Law360 (August 21, 2020, 4:59 PM EDT) -- Liberty Mutual Insurance Chief Legal Officer James Kelleher's 2,200-employee legal department handles all the complex matters that come into play for one of the largest U.S. insurers, including tens of thousands of insurance defense cases each year.

It's enough to keep not only his own department busy, but hundreds of outside firms, he said.

"I have a whole operation that does law firm management, in terms of the relationship, the billing practices, diversity of the law firm, the use of diverse lawyers," he said. "So we have a very good relationship with literally hundreds of law firms."

His handling of complex legal matters for the insurance giant has landed him among 13 corporate counsel named Legends in Law by the Burton Awards this year. He was nominated by Lisa Rickard, U.S. Chamber of Commerce executive vice president and counselor to the president.

"He is one of the most dynamic GCs out there — knowledgeable, strategic, innovative and multi-dimensional," she wrote. "Jim moves easily between corporate, litigation, insurance and public policy matters. Not many can do that, and that's the reason he is so greatly admired in the legal community."

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

Kelleher earned his law degree from St. John's University School of Law in 1982 and joined Liberty Mutual in 1983. He worked his way up to managing the company's corporate litigation group and was elevated to international general counsel about eight years ago. He said he has learned a lot about international law and mergers and acquisitions.

The multidimensional skills that Rickard praised in Kelleher were accumulated over the course of decades at the company.

Kelleher said he was fortunate to have had experience in many parts of the insurer's legal department, and that young lawyers who join the company could have an equally well-rounded experience.

Kelleher said Liberty Mutual offers a clerkship for law students that could lead to a job offer. There's then a two-year training process that involves cycling through different areas of practice at the company before the lawyer settles into one.

"Fortunately, I've had a very broad upbringing at Liberty, and that's something that we encourage all of our lawyers to do," he said. "Raise your hand, take some risks, get as many experiences as you can. Even if you don't want to switch jobs, there's a lot of things you can do."

--Editing by Kelly Duncan and Emily Kokoll.

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