Emily Fitzgerald Applies Her Love of Reading to Law

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Emily Fitzgerald, senior counsel, ag services and oilseeds at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), has built her legal career on a love of reading. “That skill set develops into critical thinking and strategic analysis. I find that to be the foundation of legal skills, whether you’re in a courtroom or in a corporate setting,” she says. “People react to words.”

Just as authors use words in storytelling, lawyers use words to persuade through rhetoric. “It’s a way to convey something and move everyone from one point to another, whether it’s getting an agreement done or persuading someone to change their way of thinking,” Fitzgerald says. “Knowing how words fit is the foundation of being persuasive.”  

Fitzgerald uses her love of language to advocate for and work with legal teams of ADM’s downstream customers, suppliers, and farmers. “We act as a liaison and explain and interpret things that perhaps the other partner has not worked with before,” Fitzgerald says. The legal department partners with ADM’s business teams, helping them achieve their goals while managing risk. “Our role is to be the supporting cast,” Fitzgerald explains. “We’re there for advice and counsel and to be a sounding board.”

She counsels several areas of ADM’s businesses, including working closely with the company’s regenerative agriculture program, which focuses on sustainability efforts like fertilizer efficiency, no-till practices, and growing cover crops to maintain a soil’s living root system. “This means incentives on the farm level for better environmental outcomes,” Fitzgerald says. “Every year, our teams aim to enroll more acres into this [program] to encourage more environmentally friendly farming practices.”

After earning a BA from Notre Dame and a JD from the University of Illinois College of Law, Fitzgerald landed a position at Swanson, Martin & Bell in Chicago, where she lives today. Originally hired as a summer associate, she was eventually voted in as a partner. During her first two months as an attorney at Swanson, she was arguing trial motions as a second and third chair.

“This is very unusual for such a young attorney,” Fitzgerald says. She attributes her meteoric rise to mentors who advocated for her and provided her with “a lot of hand-to-hand combat at a young age.”

This on-the-job-training, coupled with Chicago’s legal scene, taught her how to think quickly. “I still feel these skills coming through today,” Fitzgerald says. “You get asked questions that you maybe don’t know the answer to, but you know how to get where you need to go from the training you had coming up,”

“I found mentorship outside of industries perhaps just as important because you have somebody with a clear vision.”

Emily Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald remained at Swanson for over twelve years. Although she loved litigation and liked her role there, her passion for counseling clients led her to ADM in 2022, which appealed to her because of its size and visibility. The fact that the position was based in Chicago was a bonus.

“The type of legal work available at a company like ADM is unmatched,” she enthuses. “We’re doing everything from ensuring that there’s compliance with food safety to issues on vessels and everything in the middle. It’s interesting and varied.”

When she’s not counseling at ADM, Fitzgerald is active with the American Cancer Society. She has occupied a seat on its board for the past fourteen years and served as president of its associate board for three. It’s in that role that she flexes her leadership muscles. On her first day as president, she tore up the antiquated org chart with its traditional vertical levels and started from scratch.

“We pulled out a pen and drew a new org chart as a circle, demonstrating to each of the directors the interconnected nature of each of the teams,” says Fitzgerald. The new org chart made team members feel valued and resulted in a significant rise in fundraising dollars year after year.

Her first word of advice to anyone starting a law career is to seek out mentorship, both in law and beyond. “I found mentorship outside of industries perhaps just as important because you have somebody with a clear vision,” Fitzgerald says. She’s found mentors through various boards and within Chicago’s group of professionals.

As a wife and mother of three, Fitzgerald tries to achieve work/life balance. “Does anyone have a true balance? I don’t know the answer to that,” Fitzgerald says with a laugh. Her kids are “wonderfully accepting” of the many nights Mom misses the bedtime ritual while in meetings. “They’ll just see me in the morning,” she says.

Having a passion outside work and family is also essential, she says. Fitzgerald’s avocational passions include racing in triathlons, playing pickup soccer, paddle tennis, and pickleball. “Athletics keep me grounded and moving and take my mind off everything else,” she says. And of course, she still makes time for reading.

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