W. Muzette Hill

Muzette Hill is Counsel for Ford Motor Company and an expert in corporate governance and insurance law. Since joining Ford in July of 1998, Ms. Hill has provided advice to Ford’s board of directors on a number of strategic matters involving Ford’s aggressive acquisition campaign. She directed and supervised the reorganization of Ford Werke (Ford of Germany) and managed over a dozen global banking deals, including negotiating credit facilities for Ford and a number of its foreign subsidiaries and joint ventures, focusing on emerging markets.

Ms. Hill began her legal career as a Judicial Law Clerk for Chief Judge Donald P. Lay and Judge Donald R. Ross in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. After two years at the court, she joined Lord, Bissell & Brook in Chicago as an associate, concentrating on Directors’ and Officers’ Liability issues, primarily representing Underwriters at Lloyd’s and other London Market syndicates.

In January of 1992, Ms. Hill became Lord, Bissell & Brook’s first African American partner in the firm’s 85-year history. She was an equity partner from her election until her resignation in June, 1998. She was one of Crain’s Chicago Business’ 40 Under 40 in 1993 and the American Bar Association named her one of 20 Young Lawyers In America Who Make A Difference in 1991. In 1997, she was a U. S. Delegate to The European Series, sponsored by the London School of Economics and the British Embassy.

Ms. Hill is the Author of The Insurance Law Review, published by West in December 1998. She is a frequent lecturer and a prolific writer. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Practising Law Institute and she is an Editor of The Brief magazine, published by the American Bar Association. She has also designed attorney client development seminars.

Muzette serves on the national board of directors of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. She is a past President of the Cook County Bar Association; a co-founder and past President of the Black Women Lawyers Association of Greater Chicago and a co-founder and past Chair of the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms.