Wendy Wright was in the third grade when she first decided to become a lawyer.
“I have an All About Me book that my mother keeps to this day where my future professional aspirations were to be a lawyer or a model,” Wright said. “Of course, lawyer won. I watched lots of Matlock as a kid and wanted to be a litigator.”
Nearly three decades later, Wright has achieved numerous successes, including making partner at a global law firm and now the general counsel of The Lactation Network, a healthcare company trying to make a difference to families with newborns.
“Wendy has strengthened the organization by bolstering its healthcare and HIPAA compliance programs, enterprise risk identification and mitigation processes, while implementing a modern, tech-enabled approach to vendor and contract management,” said Jackson Walker healthcare partner Cheryl Camin Murray. “These systems were designed to support long-term growth in a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape.”
“Wendy also brought operational discipline to TLN’s legal function in ways that directly benefit the business,” Murray said.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have named Wright as the recipient of the 2026 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Solo Legal Department.
The awards ceremony is May 28.
“Wendy is deeply devoted to the company and its mission, and that devotion is reflected in the quality and care she puts into her work each day,” said Murray, who nominated Wright for the award. “She does not simply identify legal risks — she approaches challenges with a practical, solutions-oriented mindset, working tirelessly to find paths forward that protect the organization while advancing its goals. Her meticulous nature, combined with her genuine commitment to the company’s success, makes her an invaluable leader and a truly deserving candidate for this award.”
“Wendy also brought operational discipline to TLN’s legal function in ways that directly benefit the business,” she said. “She standardized legal workflows, implemented cost controls and negotiated alternative fee arrangements with outside counsel, creating financial predictability and operational scalability while maintaining the quality of legal support. This level of rigor has allowed TLN’s leadership to focus on mission and growth with confidence, knowing that legal and compliance risks are being identified and managed proactively.”
Wright was born in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Her father had enlisted in the Army and served the country for 20 years. After retiring from the military, he worked as a highway patrolman. Her mother worked various office jobs, but she went back to college while Wright was in law school. Her mother now works as a supervisor in the accounting department at a telecommunications company.
A 2013 graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School, Wright worked as a healthcare lawyer at Norton Rose Fulbright for three years and six years at McGuireWoods in Houston. Her legal practice focused on healthcare M&A for middle market private equity clients and advising clients on compliance with various healthcare regulatory matters like federal and state fraud and abuse laws.
In October 2024, Wright became the first in-house lawyer and general counsel of The Lactation Network, a private for-profit healthcare company that connects families with insurance-covered lactation consultants.
“Within her first months, Wendy established the legal infrastructure required to support a rapidly scaling, multistate healthcare organization,” Murray said. “These efforts provided clarity, consistency and confidence at a critical inflection point in the organization’s evolution.”
In an interview with The Lawbook, Wright said her biggest success at TLN has been “helping the business to restructure for purposes of opening up revenue opportunities and standing up the company’s compliance program.”
Here are excerpts of the interview with Wright:
Texas Lawbook: What led you to join TLN in 2024?
Wendy Wright: The favorite part of my practice became working with C-suite level clients and providing a legal lens to client business strategy.
Lawbook: What have been your biggest challenges building a legal department and being the company’s first GC?
Wright: Teaching the business how to effectively leverage an internal legal function and generating buy-in from stakeholders when managing legal or compliance risks.
Lawbook: What has been your best day working at TLN?
Wright: No specific day — just the days where I’m rolling up my sleeves and working directly with the executive team members direct reports to find solutions to business blockers or move the needle on risk management.
Lawbook: Tell us about your time at Teach for America and its impact on your life and career.
Wright: I learned many things about resilience, always being prepared — including being prepared to pivot — and how to work with integrity even when no one is watching.
Lawbook: What are the factors you consider when deciding about hiring outside counsel?
Wright: Responsiveness, desire to understand the company’s business and expertise.
Lawbook: What does outside counsel need to know about you?
Wright: I have the capacity to monitor a large amount of moving parts at once, so I work well with outside counsel that is organized and contributes to my ability to have a pulse on the company’s current legal matters and how such matters may impact various aspects of the business.
Lawbook: How is AI impacting your work?
Wright: Like most legal teams, I am having to familiarize myself with potential risks associated with AI use for company functions both in terms of mitigating risks and in terms of advising the business on AI governance structures.
Fun Facts: Wendy Wright
- Favorite book: The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
- Favorite movie: Fame — the original version from 1980 with Debbie Allen.
- Favorite vacation: San Sebastián, Spain