Oliver Wyman's Sheetal Gupta joins Patterson Belknap as CIO

Sheetal Gupta, a former executive director at management consultancy Oliver Wyman, has joined New York law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler as chief information officer. Her appointment creates a C-suite executive made up entirely of women – a first at Patterson Belknap, which was founded in 1919.

Gupta joins a six-person executive team headed by managing partner Lisa Cleary, and rounded out by chief operating officer Sally King; chief people, diversity, and professional development officer Michelle Cohen; chief business development officer Jenni Dickson; and chief financial officer Theresa Wilson.

Patterson Belknap has approximately 200 lawyers in its New York offices. The firm provides a full range of litigation and commercial law services across 20+ practice groups.

Gupta succeeds Robert Holloway, who has joined Ballard Spahr, an AmLaw 100 firm, as its CIO.

As CIO, Gupta will be responsible for leading the firm’s IT function and ensuring it aligns with Patterson Belknap’s overall strategy. She will also make sure the company derives maximum value from its technology investments and that employees and clients benefit from innovative technologies.

Gupta has more than 20 years of IT leadership and consulting sector experience. She spent the last 10 years at Oliver Wyman, where she was executive director and head of architecture and delivery within the IT function. Before that, Gupta spent five years at the management consultancy’s parent company Marsh & McLennan, where she served as VP of global information technology.

She started her career at EY, where she spent six years and was a senior manager focusing on financial information services consulting.

Gupta holds an MBA from Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, India.

“We are thrilled to have Sheetal join our leadership team,” Cleary said. “She brings significant experience managing information technology systems and teams, and we are excited to welcome her to our firm. We are also very excited to have an all-woman C-suite for the first time in the firm’s history.”