Law360 (August 20, 2020, 3:34 PM EDT) -- The COVID-19 pandemic called for swift and bold action from The Procter & Gamble Co. as the prolific consumer goods manufacturer, which does business in 180 countries, faced new problems and opportunities.

P&G makes soaps and disinfectants, among other products that would be in high demand during the crisis. But it also had to work with governments and regulators — with varying requirements — in a slew of nations and states to ensure it would be able to keep its supply chains and factories open and its products on shelves, said P&G general counsel Deborah Majoras.

"One of the things that I have said to my team is, 'Look, there have been moments in my career, where ... I say, wow, everything that I have learned and everything that I have experienced has been to bring me to this moment,'" Majoras said. "And I said to some of them, 'You are in that moment.' And I don't mean to be overly dramatic, but that's really where we were."

The team was able to fast-track regulatory matters and grapple with entirely new issues, such as navigating the regulatory minefield required to create a COVID-19 testing facility for the company's employees.

Majoras' experience and leadership landed her among 13 corporate counsel named Legends in Law by the Burton Awards this year. She was nominated by R. Hewitt Pate, vice president and general counsel of Chevron Corp. and a 2019 Legend in Law.

"I have had the privilege of seeing Deborah Majoras lead legal organizations in public service, in private practice, as a corporate executive, and as a civic and bar leader," Pate said. "She represents the very best in collegiality and integrity, and nobody works harder."

Majoras was slated to be honored in person at the Burton Awards' June ceremony at the Library of Congress, but the event was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The next ceremony is scheduled for June 14, 2021. Law360 is a sponsor of the Burton Awards.

Majoras earned her law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1989.

She had previously been a partner in Jones Day's antitrust practice and served in the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division. In 2004, she was sworn in as FTC chairman. She joined P&G in 2008.

Majoras said the consumer-protection mindset she developed as FTC chairman works well for her at P&G. Her job is to protect and defend the company, but defending the consumer is a key part of that, she said.

"I am as much trying to protect consumers," Majoras said. "So much of what you do as an in-house lawyer — and this is what my in-house team does — is work very directly with the business in making sure that we continue to have trust and credibility in all of our products, that they're obviously safe, that they're obviously doing what we say that they do."

She said she has also had to navigate different workplace cultures and find ways to lead both in government, where leadership tends to shift with relative frequency, and as a newcomer in a corporation that otherwise tended to promote from within.

The lessons she learned at the DOJ and FTC helped her to take the reins at P&G, she said.

"Don't try to act like you know something you don't know," she said. "Listen, show a lot of respect, and then roll your sleeves up and start working and show that you're devoted to the mission, as opposed to telling people that you're devoted to the mission."

--Editing by Kelly Duncan and Jill Coffey.

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