Company

Roderick A. Palmore*

Executive Vice President; General Counsel; Chief Compliance and Risk Management Officer, and Secretary

Rick Palmore is executive vice president, general counsel and chief compliance and risk management officer, and secretary of General Mills.

Education Yale University, BA University of Chicago Law School, JD Boards American Arbitration Association MacPhail School of Music

Palmore joined General Mills in 2008 from Sara Lee Corporation, where he was executive vice president, general counsel and secretary.

Palmore previously was a partner with Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal in Chicago, which he joined in 1993. He was a partner with Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon from 1986 to 1993, having joined that firm as an associate in 1982. His prior experience includes work as an assistant United States attorney in the Northern District of Illinois.

Palmore is a director of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, and also is is a member of the executive committee of the Association of General Counsel.

In 2004, Palmore authored A Call to Action, Diversity in the Legal Profession, urging general counsel to drive diversity by demanding results in the law firms with which they work as well as in their departments. More than 120 prominent general counsel made the commitment, and the initiative developed into a collaboration between general counsel and managing partners - the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, which he chairs.

Palmore received the Corporate Exemplar Award from the National Legal Aid & Defender Association in 2007, the Spirit of Excellence Award from the American Bar Association Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in 2006, the Scales of Justice Award from the Equal Justice Works foundation in 2005 and the Excellence in Corporate Practice award from the Association of Corporate Counsel in 2003. 

Palmore also has been recognized by the National Law Journal, Inside Counsel magazine and Corporate Board Member magazine as one of the most influential lawyers in America.

* member of senior leadership team