Senior Corporate Counsel II, FirstEnergy
By Lori Kersey
Growing up, Gary Jack’s dream was to become an attorney just like his father, a sole practitioner in their hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Now in his adopted home of Fairmont, WV, Jack is living out that career goal as senior corporate counsel II for FirstEnergy, where he has worked for the past 29 years.
“I practice regulatory, corporate, real estate, litigation, claims and governmental affairs at FirstEnergy,” says Jack. “I love the breadth of responsibility. The challenge is you need to know your industry well to be a good lawyer to your employer. You want them to consider you a partner in their decisions rather than just someone who provides legal advice.”
A graduate of Miami University of Ohio and Duke University School of Law, Jack started his legal career at the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office in Columbus. He also worked for seven years as the assistant general counsel for the Duquesne Light Company in Pittsburgh, PA.
“In a smaller company like Duquesne, the breadth of responsibility is much larger,” he says. “I had five functional divisions and learned to address issues quickly and move on.”
Outside of his career at FirstEnergy, Jack is active in his community. He has served in various capacities for Kiwanis International, Leadership Marion, the Disability Action Center, Prickett’s Fort State Park, Mon Valley Health, Court Appointed Special Advocates, Fleming Memorial Presbyterian Church, United Way of Marion & Taylor Counties, Marion County Chamber of Commerce, Leadership West Virginia, the Hope Inc. Domestic Violence Shelter and the Rotary Club of Fairmont. He has also been serving his alma mater, Duke University, by interviewing West Virginia students who have applied to attend the school for more than 20 years.
As the main legal representative for FirstEnergy’s Mon Power and Potomac Edison utilities in West Virginia, Jack has also worked on a number of legislative bills, including a broadband bill to expand middle-mile infrastructure throughout the state and a solar bill to permit utilities to build renewable power during the 2020 legislative session.
“I take a tremendous amount of pride in seeing the bills I’ve worked on enacted to help the state,” he says. “I find working on legislative policy challenging, exciting and of paramount importance, but even more significantly, I find that I can help make a difference by working on enacting bills that can help our customers, the company and the state achieve better utility service at a lower cost or by helping prevent bills from being enacted that would be harmful.”
While he was born and raised in Ohio, Jack enjoys the life he has built in the Mountain State with his wife, Linda, and their two children and grandchildren. When he isn’t practicing law or serving his community, he enjoys skiing, fly fishing and gardening. He chooses to live and work in West Virginia, where his mother was born and raised, even though many of his relatives have moved out of state.
“Sometimes you have to act against the flow and do what you think is right,” he says. “I love West Virginia, its people and the opportunities it has provided me.”
