has lived and worked from bases in New York, Rome and Brussels. She speaks English, French and Italian. Her articles on regulatory, governance and compliance can be found in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Legal Week, American Lawyer and many other publications. Leigh has published more than 20 articles for American Lawyer Media’s Corporate Counsel on global in-house counsel issues. Her book Bright Ideas: Insights from Legal Luminaries Worldwide is available on Amazon. Dance’s professional experience includes international development and public policy, as well as financial and legal services. She was previously a Vice President at JP Morgan for seven years with assignments in 20 countries and led strategy and marketing in a US law firm.
Dance holds an MBA (high honors) in Global Management, a BA (honors) in International Relations, has a Communications Specialist certification from GWU and completed executive courses in services marketing at UC Berkeley. Since 2012 she has been a Fellow in the College of Law Practice Management.
