Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company
Photo by Columbus Headshots.
By Blair Dowler. Marilyn McClure-Demers knew at a very early age she wanted to be a lawyer. When she graduated from the West Virginia University (WVU) College of Law in 1991, it was only the beginning of an energetic career solving complex disputes, promoting diversity and helping others.
“I have great passion for what I do,” she says. “My work ethic and drive have had the greatest influence on my success, as well as the ability to connect and care for people. I think most people who know me, including those closest to me, would include these amongst my strongest traits.”
A native of Bridgeport, WV, McClure-Demers launched her career in Charleston as an associate at the law firm of Smith, Heenan & Althen. With passion, strong faith and the good fortune of excellent mentors, this initial position taught her a multitude of skills and values, including the ability to dive headfirst into every assignment and make the most of it.
“I learned that all work is good work, and you never know where it will lead,” she says. “I also learned that it is critical to recognize, observe, listen and value all people at all times. You also have to be true to yourself. Don’t conform to stereotypical professional bias or pressure from others, and don’t compromise your integrity. Finally, if you are treated badly, never replicate this unfortunate treatment on others. Remember how it feels.”
From there, she flourished in her global litigation and regulatory practice, representing public and private sector clients across several industries, such as coal, manufacturing, retail, education and insurance and financial services. In 2003, she moved in-house to her first of two Fortune 100 employers, joining the Rite Aid team as the employment law counsel. In 2006, she left her position in the retail industry for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, where she has since earned roles of increasing responsibility.
Today, McClure-Demers serves as vice president and associate general counsel of corporate litigation for Nationwide in Columbus, Ohio. She is responsible for leading the corporate and intellectual property litigation and discovery management teams. She oversees a wide range of legal matters for the multiline insurance and financial services provider’s various business units.
“The work environment at a Fortune 100 company is different from a law firm in many ways,” says McClure-Demers. “Oftentimes the clients are senior business leaders or even the CEO, and with an organization as large as Nationwide or Rite Aid, there may be multiple stakeholders to juggle on a daily basis. This dynamic requires a global view of the business going beyond the attorney/client relationship and has different demands. However, my approach has always been to draw upon my practice roots, staying true to a litigator’s point of view.”
McClure-Demers is known far and wide for her communication, strategic thinking and negotiation skills. She loves the challenge of negotiating as much as the task of bringing opposing sides to an agreement, and she uses these skills to understand others, build credibility and negotiate terms. With these weapons in her arsenal, she has proven to be a force to be reckoned with.
“It brings me great satisfaction to solve problems and help strike deals between adversarial points of view to reach common ground,” she says. “I acquired such skills by observing some of the best, trying all sorts of approaches and adding my West Virginia charm, remembering that it mostly comes down to human nature and emotions intertwined with high stakes. How you make people feel matters most, especially in these situations.”
The law aficionado attributes her decision to practice law to the strong support system she has had throughout her life.
“I grew up in a family of strong faith and work ethic and was blessed to have parents who believed in the value of education,” she says. “They always encouraged and supported my dream to be an attorney. This was empowering, and I realize now more than ever how fortunate I was to have had those forces pushing me toward my goal.”
Her vibrant journey from private practice to in-house legal executive across West Virginia, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio proves her tenacity and grace as a powerful attorney and a role model to young attorneys everywhere.
“Keeping my faith a focus, being grateful and having a growth mindset while being persistent have played a very big role on both a personal and professional level. This is so critical, as we all have to be prepared to overcome setbacks and failures to achieve success,” says McClure-Demers. “I am lucky to have a supportive husband as well as many others who have invested in my development and contributed to making me who I am today.”
McClure-Demers’s journey has involved taking risks, having an open mind and being strategic, and it rooted in her the importance of fostering an environment where all are included and diversity is celebrated. As a practitioner, she has rendered legal advice and been involved with developing and implementing diversity and affirmative action policies, programs and trainings for many different clients in many industries. She served on the Nationwide law department’s diversity and inclusion council and as Nationwide’s relationship manager for Corporate Counsel Women of Color. She also recently concluded her term as president of the Ohio Women’s Bar Association, during which a diversity and inclusion council was created that she helps lead.
In addition to these initiatives, McClure-Demers was a catalyst in launching the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) in West Virginia. LCLD was founded in 2009 based on a very simple ideal: the U.S. would be better served by a truly diverse legal profession, inclusive of all talent. To reach that goal, LCLD’s founders committed to use their positions of influence to innovate and expand the pool of diverse legal talent in their organizations and in society. More than 250 law firms and corporations across the country are members.
“I have been personally involved with LCLD for several years and have benefited from it, as has Nationwide,” she says. “LCLD is making a real difference in moving the needle in the legal profession, and I truly believe LCLD and all it offers will positively advance the legal profession in West Virginia too. Additionally, as a member of the WVU Law visiting committee and the first WVU Law graduate to be an LCLD fellow, I feel duty-bound to make sure we have more fellows and beneficiaries of LCLD here in the Mountain State.”
On top of her bountiful career and endeavors to celebrate diversity, she has dedicated a portion of her life to investing in the development of others by mentoring aspiring and younger attorneys.
“I am fortunate to have been the beneficiary of others’ investment in my development, so it is required to pay it back and forward in my book,” she says. “It’s critical for young lawyers to have people in which they can confide, gain perspective and overcome feelings of isolation. For me, it benefits both parties. It brings me great satisfaction to see others grow, and I learn a lot from the perspectives of new and younger professionals.”
A force and a trailblazer, McClure-Demers’ altruistic actions do not stop there. The proud Mountaineer has been involved with United Way, Girl Scouts, YWCA, Junior League, WVU Alumni Association and Kappa Kappa Gamma Alumnae Association in the various states in which she and her family have resided. Over the last 10 years, she has chaired Delaware County Ohio United Way’s community impact council and the United Way board, and she helped found and chair the United Way’s Women’s Leadership Network.
“Our United Way and Women’s Leadership Network have focused on drug addiction and hunger problems, held baby showers for young single mothers, raised money for our first in-county domestic violence shelter, promoted human trafficking awareness and funded agencies that support the escape, treatment and reintegration of human trafficking survivors,” she says. “Most recently, my husband and I were American Red Cross volunteers who, along with local fire fighters, installed fire alarms in homes in Columbus. It’s humbling and gratifying while serving as a reminder that we can all make a difference one person and one day at a time if we so choose.”
Although her career and life have landed her in Columbus, McClure-Demers is still a Mountaineer through and through. That caring Mountaineer spirit and deep connection to the hills of West Virginia shines through in every aspect of her life.
“I am a total product of West Virginia University and carry tremendous Mountaineer pride that extends from my family roots, education and every childhood memory,” she says. “The people of West Virginia are truly among the most real, kind and hardworking that you will find anywhere in the country. Like most Mountaineers, I too promote the goodness of our wonderful state. The West Virginia flag flies high in Galena, Ohio, on Saturdays throughout the late summer and fall seasons.”
