Mitchell on Law
Winter 2008WILLIAM MITCHELL COLLEGE OF LAW MAGAZINE SAINT PAUL | MINNESOTA
Mary McConnell '84 didn't grow up in a snowmobiling-ATV riding family, but she has found herself in a job in which playing with these vehicles is almost a requirement. Indeed, in her current position as vice president and general counsel at Polaris Industries, the executive management team regularly rides snowmobiles, motorcycles, and ATVs to evaluate products. McConnell is also encouraged to use numerous products at home to understand the customer experience; she currently has two snowmobiles and is in line for a Ranger utility vehicle. In a previous position as general counsel for Minneapolis-based Genmar Holdings, the product to experience was boats, and McConnell tried a new one each summer.
So what's the problem? No problem, McConnell is quick to say. The life of the corporate attorney is just a little different than she pictured during law school. But since her job requires her to understand her company's products ... well, duty calls.
Of course, McConnell's duties consist of more than checking out recreational vehicles. At Polaris, where she has worked since 2003, she oversees every legal area an international products manufacturer could face. From environmental law to contracts to product liability, McConnell estimates she has touched every subject she ever studied at William Mitchell except perhaps constitutional law. She directs a staff of two attorneys and two paralegals in the legal department she built from scratch, while also delivering company-wide training programs in ethics.
Why ethics? In addition to her personal commitment to this topic, McConnell notes pragmatically, "Not only do people want to work for an ethical company, they want to buy from an ethical company. It's one area where a legal department can actually add brand value and drive sales. It can be a competitive edge."
McConnell didn't start out to be a business executive, or even an attorney. She studied biology first, taking eight years to complete her undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota. It would have gone faster but the time in Aspen as a ski bum slowed her down. Much to her parents' dismay, McConnell left college and went to Colorado where she did not know a soul. There she settled into a pattern of skiing every day, while working at a series of part-time jobs.
Despite her parents' fears, McConnell did return to finish her degree in wildlife biology and joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Minnesota as a wetlands biologist. While there, she was asked to serve as a scientific expert on behalf of an attorney, an experience that inspired her to attend law school and combine two disciplines into one career.
After graduating from William Mitchell, McConnell worked in the civil division and prosecuted environmental crimes for the Dakota County Attorney's Office, then served as a partner with Lindquist & Vennum before starting in corporate law. It's a setting she especially enjoys because of the diversity she finds, both in the legal work and in her co-workers.
"In a law firm, everyone tends to be cut from the same mold," she notes. "They're all attorneys, with similar life stories. Here, people come from all walks of life and all types of work. The legal work is equally diverse and interesting."
It helps that some of that legal work takes place out of the office and doesn't require a pinstripe suit. McConnell, who has always loved the outdoors, is happy that her career has brought her full circle, from ski-bum biology student to snowmobiling corporate attorney.