CLOC logo/Credit: Caroline Speizio/ALM

The Corporate Legal Operations Consortium has appointed three new members to the board of directors Monday as one of the founding members of CLOC's board announced he is stepping down.

Steve Harmon, the vice president and general counsel at Elevate Services Inc. and deputy general counsel at Cisco Systems Inc., will be stepping down from his role on the board. He will however continue to work with CLOC in developing an advisory council to the board.

“We explored over the years the notion of having an advisory council to the board of directors that would have representatives from other constituents,” Harmon told Corporate Counsel Monday. “If done properly everyone will benefit. The board is comprised of only the legal operations community and there should be greater participation.”

Harmon told Law.com in November he likely would “relinquish his role” on the board because of “potential conflicts of having people that are too closely aligned with one particular vendor being in a board leadership role.”

Steve Harmon, general counsel of Elevate Services Inc. Courtesy photo.

He echoed the sentiment in an interview with Corporate Counsel on Monday and said while he still holds his role at Cisco he wants to make it clear that the perception of CLOC is to facilitate the entire industry and not just one vendor.

Mary O'Carroll, president of CLOC, said in the announcement that she is excited to have Jason Barnwell, Mike Haven and Jamal Stockton on CLOC's board of directors.

“We are delighted to welcome Jason Barnwell, Mike Haven and Jamal Stockton as new Directors. Given the diverse backgrounds and impressive track-records of each of our new board members, I'm confident that their leadership will add a valuable perspective to our Board of Directors and to CLOC's future growth,” O'Carroll said in the newsletter announcing the appointments. “We appreciate their willingness to serve as directors and look forward to benefiting from their judgment and counsel.”

Barnwell, who has been involved with CLOC for the past two years, is assistant general counsel of legal business, operations and strategy at Microsoft. He has also worked as an associate at the emerging companies practice group at Cooley. He said he is excited to give back to the community that supported his growth in legal operations.

“My primary focus is to being more of the voice of the customer to our strategic approaches,” Barnwell said. “I specifically want to find ways to help people bring operational excellence and rigor to the practices they support.”

Haven, a longtime CLOC member, is currently the senior director, assistant general counsel and head of legal operations at Gap Inc. He previously worked in-house at NetApp and has also worked as outside counsel at K&L Gates.

“I'm excited to help lead this amazing global organization,” Haven said. “It has been near and dear to my heart since the beginning.”

Haven said that with so many members CLOC has put itself in a unique position of responsibility to help “unlock as much opportunity as possible.”

“Our job is to focus on the membership by giving them the best experience we possibly can,” Haven said.

Stockton is the head of legal innovation and digital enablement in the legal department at Fidelity Investments. He was not immediately available for comment.

Barnwell, Haven and Stockton will join Christine Coats, Brian Hupp, Aine Lyons, Lisa Konie and O'Carroll on the board.

“Our next three board members were selected to compliment the strategic vision of the board. The CLOC board of directors wanted to add diversity of knowledge, experience and varied backgrounds,” Coats, CLOC's chief financial officer, said in the announcement. “We have added three very qualified individuals in their specific areas of expertise to fill in gaps and round out the board to lead CLOC to the next tier in growth.”