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When Amy Major McGruder’s executive director at Chick-fil-A introduces her, it comes with the designation of being the person in the legal department who has the most experience with the storied organization. Yet she’s one of the most recent hires to the legal team, having come aboard as senior counsel in real estate and new restaurant development at the beginning of 2025.
This potential confusion is just a small part of what makes McGruder’s legal journey so interesting. She is an absolute veteran of the Chick-fil-A business. She’s been handling new restaurant real estate work for the company for twenty-five years. In fact, there were so many deals that Chick-fil-A was McGruder’s sole client, with the exception of the extensive amount of pro-bono work she did while operating her own firm.
Frankly, doing the math here should raise more questions than it answers. What compelled McGruder to operate her own firm for twenty years, after five-and-a-half years at Troutman Sanders (now Troutman Pepper Locke), a resume that would allow her to do just about anything in law? Why, two plus decades in, would she elect to go in-house at the company she was already serving? If it’s the choices we make that define us, McGruder’s would fall under the word “inimitable.”
The attorney left big law after having her second son.
“It was an incredibly hard decision, because I loved the people I worked with and the clients that I served,” McGruder remembers. “I had been working part-time, four days a week. But, inevitably, on that fifth day when I wasn’t supposed to be working, I would have my son strapped in a highchair, and I was trying to feed him Cheerios to keep him quiet while I was on a conference call. It just wasn’t working for me.”
After McGruder gave notice, she went out to lunch with the then-general counsel and another attorney with Chick-fil-A and explained she has an opportunity to do contract work for a national real estate development trust. She had already been working with Chick-fil-A while at Troutman, so they convinced her to continue doing their work instead. The next twenty years were set.
“I had a lot of opportunities to take on other clients, and I didn’t,” McGruder explains of those two decades of running her own firm. “I did a lot of pro bono work, but I never did paid work for another client because I believe this is truly a service industry. I believe in excellent quality of service and a commitment to your client. Maybe that’s why I stayed with this company for so long.”
McGruder essentially became an unrivaled expert on ground leasing and restaurant development for the company. She built a massive network across the country with different lawyers she negotiated against at given times, always with the caveat of understanding that while they met in a moment of contention, both parties were looking to create a long-lasting partnership. The lawyer says she loved meeting at the table with smart and passionate people; it made the work feel new and original every time.
Luring McGruder in-house, she says, was a little bit easier at this stage of her career. For one thing, her three boys are now out of the house. The time she committed to coaching varsity track, soccer, being a “room mom” in their early school years and a pro-bono general counsel for their private school in their later years had passed; suddenly, she had a lot more free time.
But it was more than that. McGruder is someone who has consistently pushed herself outside of her comfort zone. In creating her own firm, the lawyer engaged in significant professional development, attending conferences and training on how to be the best small-business owner she could. She loves the business of what she does, and that part of her hasn’t gone away since coming in-house.
“One of the reasons I came in-house was that I want to continue to learn more about the business here, even after all this time,” McGruder says. “I’m being intentional in spending time with our business folks and development people, asking questions, and visiting restaurants. I’m not chasing a title; I’m just interested in helping this organization through the lens of new restaurant development in legal.”
The attorney says that, above all else, the reason she’s continued to work on behalf of Chick-fil-A was a topic she was just discussing with her husband a few days prior.
“We were recently at a Chick-fil-A in Pennsylvania, and I remember this Chick-fil-A team member greeting a grandparent and grandchild by name as they came in. This duo had apparently become Friday regulars. My husband mentioned how you can get good, quality food at a lot of places, but at this place, there is such a quality of care and an intentionality in how this business operates,” she says.
“Our corporate purpose is to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with this brand. That’s what I get to be part of every day, and that’s what everyone around me is committed to.”
“Amy is a bright and practical attorney whose leadership strengthens Chick-fil-A’s legal team. She combines sharp judgment with a results-oriented approach, making her an invaluable partner and trusted leader.”
–Gary Knopf, Partner
“Amy is a dynamic dealmaker—experienced, composed, and polished. She navigates complex transactions with ease, balancing business acumen and legal diplomacy to move deals forward with confidence, clarity, and in a collaborative spirit.:”
–Andy Litvak, Partner
