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Elena Kraus, Senior VP & General Counsel, Walgreens

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DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens has experienced a dramatic increase in workload for the entire legal function during the pandemic, says senior vice president and general counsel Elena Kraus. That has meant work for the company has had to be prioritized, as it is an essential business and its greatest priority is supporting customers and field teams and ensuring continuity of care.

Elena Kraus

Elena Kraus

“As a legal team, we needed to redirect our energies from business as usual to supporting the essential functions of the business, with a focus on mitigating risk to customers, team members and the company as a whole,” says Kraus. The way the company works now will have long-lasting effects, she adds. The legal profession and lawyers that have been traditionally very slow to adopt technology have been pushed to rapidly adapt to a new way of working. Even the court system has changed the way it works, with appearances and oral arguments handled remotely. Walgreens has embraced using technology for internal meetings, and has held very few in-person meetings with government officials, outside counsel or opposing parties. “We’ve shown that as a legal profession, we can make better use of collaborative tools and technology to stay connected and continue to effectively meet the needs of our clients,” comments Kraus.

As general counsel, she oversees the strategy and delivery of legal services to the organization. She is responsible for the work of its attorneys and paraprofessionals in support of the goals of the business. “I’m especially proud of my work to develop a really top-notch legal team in the past four years,” she notes. “There’s a core team of people across the department who are so dedicated to our company, their profession and each other. It speaks so well of this department. I am truly honored to lead this team and contribute to the way they work and how they care for each other. We frequently get kudos from clients, which tells me that others see this department as a strong, collaborative partner.”

She describes her management style as direct and supportive. “I view my role not solely as a manager of the process and the function, but as a leader of the hard-working and dedicated professionals who take pride in their work in support of Walgreens. I tend to be a bit of a nurturer at work, looking for ways to mentor, support and encourage the development of my team. I have been successful by building positive relationships with my colleagues — business clients and legal colleagues alike — based on trust, respect and a sense of common purpose.”

As she has gotten busier in her career, she has had less time to spend with individual lawyers and paralegals in the organization. She misses that daily interaction with “the people in the trenches” and tries to schedule some regular visits with her team at all levels of the department.

Fostering an environment that promotes and supports women leaders is an important goal and just makes good business sense, she adds.

She personally believes that women bring a critical and unique perspective to the company and make it “stronger, more empathetic, and more ­successful.”


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