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As senior assistant general counsel at Marsh & McLennan Companies for Mercer, Ronnie Brandes is a counselor in every sense of the word. She leads the management of over 250 legal matters across the US, Canada, and Latin America for Mercer and Oliver Wyman, focusing on errors and omissions.
In that capacity, she not only provides legal advice for actuarial, consulting, and administrative service professionals who have made a mistake but also offers a compassionate shoulder to lean on.
“These are often anxious people coming to me because they don’t like to make mistakes in their work life, and that anxiety magnifies when they have to tell me what happened and relive the situation,” says Brandes, who has been with the company for over a decade. “I try to guide them through it and take the tension out of the situation. It’s about letting the person know this isn’t life or death and being empathetic enough to act in their interests and the company’s.
“I set the tone by telling them our discussions are just about gathering facts and all facts are important—whether good, bad, or irrelevant,” she adds.
“I always aim to do what I think is fair or right, which gets hard sometimes. There’s legally right and there’s morally right, and everyone has a different moral compass, which makes it difficult to reconcile the two.”
Ronnie Brandes
Brandes’ ability to be both logical and compassionate has cemented her place as a critical member of the legal team at Marsh McLennan. Her career progression at the company is a testament to that.
She started in the company as a litigation counsel in 2011 and was solely responsible for matters within the US. Over the years, her responsibilities grew, allowing her to advise on bankruptcy, data privacy, and cybersecurity matters, while expanding her purview to both Canada and Latin America as well as the Oliver Wyman, and most currently, Marsh businesses.
While her evolution at Marsh McLennan has been a highlight of her career, Brandes is most proud to have carried herself with integrity in each role.
“Integrity is a core belief at our company that really resonates with me. I always aim to do what I think is fair or right, which gets hard sometimes. There’s legally right and there’s morally right, and everyone has a different moral compass, which makes it difficult to reconcile the two,” Brandes says. “But I’m lucky to work for a company that makes it easy and to have spent my career doing what’s in the best interests of my clients in an ethical way.”
Brandes, who’s originally from Long Island, can’t exactly pinpoint what drew her to the law. However, she knows the career has always been at the forefront of her mind, especially after she got to visit a courthouse in elementary school.
“We went to see arguments, and afterward, I came home and told my mom that it was what I wanted to do,” she recalls. “From then on, I made up my mind and never looked back.”
Later, Brandes came to find that the career played to her strengths, namely being logical and being curious.
“I’m almost logical to a fault,” she says. “You need logic to form an argument and to develop solid positions. When a claim comes in, you need to figure out what happened, know the business, and know where to go for answers.”
After getting a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Lehigh University, Brandes went to law school at Georgetown. There, she got a chance to serve as a summer intern at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, where she’d go on to work for several years as an associate. From there, she worked as senior director of legal affairs at EMI Universal Music Group North America before moving to Marsh McLennan.
Brandes also serves as a judge in the annual New York State Bar Association High School Mock Trial Competition. From sitting on the bench while evaluating the students as they present opening statements, examine witnesses, and closing arguments, Brandes is always impressed by the level of talent displayed. “The students are so well-prepared. It’s fun when instinct kicks in. They stand up and object because they know the question is wrong, but don’t necessarily know why. As a judge, I have to rule on the objection, but I usually give them a minute to get the right answer.”
Brandes’s advice for up-and-coming lawyers is to never stop learning.
“Say yes to every opportunity. You don’t want to have ‘what ifs,’” she says. “Don’t be afraid of taking on new responsibilities or opportunities. You can always decide you don’t like something once you try it, but don’t judge before you even give it a chance.”
“I have known Ronnie longer than she would care to acknowledge, and every day working with her has been a pleasure.”
—Jamie Fleckner, Partner
