New Orrick Leader Adds to Team with CMO from Shearman

CORRECTION, 6/19/13, 11:15 a.m. EST: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the status of Alston & Bird's search for a chief marketing officer. The firm is currently looking for a new CMO to replace Barbara Bryant, who will be retiring at the end of the month. The information has been updated in the 10th paragraph below. We regret the error.

The revamping of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe's leadership team under new chairman Mitchell Zuklie continued this week, with the firm confirming that it has hired Betsy Donovan from Shearman & Sterling to fill the role of chief marketing officer.

Orrick has been without a CMO since December 2010, when Jeanne Sdroulas vacated the position, though chief client service officer David Fries has filled in since then by leading the firm's business development department. The hire comes two months after Zuklie succeeded Ralph Baxter, the firm's longtime chairman and CEO, as Orrick's top leader.

Other changes in the executive ranks since Zuklie's ascension to Orrick's top management post include the departures—or anticipated departures—of Gera Vaz, Orrick's chief human resources officer and U.S. executive director; Peter Krakaur, its chief knowledge officer; and Reid Horovitz, who, as chief operating officer, served as Baxter's top lieutenant. The firm is also in the process of eliminating 21 staff positions and relocating 11 others to Orrick's back-office support center in Wheeling, West Virginia.

Orrick's newest hire, Donovan, is relatively new to the legal industry. She took on her first law firm job as Shearman's chief marketing officer in April 2010 after previous stints leading Ernst & Young's sales and marketing organization and working at Xerox in roles overseeing sales, service, and support. Based in New York, she has an MBA from Fordham University and is a visiting professor of marketing at The College of New Rochelle.