McGinnis Presented with CBJ Women in Business Award
The Charlotte Business Journal awarded Employment & Labor/ Litigation/ Privacy and Data Security Member Karin McGinnis with a 2018 Women in Business Achievement Award at the Women in Business Awards event on February 12. McGinnis was also profiled in the CBJ’s Women in Business Special Report on February 16. The profile can be seen in its entirety here and excerpts can be seen below.
The Women in Business Award was established to honor business women from within the region who have made significant contributions to their professions and communities over the course of a year. Click here to view the complete list of 2018 honorees.
Key accomplishments: McGinnis was named an equity partner in 2016. She co-founded the firm’s thriving Privacy and Data Security practice, recruiting lawyers from the firm’s litigation, investigations, employment, IP, health care and corporate practices to form a multi-disciplinary team. McGinnis was selected to serve on an eight-member N.C. Bar committee appointed to establish privacy and data security as a specialization in the state.
Women in Big Law: McGinnis pioneered MVA’s early telecommuting arrangement, which led to the firm’s policy. A mother of four, McGinnis says she saw so many women leaving the practice or not achieving what they might because of the challenging juggle of work and home. “In the late 1990s face time was so important. We had an attorney telecommuting because they lived in Hickory and that made sense. I made a proposal to the head of the litigation team when I was pregnant with my first child to telecommute and laid out the business advantages. They went for it, and it has worked ever since. Women need to look at alternatives instead of saying the way it is never going to work. Make a proposal for what will work.”
What keeps you excited about work?: I love learning new things so I guess that’s why privacy and data security is so appealing. There’s always a new mode of attack or a new law coming out and developing fast.
Alternative career?: McGinnis played the flute in high school and considered becoming a professional flutist. A high school mock trial convinced her to explore law. Her husband was a professional musician for years. “I guess I got my musical fix that way.”
Civic Involvement: McGinnis is on the board of KIPP Charlotte, a public charter school serving socioeconomically disadvantaged youth. She is a former chair of the board for Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina and served on that board since 2004.