A new day will soon dawn for the legal department at BlackRock Inc. News broke yesterday that General Counsel Robert Connolly is retiring after 15 years at the money management firm.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink first made the announcement internally on Jan. 24. In a memo, Fink wrote that Connolly was a “valued adviser to BlackRock, its board and our senior management team,” and credited him with helping to build a global team with more than 250 lawyers and compliance officers.

Reuters reported that internal conflicts were a factor in Connolly's retirement, according to sources familiar with the matter.