Photo: Chet Meyerson Publix Promotes New General Counsel From Within
Merriann Metz, who also will hold the title of vice president and secretary, on May 31 will succeed a retiring John Attaway, who joined Publix in 1997 and started the Lakeland, Florida-based grocery giant's corporate legal department.
March 07, 2019 at 02:01 PM
2 minute read
A longtime in-house lawyer at one of the nation's largest grocers has been promoted to vice president, general counsel and secretary, effective May 31.
Lakeland, Florida-based Publix has announced that Merriann Metz will succeed a retiring John Attaway. Metz joined Publix as a corporate attorney in 2006, serving most recently as assistant GC and assistant secretary since 2016, according to a statement announcing her promotion. Attaway, whose retirement is effective May 31, has been with Publix for 21 years and is credited with starting the company's corporate legal department. He has been in his current top lawyer spot since 2005.
Neither Attaway nor Metz could immediately be reached for comment about the transition.
“John … has been instrumental in developing our legal team,” Publix CEO Todd Jones said in the statement. “In addition, throughout his career he has taken on many additional responsibilities. I'm thankful for John's contributions to the growth and success of Publix and wish him much happiness in the next chapter of his life.”
Prior to joining Publix, Metz, a 2002 graduate of Stetson University College of Law, was an attorney at Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed in Orlando, Florida.
“Merriann has a collaborative and thoughtful approach to everything she works on,” according to Jones. “I'm excited to see her take this next step in her career.”
That next step may come with a big paycheck. According to Corporate Counsel affiliate ALM Legal Intelligence, Attaway in 2016 brought home $752,232 in total cash compensation—a base salary of $690,310 and $61,922 in nonequity incentive, a form of pay made popular after the Dodd-Frank Act; it is discretionary and often performance-based.
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