Desiree Ralls-Morrison Shares the Power of Influence at McDonald’s

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Desiree Ralls-Morrison had led in-house legal teams in the healthcare industry for over twenty years before she was presented an opportunity to serve as chief legal officer at McDonald’s.

At first, she raised an eyebrow at the prospect of working for the iconic brand.

“I was probably a little bit of a snob coming in,” she chuckles. “I was like, ‘I’ve been in healthcare for decades saving lives. How hard can burgers and fries be?’”

She quickly learned that the brand was much more than burgers and fries and nostalgia. Its legal team is responsible for a brand with more than 40,000 restaurants in 110 markets around the world. The challenge of mitigating risks and delivering business priorities internationally for such an iconic brand was attractive to Ralls-Morrison. But so was the brand’s mission, which became apparent to the leader during initial conversations with CEO Chris Kempczinski.  

“When we met, we talked about the company’s values, and I found that they were consistent with my own. I felt like it would be a company that I could connect with and that I’d have a shared sense of purpose with,” Ralls-Morrison says. “Also, [Kempczinski] was a newer CEO at the time and he made the decision to surround himself with experienced C-suite executives. That told me that he wanted a partner, that he was a listener, and that he didn’t have a huge ego. That was the kind of leader I wanted to work with.”

Ralls-Morrison has learned from Kempczinski’s leadership. “Desiree is such an effective leader because she articulates a clear vision—grounded in her strong values—for success and inspires her team to work collaboratively to accomplish corporate objectives,” says Ronald C. Machen, who serves as chair, litigation/controversy department at WilmerHale. “She leads her team in a strategic manner that sets a standard of excellence for other general counsel to follow.”

Today, Ralls-Morrison serves as executive vice president, chief legal officer, and corporate secretary. She oversees global legal and advises the board of directors on ways to manage risk and advance the brand’s values. For Ralls-Morrison, the role is a chance to impact communities around the world on issues that matter.

“The beauty of being at a company like McDonald’s is when you put certain stakes in the ground, other companies want to know what you’re doing and how you’re viewing issues. It becomes bigger than just our company,” she shares. “That’s why it’s special to be a C-suite executive at the table and influence what happens in those spaces, whether it’s setting aspirational climate or diversity goals [or] working on how our people can feel more included in the workplace.”

Dennis Hopkins, partner at Perkins Coie, further recognizes how Ralls-Morrison’s leadership style impacts the legal team both in and out of house. “Desiree has a high-profile leadership role as chief legal officer of an iconic global company such as McDonald’s. She and her team manage a tremendous number of challenges daily,” he says. “Desiree’s counsel and decisions impact millions of customers and tens of thousands of restaurants and their operators and crew members around the globe and are critical to McDonald’s growth trajectory. She rightly sets a high bar for outside legal counsel, and we work proactively to help Desiree and her team see around the corners to mitigate legal risks.”

As the leader of a team of more than four hundred legal and compliance professionals, Ralls-Morrison says fostering a cohesive global culture in the legal department is a unique challenge. To do that, she sets the tone with a transparent, collaborative, and people-centered leadership style.

“I like to be very open about the things happening in the brand, in our function, and in the feedback I provide to my team. I pride myself on integrity, working really hard and putting out the very best work product, and I demand the same of them,” she emphasizes. “At the same time, I lead with empathy and compassion for them. I’m not so high up in the organization that I’ve forgotten what it feels like to be them.”

“Desiree is among the best and most respected general counsels in the world, and her tenure at McDonald’s has been marked by achievement,” says Scott A. Barshay, corporate department chair at Paul, Weiss.

Her decades working for Fortune 500 companies in healthcare has also shown her the value of empowering legal teams to think of themselves as business units. That’s a mentality that she’s brought to her role at McDonald’s and that unites her team members across the globe.  

Former US Attorney General Loretta Lynch, a Paul, Weiss litigation partner, sees Ralls-Morrison’s ability to unite a large team as a massive asset for McDonald’s. “Desiree is an inspiring and inclusive leader whose actions and decisions come from a place of profound personal and professional integrity, as well as a deep understanding of her company’s mission and business priorities,” she says.

“I think it’s important for us all to have clear goals and objectives—KPI’s or metrics that we hold ourselves to,” Ralls-Morrison says. “And, that we really try to build the muscle of not just being an enabling function, but a business unit that has key deliverables and is continuing to drive speed, efficiency, innovation, and improvement.”

Before coming to McDonald’s, Ralls-Morrison had built a deep background in business strategy, crisis management, governance, and regulatory compliance.

During her time at Merck, she led global litigation efforts on cases that sought to determine whether vaccines could cause autism in children, which proved to be untrue. As general counsel for Johnson & Johnson’s consumer sector, she led the division through recalls, shutdowns of manufacturing facilities, and a consent decree. At both Boehringer Ingelheim and Boston Scientific, she developed a reputation as a business adviser who happened to also have legal expertise.

John C. Hueston, partner at Hueston Hennigan, emphasizes Ralls-Morrison’s large achievements through her professional journey. “Desiree possesses the perfect balance of wisdom and courage as general counsel: she relishes making the tough calls but always ensures that every key decision is roundly vetted and not driven by passion of the moment,” he says.

Throughout her career, she was equally committed to effecting change in communities through pro bono work. But after the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, she and many of her peers started reevaluating how they wanted to contribute. Their conversations paved the way to The New Commonwealth Racial Equity and Social Justice Fund, which raises funds for Black and Brown nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts.

As a founding member and adviser to the foundation, Ralls-Morrison says the effort was empowering.

“It allowed us to realize that we really do have the political clout and the financial means to raise money and use our influence in ways we hadn’t thought to before,” she says. “People often ask what they can do during their rise up the corporate ladder, but we all have some value to add, even before you’ve reached that top position. The truth is you can do something. You just have to realize the power you have.”

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