Duane Holloway. Photo: David Handschuh/ALM

United States Steel Corp. announced Monday that Duane Holloway has joined the Pittsburgh-based company as general counsel.

Holloway most recently led the legal department at New York-based Ascena Retail Group Inc., which he joined in January 2016. According to Ascena, his last day there was April 11 and there's a search underway for his replacement.

At U.S. Steel, Holloway, who will also serve as chief compliance officer and corporate secretary, will report to president and CEO David Burritt.

➤➤ Get in-house news and commentary straight to your inbox with Inside Track, a weekly email briefing from Law.com. Learn more and sign up here.

“His approach to corporate law is grounded in collaboration and a belief that in-house counsel should safeguard the company's interests while also working within the law to develop solutions that address critical business priorities,” Burritt said of Holloway in the announcement of his hire Monday.

Burritt continued, “Throughout his career, he has developed and executed sound legal, governance and compliance strategies that enabled his previous companies to successfully navigate challenging legal issues.”

A spokesperson for U.S. Steel did not make Holloway, who started his new role Monday, available for comment.

Prior to joining Ascena—parent company to Ann Taylor, LOFT, Lane Bryant and Lou & Grey, where he led a team of 26 attorneys—Holloway served as deputy GC at real estate data analytics company CoreLogic Inc. He has also worked at Caesars Entertainment Corp. as senior VP and chief counsel for operations and litigation.

Holloway replaces Suzanne Rich Folsom, who previously served as U.S. Steel's senior vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer since 2014. It was announced last November that Folsom would depart at the end of 2017.

Former deputy general counsel Richard Fruehauf assumed the role of interim GC at that time and has this week been named vice president of strategic planning and corporate development at the steel producer.

Burritt said in Monday's announcement that Fruehauf's “background and broad legal experience have contributed to several important financial and strategic projects, as well as to the enhancement of our environmental compliance and sustainability programs.”

In an interview with Corporate Counsel last July, Holloway said what made the legal department at Ascena unique was its “culture of inclusion, openness and belonging that starts at the top.”

“Creating and sustaining pathways to diversity has been one of my life and career callings and it permeates all that I do,” he said.

As for how he tried to improve his in-house lawyers' jobs, he said, “I try to stress to the legal team that the job is inherently challenging and stressful at times but one thing I want everyone to keep focused on is to try to have fun. Life is short. If we can have fun doing what we love, it makes it that much better.”