Albany Law Trustee Among Two Alumnae Named to Forbes Top Women Lawyers List
Two Albany Law School alumnae, including one trustee, have been named to Forbes Top Women Lawyers in the United States list.
Heather McDevitt ’93, Chair and Partner, and Kimberly “KC” Petillo-Décossard ’05, Partner, both at White & Case LLP, were named to the list.
As Chair, McDevitt directs the firm's strategy and operations around the world. A White & Case Partner for more than 20 years, she served on the firm’s global Executive Committee and led its Global Life Sciences and Healthcare Industry Group before being elected Chair in 2023. She has represented clients in pharmaceutical, consumer goods and oil and gas industries in state and federal trial and appellate courts throughout the United States.
McDevitt serves on the International Energy Forum’s Industry Advisory Council, helping to inform policy. In addition, she leads White & Case’s membership in the Partnership for New York City and is a Board Fellow at Weill Cornell Medicine. She is a two-time recipient of the New York City Bar's Thurgood Marshall Award for her post-conviction capital defense work in Alabama and leading the Eighth Amendment challenges to Alabama's method of execution by lethal injection. The American Lawyer named McDevitt the 2026 Women, Influence & Power in Law Managing Partner of the Year.
Petillo-Décossard is Co-Head of White & Case’s Global Mergers & Acquisitions Practice and a partner in the firm’s New York office. She advises public and private companies, boards, founders and family offices on complex mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance matters and other strategic transactions.
She is an Albany Law School Trustee and founding donor and champion of The Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) at Albany Law School. The WLI is dedicated to empowerment through the development and advancement of Albany Law School students, alumnae and members of the broader community. In 2025, she was honored with a Kate Stoneman Award from Albany Law School.
“The attorneys on Forbes’ inaugural America’s Top Women Lawyers list have built elite reputations in these very spaces, earning the trust of clients, the respect of peers and a place among the most accomplished in the profession. They guide billion-dollar deals, lead bet-the-company litigation, argue precedent-setting cases, navigate corporate crises and influence the legal frameworks that define business, politics and culture,” said the publication’s editors.
Thousands of nominees were reviewed and rated based on numerous factors including notable litigation, leadership, client impact, firm and community involvement and recognition within the broader legal industry.
