Jones Financial Cos., which owns investment management firm Edward D. Jones & Co., will retire its longtime top attorney Christopher Lewis next year.
Lewis plans to retire on March 1, 2023, according to a Dec. 13 securities filing by Edward Jones’ parent company. He has served as General Counsel for the St. Louis-based financial services firm since 2015.
The company has yet to announce a replacement for Lewis, according to a spokeswoman for Edward Jones. He is currently a member of Edward Jones’ corporate governance team and its Audit Committee.
Lewis did not respond to a request for comment on his decision to retire.
In recent years, Lewis has received awards for his work advocating for diversity, equity and inclusion at Edward Jones, the company said. Earlier this year, Lewis was one of two inaugural recipients of a DEI award presented by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, according to Edward Jones.
Lewis is a member of the Black General Counsel 2025 Initiative, which seeks to increase the number of black legal counsel chiefs.
He led Edward Jones’ legal team when the firm faced litigation from black and women financial advisers.
A class action lawsuit filed against Edward Jones in September accused the firm of paying women less than their male financial advisor counterparts. The filing comes after Edward Jones was hit by another discrimination lawsuit earlier this year. Both cases follow a $58 million settlement by Edward Jones last year with a group of black former financial advisers.
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart and St. Louis resident Dowd Bennett are representing Edward Jones in both lawsuits. According to data from Bloomberg Law, the two law firms combined have handled more than 23% of Edward Jones’ litigation in US federal courts over the past five years.
The in-house legal team, led by Lewis, has also seen other changes in recent months.
In April, St. Louis-based packaged food maker Post Holdings Inc. hired Dessa Kopp, Edward Jones’ longtime attorney and former associate general counsel and legal operations leader, as vice president of talent management.
Her exit came after Edward Jones hired a trio of new Associate General Counsel in Damarr Butler, Sye Hickey and Cullen Kuhn, all of whom left Big Law to work internally.
Comments are closed.