McDonald’s Makes In-House Lawyer Steele U.S. General Counsel

McDonald’s Corp. has promoted Angela Steele to U.S. general counsel effective Sept. 1, after nearly a year in the role on an interim basis.

The move comes nearly six months after the Chicago-based fast-food giant named Desiree Ralls-Morrison as general counsel. Steele will report directly to Ralls-Morrison, who joined the company from Boston Scientific Corp. in March following longtime legal chief Jerry Krulewitch’s retirement.

McDonald’s is recovering from the effects of restaurant shutdowns during the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic. In July, the company reported $2.2 billion in net income for the second quarter, up $483 million from the same time last year.

The company announced in July that all U.S. corporate employees must be vaccinated against Covid-19 before returning to the office on Oct. 11.

McDonald’s faces other challenges, like its ongoing lawsuit against former CEO Steve Easterbrook over his severance package and labor issues that last month caused the restaurant chain to run out of milkshakes in the U.K.

Steele has been with McDonald’s for more than a decade, according to her LinkedIn profile. She joined the company as senior counsel on its marketing and intellectual property legal team in 2011, and at one point was general counsel for Latin America. She assumed the role of interim U.S. general counsel last October.

McDonald’s former U.S. general counsel Mahrukh Hussain briefly held the role of interim general counsel before Ralls-Morrison was hired. Steele’s promotion cements her position as Hussain’s successor.

McDonald’s and Steele did not respond to requests for comment.

Krulewitch retired in October 2020 at the recommendation of his doctors after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

He had worked for the company for nearly two decades and gave up 25% of his pay last year as the Covid-19 pandemic rocked the restaurant industry. That dropped his total compensation by more than half-a-million dollars to $2.7 million in 2020.

Steele began her career with Pattishall, McAuliffe, Newbury, Hilliard & Geraldson LLP and has also worked for Greenberg Traurig.