Executive Search Case Study: Senior Vice President for Independent Healthcare System

Client Need: Senior Vice President/Chief Legal Officer

The existing Senior Vice President/Chief Legal Officer of an independent healthcare provider was planning to retire following nearly a decade of service. The organization is a regional leader and provider of emergency and pediatric care. The organization was in an expansive transformation that required a seasoned legal decisionmaker who understood not only the complex governance landscape but also had the strategic mindset and risk tolerance necessary to effectively guide both the growth and future direction of the organization.

The search criteria included:

• 15+ years of legal experience in a corporate legal department, and/or combined corporate and law firm experience; experience managing a legal function in a healthcare organization with revenues above $100 million; experience working with the Board of Directors.
• Significant transactional experience supporting mergers and acquisitions transactions, corporate secretarial functions, intellectual property, and employment law.
• Corporate governance experience.
• Direct hospital experience.
• Well-established independent judgment and decision-making capacity.

Solution

BarkerGilmore began its placement process by strategically contacting attorneys currently engaged as General Counsel or Chief Legal Officers of nonprofit healthcare systems nationwide.

The finalist offered the perfect blend of on-target experience and a strong independent spirit. The candidate’s early career experience was as a trial attorney, which gave him the ability to see the big picture and navigate novel fact scenarios. His 10 years of experience as the Chief Legal Officer of two nonprofit community health systems could translate into specifically relevant and directly applicable experience, such as negotiating leases for new hospital properties and overseeing the merger of two care facilities into one.

The finalist was a person of action, expressing how as the director of one of the nonprofit hospital’s legal departments, he implemented a contractual review process of all hospital agreements prior to signing, which led to significant cost savings and organizational gains. In addition to working as a CLO, he had also previously served as a member of the Board, which mirrored the expectations of the position. The candidate’s thoughtfulness came across in a collaborative leadership and management style, two soft factors indicated by the organization’s wish list.

The new Senior Vice President/Chief Legal Officer accepted a competitive compensation package offer. In reference to the overall search and its pacing, the client felt “extremely satisfied” and was “energized with the candidates from the start.” When connecting with BarkerGilmore throughout the process, the client said the search consultant “set up scheduled meetings from the start and stuck to them. The communications were strong, and she was always on top of things.”