Madeleine McDonough began a five-year term as Chair of Shook, Hardy & Bacon on January 1, 2017.

A former clinical pharmacist, Madeleine represents multinational companies in a range of industries: pharmaceutical, animal health, medical device, food, cosmetics and beverage. She advises organizations on preventative litigation approaches, policy and governance issues, emerging international legal developments, creative resolution strategies, risk management, corporate social responsibility and crisis management.

In addition to serving four three-year terms on Shook’s Executive Committee, Madeleine previously led the firm’s Pharmaceutical and Medical Device, Agribusiness and Food Safety, and Life Science and Biotechnology practices. She has also been active in multiple legal associations during the course of her career, including the American Bar Association’s Section of Science and Technology, where she served as chair of the Food, Cosmetics and Nutraceuticals Committee.

Madeleine currently serves on the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession (IILP)’s Board of Directors. In 2019, Corporate Counsel/Inside Counsel magazines recognized Madeleine for her innovative leadership as part of its Women, Influence and Power in Law awards. The National Law Journal named Madeleine one of the nation's top-50 Litigation Trailblazers & Pioneers in its inaugural 2014 class. She has been named a leading product liability attorney by Who’s Who Legal: The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers and a Life Science Star by LMG Life Sciences. Madeleine has also been listed in The Legal 500 United States. In 2013, Missouri Lawyers Weekly honored her as a Mentor of the Year for her long-standing dedication to advising younger colleagues, law students and high school students with an interest in the law. She is also an American Bar Foundation fellow.

Madeleine served as editor-in-chief of the Kansas Law Review. She earned her LLM in Global Health Law from Georgetown University Law Center. She chairs the Community Advisory Board of KCUR-FM, a National Public Radio affiliate in Kansas City, and is a member of the Kauffman Center Ensemble Advisory Council.