Gail A. Lione is a senior counsel at Dentons, where she draws upon her extensive experience as a former general counsel and as an active board member to advise executive leadership and boards of public and private companies about business strategy, innovation, risk management and ESG (environment, social/sustainability and governance). She currently serves as a Fellow of the ESG Center of The Conference Board and is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, teaching an advanced course on strategically managing intellectual property. In 2015, she was elected as a member of the American Law Institute.

Gail is the founding co-chair of the Firm’s US ESG Advisory Team and a member of the Global ESG Steering Group. She also co-chairs the ESG pillar for the Firm's Global Smart Cities and Connected Communities Think Tank. A longtime advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, Gail recently completed a term on Denton’s Global Inclusion and Diversity Leadership Council and a five-year term as co-chair of Dentons’ US Diversity and Inclusion Committee. 

Gail is a sought-after board member for corporations. She currently serves on the board of Sargento Foods, Inc., where she is a member of the Compensation Committee. She served a ten-year term on the board of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE: BMI), where she was a member of the Corporate Governance and Compensation Committees and formerly was the lead director. Until the end of 2017, Gail was a director of The F. Dohmen Co., a life sciences company, and a member of its Audit Committee. She is a member of Women Corporate Directors, DC chapter, and currently serves as its co-chair.

In October 2017, Ms. Lione was honored by DirectWomen with the Sandra Day O’Connor Board Excellence Award for serving with distinction as an independent director of public companies and for working to advance the value of diversity in board positions. Directors & Boards magazine featured Ms. Lione as a Director to Watch in its 2015 Annual Report and she was listed as a 2019 Most Influential Corporate Board Director by Women Inc. Magazine. Also in 2019, she was featured in Winning the Board Game: How Women Corporate DIrectors Make the Difference, written by Betsy Berkhemer-Credaire.

Her nonprofit board experience has been meaningful including global leadership roles. She was the founding co-chair of the University of Rochester’s Global Women’s Network, where she also served on its Board of Trustees for 25 years; and she was the chair of the Women United Global Leadership Council of United Way Worldwide, which represents over 70,000 women around the globe. Today, she is on the boards of the Junior Tennis Championship Center (JTCC) in College Park, Maryland; and The Phillips Collection, the Abramson Scholarship Foundation, and Dog Tag Inc. in Washington DC.

Prior to joining Dentons, Gail served as general counsel of three companies in three industries: global marketing/manufacturing; publishing, printing and digital imaging; and insurance, banking and financial services. As general counsel, she led international growth strategies including mergers and acquisitions, brand management, human resources and compliance. Most recently, she was the executive vice president, general counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer of Harley-Davidson, Inc. She also served as president of the Harley-Davidson Foundation. For the seven years prior to joining Harley-Davidson, Gail was general counsel and secretary of US News & World Report and its affiliates, the Atlantic Monthly Company, Applied Graphics Technologies, Inc., and Applied Printing Technologies. Her first general counsel position was with Sun Life Group of America (SunAmerica) in Atlanta, where she managed the legal affairs and all regulatory activities of five insurance companies licensed in 50 states.

Ms. Lione is a frequent speaker on corporate governance, intellectual property, and women’s issues. Ms. Lione received her BA degree in Political Science magna cum laude/phi beta kappa from the University of Rochester and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania.