After seven years at Express Scripts Inc., most recently as associate general counsel, Sonni Fort Nolan has joined Husch Blackwell as Senior Counsel. She is a member of the firm’s Technology, Manufacturing & Transportation industry team where she will advise clients on labor and employment matters. The move represents a homecoming for Nolan, who began her career at Husch & Eppenberger, a legacy firm of Husch Blackwell, as an Associate in its labor and employment practice group (1999-2003).
As associate general counsel (2009-2013) and senior counsel (2006-2009) for Express Scripts — the largest pharmacy benefit management organization in the United States, a Fortune 25 company and a Husch Blackwell client — Nolan handled all of the company’s labor and employment issues. Her responsibilities included implementation of industry-leading policies and practices, proactive strategy and training, compliance, litigation strategy, handling of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission matters, first-chair labor negotiations, mediation, development of human resources policies and audit tools, budget management, and the selection and oversight of outside law firms.
Previously Nolan was regional employee relations manager and counsel (2003-2006) for Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., which has since become RockTenn. There, she traveled extensively throughout the United States to manage labor and employment matters, providing daily legal counseling in a fast-paced, mostly union environment for 26 manufacturing facilities. Her oversight of high-level human resource functions included the implementation of initiatives regarding succession planning, diversity, employee development, hiring practices, benefit procedures and application, hiring, terminations, recruiting, corrective action, layoff, reduction in force, recruitment, employee development, and a new HR structure.
Nolan earned her J.D. from the Washington University School of Law (1999), where she received the Walter Farmer Scholarship, was named the Outstanding Woman Law Graduate, was associate editor of the Washington University Law Quarterly and was president of the Women’s Law Caucus. She earned her B.A. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (1996) with a double major in English and communication studies.
Clients rely on Husch Blackwell’s Technology, Manufacturing & Technology team of more than 100 multidisciplinary attorneys to handle industry-specific challenges head-on. From sourcing and transporting raw materials to distributing manufactured products globally, the firm is immersed in all aspects of the manufacturing sector.