Photo: ShutterstockAscena Retail Bags New GC From Boehringer Ingelheim
Ascena, the retail group behind brands such as Ann Taylor, Justice and Dress Barn, has appointed a new top lawyer several months after its former GC moved to U.S. Steel.
October 02, 2018 at 04:54 PM
2 minute read
Ascena Retail Group Inc. has been shopping around for a legal leader since general counsel Duane Holloway left for United States Steel Corp. in April.
Nearly six months later, the Mahwah, New Jersey-based company's selection has been made, with the appointment of Wendy Hufford as senior vice president and general counsel. Ascena is the retailer behind Ann Taylor, Justice, Lane Bryant and other clothing brands.
Hufford comes to Ascena from Boehringer Ingelheim USA, a pharmaceutical company, where she served as chief legal operating officer and vice president of U.S. litigation and risk management and human resources for three-and-a-half years, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She will oversee the company's legal matters, serve on its leadership team and report to Ascena's chairman and chief executive officer, David Jaffe. When Holloway left, the legal department was made up of 26 lawyers.
“We are thrilled to welcome Wendy to our team,” Jaffe said in a statement. “In addition to her impressive legal career, she is passionate about leading initiatives to help working women and families in the workplace and has been recognized for her dedication to mentoring and leadership development. This made Wendy the right person for this important role.”
As executive vice president and chief litigation counsel of Cardinal Health, where Hufford worked from 2006 to 2009, she designed and co-founded the Women's Initiative Network employee resource group. Cardinal Health won an ACE Award from the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association for the network in 2012.
A mother of eight in a two-career household, Hufford won the 2017 Working Mother of the Year award from Working Mother magazine. She also received a 2016 Transformative Leadership Award from Inside Counsel for her work advocating and advancing women in corporate law.
Hufford was not immediately available for comment on her new role.
Outside of Cardinal Health and Boehringer Ingelheim, Hufford has also held legal leadership roles at ITT Corp. and worked in-house at GE Consumer Finance and Credit Suisse First Boston.
She spent her early legal career as a litigation attorney at Davis Polk & Wardwell and is a graduate of Yale Law School.
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