This article has been updated at 1:36 p.m. EDT with comment from Kirkland & Ellis.

Effective immediately, Viet Dinh, an independent director of the 21st Century Fox Inc. board and most recently a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, will become the new chief legal and policy officer of the combined company that will emerge from The Walt Disney Corp.'s purchase of Fox's film and TV studios in the first half of 2019.

Dinh, a conservative legal scholar who was a founding partner of the Washington, D.C., firm Bancroft, would be responsible for all legal, compliance and regulatory matters at spun-off New Fox, and is stepping down from the board where he has been a member since 2004 to take the new position. He will work to help set up the “New Fox” company as the deal comes to a close, Fox announced on Monday.

In July, shareholders of both Disney and 21st Century Fox voted to approve a Disney buyout of major assets for $71.3 billion. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2019. Disney would then own the company's television and movie studios, cable channels FX and National Geographic, a stake in Hulu, television operations in India and Fox's stake in the London-based TV company Sky.

“Viet brings to 'Fox' a unique strategic mind and deep knowledge of our business based on his many years of service on the 21CF board,” said Lachlan Murdoch in a statement. “He will be a key member of our senior management team as well as a valued adviser to me, our chief operating officer John Nallen, and the rest of the team. I look forward to working closely with Viet as we 'stand up' Fox and chart a growth path for our dynamic and iconic news and live sports businesses.”

Dinh, who started at Kirkland in September 2016, was unavailable for comment on Monday.

Mark Filip, a litigation partner at Kirkland said, “we hate to see him leave, but it's a great job that he's going to. We have nothing but the greatest regard for his contributions here as a person, lawyer and business generator.”

Dinh also represented several boards, committees and independent directors while he was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis. He was briefly named as a potential nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005. Dinh has represented the Department of Justice in its selection and confirmation of federal judges, contributing to the appointment of 100 district judges and 23 appellate judges during his tenure, according to his Kirkland bio. As a U.S. assistant attorney general for legal policy from 2001 to 2003, he played a key role in drafting the USA Patriot Act. Dinh has been a Georgetown University law professor for 20 years, lecturing on corporate and constitutional law.

Dinh also has been general counsel of Strayer Education and has served on the board of directors for LPL Financial, Revlon and The Orchard. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School.

Dinh was born in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States after the war with his family in 1978, when he was 10 years old.

Fox announced last week that general counsel to 21st Century Fox, Gerson Zweifach, will leave the company in 2019 after the merger with Disney is completed. Zweifach will then return to his old firm, Williams & Connolly.