The legal chief has had a hand in recent acqui-
sitions and divestitures, and also in licensing
arrangements for fresh produce, squeezable con-
tainers, and jars and tumblers featuring Winnie the
Pooh, the Flintstones and Pokemon. Earlier sponsor-
ships involved pioneering television classics like The
Howdy Doody Show and The Mickey Mouse Club, and
the company’s international inroads include licens-
ing, marketing and direct export ventures in Puerto
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner
for intellectual property work.
FIERCE LOBBYIST
Tseng directs lobbying efforts for Welch and the
parent cooperative. She is deeply engaged in lobbying at the federal level, particularly in negotiations
concerning the Senate Agriculture Committee’s farm
bills. “We are the stepchild to federal agricultural sup-
The law is...a very intellectual, conceptual, cerebral
approach to problem solving.”
Graham in Providence, R.I. She was a tax generalist
at Boston’s Foley Hoag & Eliot (now Foley Hoag) from
1983 through 1986. Tseng clerked for Administrative
Law Judge Daniel J. Davidson in Rockville, Md. In
1975, she acted as press and legislative assistant
for the late Representative Morris K. Udall, D-Ariz.
Tseng holds a bachelor’s degree from New College
of Florida (1974) and a master’s from Yale University
(1977). She graduated cum laude with a J.D. from
Georgetown University Law Center (1980), continuing
her education at Boston University School of Law,
where she received an LL.M. in taxation (1986).
Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Korea,
Japan, Hong Kong and the Philippines.
Tseng reports to President and Chief Executive
Officer David J. Lukiewski.
LEGAL TEAM AND OUTSIDE COUNSEL
Welch’s law department consists of Tseng, three
additional attorneys and a paralegal. Tseng uses
the Chicago office of McDermott, Will & Emery for
cooperative, corporate and tax advice; Washington’s
Crowell & Moring for antitrust counsel; Syracuse,
N.Y.’s Bond, Schoeneck & King for cooperative and
corporate advice; Chicago-based Seyfarth Shaw’s
Boston office for employment and labor law mat-
ters; and the Boston office of Washington-based
port,” Tseng said. The company seeks subsidies for
“specialty crops” such as grapes, cherries, apples
and nuts that are comparable to those for so-called
“programmed crops” like wheat, corn, rice and soy.
PERSONAL
Tseng was born in Taiwan. She and her husband,
Louis Putterman, an economics professor at Brown
University, have two children. She serves on the
board of trustees of the Boston Bar Foundation
and the board of editors of Boston Bar Journal, and
belongs to numerous bar associations. A personal
highlight occurred when she served as hostess for
a Welch’s Town Hall Forum for all employees and
cooperative members.
ROUTE TO THE TOP
Tseng accrued experience at several law firms
before joining Welch Foods more than 20 years ago.
From 1980 through 1982, she practiced general
business law at now-defunct Tillinghast Collins &
A BOOK AND MOVIE
When I Was Puerto Rican, by Esmeralda Santiago,
and Water.
—ROGER ADLER
An earlier version of this profile appeared in The
National Law Journal on Nov. 19, 2007.
