Hannah Lim-Johnson was more than a decade into her career as an in-house lawyer for major companies when her dad got sick. She quit to take care of him.
What followed “was probably the most difficult year of my life,” Lim-Johnson said in an interview. “The last three months of his life I was sleeping on an air mattress outside of his room.”
The two-year gap between her two most recent jobs show how a corporate lawyer can step away from a career and successfully navigate back to the C-suite. She quit her job in 2021 as chief legal officer with auto parts maker Meritor Inc., since acquired by Cummins Inc., and started a job in the same position with metal packager Ball Corp.
As a first-generation Korean American woman without children of her own, caring for an elderly father battling late-stage gallbladder cancer was a responsibility that Lim-Johnson said she needed to take on, whether it was convenient professionally or not. She called her decision to leave Meritor amicable as she dealt with a “physically and emotionally taxing” situation.
At first she thought she’d get a new job in her hometown of Chicago, where her father still was. Meritor was based outside Detroit in Troy, Michigan.
Lim-Johnson went for the top legal job at Chicago-based Molson Coors Brewing Co. She made it to the final round of interviews—at the beer giant’s board level—but she fell short.
“I was really upset,” Lim-Johnson said. “But in the end, it happened as it should happen. My father’s condition declined after that. He was hospitalized 11 times before passing.”
Her father fought for 23 months after his initial diagnosis in September 2020. Lim-Johnson said starting a new job and trying to balance his daily health care needs would have been nearly impossible.
Next Chapter
Her father, Chang-Taik Lim, died in August 2022, almost a year after she left Meritor.
She then planned to stay in Chicago to be near her family. But four months later, Lim-Johnson’s mother told her she would go with her daughter wherever her next job took her.
By March of this year, Lim-Johnson said she was mulling jobs at six different companies. Ball, which she at first associated with its classic Mason jars, intrigued her with its diversified portfolio of products and a chief executive officer, Dan Fisher, who had been in the company’s top job for about a year.
Ball is a major player in recycled aluminum, which it uses to make cans for companies including Molson Coors. The Westminister, Colorado-based Ball bought the naming rights to the home arena for the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, and its aerospace unit has government contracts with NASA and the US military.
Lim-Johnson went for the job at Ball—and she got it.
She took over as the new top lawyer in mid-September, a month after Ball announced the $5.6 billion sale of its aerospace division to BAE Systems PLC.
Within the past month, Lim-Johnson has celebrated the one-year anniversary—a Korean custom—of her father’s death. The occasion to remember his life was less somber than she expected, bringing her far-flung family and some 130 people together.
The gathering also led Lim-Johnson to pause and reflect on her own journey.
She’s in the process of relocating to Ball’s headquarters about halfway between Denver and Boulder. The move will be somewhat of a homecoming as her husband grew up in nearby Arvada, Colorado.
Lim-Johnson said she’s “reenergized” from the career break and eager for a fresh start in a new city with those who matter the most to her with her. “I feel extremely blessed and fortunate,” she said.
You might also like
Involved with domestic violence charges have repercussions that extend far beyond the immediate legal consequences. The stigma of such an accusation can persist for years, casting shadows of doubt and raising questions long after any legal penalties have been served. A major concern for individuals facing these charges is the lasting impact on their records. This apprehension is closely tied to potential implications for future employment, societal standing, and personal relationships.
The ramifications of a involved with domestic violence charge on one’s criminal record reach beyond the confines of the courtroom, permeating every aspect of life. These consequences manifest in various ways, affecting career opportunities, family dynamics, and even travel aspirations. At The Law Offices of Frances Prizzia, we bring extensive experience in handling numerous misdemeanor and felony involved with domestic violence cases. Wondering how long a involved with domestic violence charge stays on your record? Explore more about the aftermath of a involved with domestic violence arrest below, and feel free to reach out to us for a confidential discussion about your specific involved with domestic violence case.”
