Michael Sukenik. Free (Handout).

Michael Sukenik has ascended the legal throne at Smoothie King Franchises Inc. as its new vice president and general counsel.

Sukenik joined the smoothie chain in April from Yum Brands Inc., according to his LinkedIn profile.

Sukenik started work at Yum back in 2013, his profile said, directing legal affairs for two of the brands owned by Yum, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and Pizza Hut, in Latin America and the Caribbean. Simultaneously, he also served as legal director for the two brands across 120 countries.

At Yum, Sukenik worked on issues including M&A, marketing, advertising, licensing, compliance and governance, data privacy, franchising and brand protection for the restaurant chains, according to LinkedIn.

Sukenik was not immediately available for comment and representatives for Smoothie King and Yum Brands did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this story.

Sukenik joins Smoothie King just as it moves its headquarters from the New Orleans area to Dallas, where Yum is based.

At Smoothie King, Sukenik replaces Joe Lewis, who had a long history with the company. Lewis served in various executive roles for Smoothie King back in the 1990s as the chain grew from 39 stores to more than 220, according to a press release from 2013, when he rejoined the company.

Prior to going in-house with Yum, Sukenik worked as an associate with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.