PUBLIC COMPANY CORPORATE COUNSEL OF THE YEAR
Lily Yan Hughes is Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Public Storage, a Fortune 500 company with over 2,500 international storage facilities. She provides crucial leadership and oversight on a wide breadth of legal and internal audit matters, including board, corporate, securities, governance, litigation, employment, real estate and investor relations and communication. In this vital role, she is a member of Public Storage’s Executive Team and manages 17 legal employees, including three in Brussels, and 12 internal audit employees.
Her journey to her current position at Public Storage began in Kowloon City, Hong Kong. She lived with her family in a small room behind a store (half shoe shop, half tailor shop) until she was 11 years old when they immigrated to the United States. She attributes her career success today to her own hard work from years ago, but also to the sacrifice and support of the teachers and mentors she’s had along the way.
The guidance and kindness Hughes was shown at a young age has inspired her to help not only young people, but especially female lawyers. She is a proud supporter of Inside Counsel’s Project 5/165, whose mission is to achieve 30% female representation amongst General Counsel in Fortune 500 companies. She often speaks on business and industry panels, telling tell her story with the goal of encouraging women and diverse lawyers to work hard, persevere and aim for the highest levels within their profession.
