Rebecca Hazard of, Riverbed Technology. (Courtesy photo)

The longtime associate general counsel for Riverbed Technology Inc. is stepping up to head the global software company's legal department.

As the new general counsel, Rebecca Hazard's focus has now shifted, in part, to trade compliance issues, according to a statement from the San Francisco-based company. She joined Riverbed in 2007, after three years as an associate at Kirkland & Ellis in New York and California, where she focused on transactional law for IP and technology businesses.

“As Riverbed continues to help its customers transform their digital strategies into digital performance with its world-class portfolio of solutions, I look forward to guiding the company's legal matters,” Hazard said in a prepared statement. She was not immediately available for further comment.

Hazard also will serve as corporate secretary to Riverbed's board of directors. In her former role as vice president and associate general counsel, she managed a global legal team dealing with global commercial and technology transactions. She is an alumna of Harvard Law School.

In her new role, which she's already started, Hazard will likely stay busy tracking changes in trade law, which seem to be occurring on a near-daily basis as the international trade war rages on. Riverbed has offices in China and Russia, both of which have been engaged in tit-for-tat tariffs with the U.S.

She'll also have to monitor trade developments closer to home, including Monday's announcement that the U.S. and Mexico were in talks to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Hazard replaces former Riverbed GC Ryan Damon, who had been with the company since 2007. He'd held the GC position since 2015 and left to serve as the top lawyer for Criteo SA, an advertising technology company headquartered in Paris.