Summary: Roderick “Rick” Palmore is heading back to the law-firm life after working for the past 15 years for corporations like Sara Lee and General Mills.
Chicago lawyer Roderick “Rick” Palmore has spent over 15 years at the head of the legal teams for corporate companies like General Mills and Sara Lee. He has decided to return to his former employer. Palmore worked in the 90s for Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, which has become Dentons 
through various mergers.
Palmore will be working from Dentons Chicago office as a senior counsel. He is highly regarded in the area of diversity as well as a skilled litigator. His experience as general counsel at two large food consumer products companies has given him skills in risk management and governance issues.
He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and started working at a Pittsburgh firm. From there he moved back to Chicago to be an assistant U.S. attorney. He worked at Wildman Harrold Allen & Dixon, which is now part of Locke Lord until becoming partner. He then left to join Sonnenschein in 1993 where he developed their product liability defense practice into a powerful group.
While working at Sara Lee, he worked in improving the diversity in law firms, creating the manifesto “A Call to Action: Diversity in the Legal Profession.” Over 120 general counsels pledged to increase diversity by hiring outside counsel firms that were diverse. He helped start the Leadership Council of Legal Diversity in 2009.
Photo: business.superlawyers.com
