Michelle Muñoz Durk Finds Common Ground

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Michelle Muñoz Durk jokes that she sometimes feels like she chose the wrong profession. While many lawyers find joy in verbal combat, Muñoz Durk’s love for lawyering comes from a different place.

“I’m much more of a collaborative, mediator-type who likes to find common ground,” says the vice president and assistant general counsel of government investigations and regulatory enforcement at JPMorganChase. “Even when I have to be adversarial to someone because I’m representing a client, I still like to find common ground with the attorney on the other side. I know they are also just trying to advocate for their client, and it works best when we’re both putting forward the strongest positions.”

She continues, “That way, we can both identify weaknesses in our own side and come to some kind of resolution. Not everyone will be happy, and there may not be a clear winner or loser. But at least we can acknowledge where the facts lead us, which makes the outcome easier to accept.”

Muñoz Durk gained this perspective from nearly five years in private practice and six years as an attorney at the US Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2022, she joined JPMorganChase to gain more experience in matters beyond securities, investment advisors, and private funds.

“I like that a lot of my job is collaborating internally with my colleagues. We’re trying to figure out if we have an issue, what it is, how we can address it, and what’s the best path forward.”

Michelle Muñoz Durk

“I really liked the idea of working in a company and learning more about its business. What I didn’t realize before I came here is that this company is like ten businesses, so it’s hard to learn it all,” she says, laughing. “But I get a little bit deeper every year.”

For the past two years, Muñoz Durk has served as a bridge between her government investigations and regulatory enforcement group, outside counsel, and the business. She spends much of her time working with her legal colleagues on regulatory investigations and inquiries so that, together, they can better advise the business clients. While she isn’t doing as much of the on-the-ground investigations work that characterized her time at the SEC, she is happy to have gained other critical skills.

“My whole point of coming here was to understand what it’s like to take the factual findings of an investigation and think through the implications for business and strategy,” she shares. “While it was an adjustment, I like that a lot of my job is collaborating internally with my colleagues. We’re trying to figure out if we have an issue, what it is, how we can address it, and what’s the best path forward.”

In addition to the company’s collaborative culture, Muñoz Durk has enjoyed continuing her career-long passion for pro bono work. She cochairs Chase’s Chicago Pro Bono Committee and volunteers with immigration clinics that help young adults with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status renew their requests. Recently, she took on the asylum case of a woman who fled El Salvador with her children. Muñoz Durk sees these pro bono efforts as an opportunity to give back.

“My parents are Puerto Rican and went to the Northeast when they were in graduate school. That migration experience resonates with me,” she says. “During high school and college, I volunteered for summer programs serving Spanish-speaking children and taught English as a second language. I’ve always been involved in the [immigrant] community, so it makes sense to use my legal skills to continue serving that community. I’ve also always had that sense of ‘To whom much is given, much is expected.’”

Muñoz Durk considers herself a servant leader. She believes that leaders should do what they ask others to do and show what matters to them by example. Supporting colleagues is just as important.

“Sometimes people need a little bit of encouragement to step up and lead or to take on projects they thought they couldn’t do. I know I’ve benefited from people pushing me to do things I didn’t think I was ready for,” she says. “That’s a big part of leadership I try to emulate now with less experienced attorneys so they can get outside their comfort zone.”

Moving forward, Muñoz Durk wants to continue developing her ability “to look around corners” and to think through the needs of her clients.

“JPMorganChase is a place where I can have a long career,” she says, “and I’m looking forward to learning more about the businesses in this company and finding growth opportunities.”

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