Josh Petty
Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Booz Allen Hamilton
For Josh Petty, serving as Booz Allen’s general counsel involves more than providing legal advice, managing risk and resolving complex disputes. It’s about unlocking new opportunities as the Fortune 500 firm accelerates its strategic transformation to a technology innovator powering the digital revolution for its clients.
“Sometimes legal departments are viewed as the ‘Department of No,’” he said. “Our legal team is designed to protect and advance the company, and to enable sustainable growth, by managing and navigating legal and compliance risks.”
Booz Allen already had a deeply talented, diverse legal team when Petty was appointed general counsel. As the firm pursues its transformation into a leading technology provider to the U.S government, Booz Allen’s need for innovative thinkers and creative problem solvers has only increased.
“That’s created tremendous opportunities for lawyers internally,” Petty said. “Because of their increased impact and their increased value, they’ve been able to grow their roles and demonstrate agility and we’re delighted about that. We collaborate seamlessly across our diverse team and with partners across the organization to empower innovation, drive our firm’s critical mission and deliver enduring value and growth.”
Petty also takes pride in the firm’s deep commitment to boosting opportunities, both in-house and with outside counsel, for historically underrepresented lawyers.
Why Watch
Booz Allen’s long-term growth strategy — dubbed VoLT for velocity, leadership and technology — sees the firm becoming the market-leading mission partner for the U.S. government by the end of the decade. Tomorrow’s Booz Allen will have a highly differentiated portfolio of scaled mission and technology businesses driven by organic growth and strategic acquisitions. As the leader of the firm’s legal team, Petty and the firm’s legal team are at the center of that transformation.
“To support an ambitious growth strategy like VoLT, the general counsel needs to be part of the innovation process itself,” said Nancy Laben, Booz Allen executive vice president and chief legal officer. “Josh embodies that approach as the leader of an agile team of legal experts with a deep knowledge of our business. He is continuously innovating not only about how to support the business but about the business itself.”