The first general counsel of NAL Worldwide has an office on wheels. Gwen Hassan, 39, who was named GC in January, says her laptop case doubles as a part-time workspace. The flexibility allows Hassan to spend half her week working from home, where she can look after her two children and stay available on her BlackBerry and laptop. “I dial in from my daughters’ school concerts, from the road, from wherever I am,” she says.
NAL Worldwide, headquarted in Addison, Ill., provides supply chain and inventory services to telecommunications, technology, medical and retail companies. Formerly a subsidiary of SIRVA Inc., NAL used to rely on its corporate parent’s law department. According to Hassan, the company viewed legal as “a corporate necessity that they avoided.” But as a stand-alone entity, with about 700 employees, that attitude had to change.
