AbbVie said on Monday that Laura Schumacher, who has worked for the company and its predecessor, Abbott Laboratories, for more than 30 years, is leaving. After a time of change at the biopharmaceutical company, Schumacher will be replaced as general counsel and company secretary by Perry Siatis, who is currently the deputy general counsel.
Abbott, a big medical device and healthcare company based in the Chicago suburbs, gave birth to AbbVie ten years ago.
The company’s chairman and CEO, Richard Gonzalez, said in a statement that he couldn’t say enough about how important Laura has been to AbbVie over the past 10 years.
She is one of the best lawyers in the business and has helped us with many complicated legal and regulatory issues, but her contributions to AbbVie go far beyond the legal department.”
During his time at AbbVie, Schumacher was a leader in changing the way the company worked with its outside legal counsel, including the law firm’s goals for diversity. In August, the American Bar Association gave her an award for her work to make AbbVie and the legal field more diverse.
Schumacher did not respond right away when asked about her plans to retire. Siatis also didn’t answer when asked for his opinion.
Gonzalez said that Siatis was “the best choice to continue Laura’s success.” Gonzalez said that Siatis has played a number of important roles in AbbVie’s legal department.
For example, he was in charge of the company’s ethics and compliance programs and strategic projects like mergers, litigation, licensing, and intellectual property.
