Former Big Law attorney Sarah Baker has joined international financial services holding company Hilco Global as vice president and assistant general counsel.

Hilco, headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, announced Baker's hiring on Tuesday. She has stepped into the role as her predecessor, Ryan Lawlor, moves up to serve as senior vice president at Hilco Real Estate, one of more than 20 Hilco business branches throughout the world. Hilco specializes in valuation, advisory, monetization and liquidation work.

As the legal department's second-in-command, Baker will work under GC and executive vice president Eric Kaup. She'll handle in-house corporate legal issues along with business deals and transactions involving Hilco's various operating companies.

Earlier in her career, Baker worked as a corporate restructuring attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom from 2008 to 2011, when she moved to Quarles & Brady in Chicago. She spent the next four years representing debtors and creditors in bankruptcy proceedings.

In 2015, the National LGBT Bar Association named Baker as one of its “40 Under 40.” The award honors “young lawyers from across the country who have distinguished themselves in their field, and demonstrated a strong commitment to LGBT equality.”

The following year, Baker moved to the in-house world as corporate counsel for the Rewards Network, a financial services and marketing company for restaurants. Last year, she was promoted to associate general counsel and director of privacy.

Kaup, Hilco's top lawyer, said in a news release that Baker, who could not be reached for comment, “brings her considerable legal experience in restructurings, workouts, liquidations, including assignments for the benefit of creditor's proceedings, and Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 bankruptcies.”

“She has a reputation for providing outstanding thinking and service to her clients during her tenure as an attorney,” he added.

Baker is an alumna of the William & Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia, and had a two-year clerkship with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Bruce Fox of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.