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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
NOVEMBER 17 - 23, 2014
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GENERAL & IN-HOUSE COUNSEL AWARDS For the third year, Crain’s Cleveland Business is honoring those working in the region’s general and in-house counsel positions. Finalists were determined by an independent panel of legal experts. Consideration was given to leadership; business strategy achievement; protection of company interests; governance/ compliance; notable legal achievements; and community volunteer efforts. Judges for this year’s event were: Henry G. Grendell — vice president and general counsel, Family Heritage Life Insurance Company of America Mark Hennessey — deputy general counsel, retired, Eaton Corp. D. Russell Hood — vice president, general counsel and secretary, Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC
Winners will be announced during an awards reception from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. this Thursday, Nov. 20, at the Cleveland InterContinental Hotel. The reception will be preceded by NEOACCA’s Legal Ethics, Professionalism and Substance Abuse Seminar from 1 to 4:15 p.m. (3.0 CLE hours available.) Ticket information on both can be found at www.crainscleveland.com/GeneralCounsel.
2014 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD DONALD C. CLARK JR. General counsel, United Church of Christ Donald Clark Jr. is possibly one of the most influential religious litigators you’ve never heard of. But that’s how he likes it. Humble and deeply pious, he prefers to work behind the scenes even though the world is his audience. His stage is the courtroom. Currently serving as the general counsel for The United Church of Christ, which represents more than 5,100 churches in all 50 states, Clark has worked to address and abate incidents of sexual abuse in the church, restore religious freedom to clergy once legally prevented from solemnizing same-sex marriages and even preserved the life of a death-row inmate. But even after arguing some of the country’s milestone legal cases, Clark’s proudest that he’s able to serve God and country. “What blesses me the most is the body of work,” he said, “and that I’m able to do work that I love for a client that I so deeply believe in.”
Generous and brilliant A native of the Illinois suburb of Glenview and a
member of Glenview Community Church (which is within the UCC congregation), Clark studied at Massachusetts’ Williams College (class of ’76) prior to Rutgers School of Law (class of ’79). He became a litigation partner at two of Chicago’s largest law firms (Isham, Lincoln & Beale and McDermott Will & Emery) and worked for several Fortune 500 companies before founding and managing his own practice (Clark & DeGrand). He eventually joined the UCC national offices, headquartered in Cleveland, in 2003. He still lives in Illinois, where he also teaches “Legal Issues in Contemporary Parish Ministry” at the UCC-related Chicago Theological Seminary. Clark’s role in the church transcends that of just legal counsel, said the Rev. Bennett Guess, UCC national officer and executive minister. Playful yet professional and a natural educator, Clark routinely mentors and hosts workshops for clergy on topics from ethics to general legal issues. Clark holds retreats at his vacation home in Vermont, and most recently jokingly billed a recent workshop, “Clergy Ethics: The Musical.” “He certainly has a way of taking complex,
sometimes boring issues and making them fun for people,” Guess said. Guess credits Clark with establishing a culture of legal astuteness and professionalism across the church’s umbrella. Clark, for example, helped institute a clergy “fitness review process” that includes background checks to help mitigate potential misconduct. Guess points out Clark also is civically active — he belongs to boards and is a generous donor to the church and other groups. His many contributions include $1 million gifts to Chicago’s Adler Planetarium and UCC’s Chicago Theological Seminary. He sits on boards for each group. And for all his efforts at UCC, he refuses to be paid. His 11 years with the nonprofit have been entirely pro bono. “His impact on a practical level has been his commitment to the sound legal processes within the United Church of Christ,” Guess said. “But he’s also one of the most generous people I’ve ever known. And when he’s invested in something, he’s all in, 100%. He expects the same of See CLARK, page 17