L-R: Allen Parker, general counsel with Wells Fargo; Jeff Taylor, executive vice president and chief litigation counsel of Fox Corp.; and Nick Podsiadly, general counsel with FDIC.

March saw a varied range of general counsel moves such as Wells Fargo's board voting this week for C. Allen Parker, the company's general counsel, to be interim CEO and president to the National Enquirer owner hiring an in-house lawyer a month after the alleged extortion scandal with Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos.

Major in-house lawyers have left their posts in exchange for other high-profile posts such as the worldwide vice president of litigation at Johnson & Johnson taking the top lawyer job at a medical technology company amid the myriad talc product lawsuits. Also, the General Motors deputy general counsel and chief compliance officer is heading to the newly formed Fox Corp. to be the chief litigation counsel. Online loan marketplace LendingTree's new general counsel formerly held a senior managing counsel position at Mastercard while the ex-chief legal officer of Angie's List took the legal reins at its parent company.

A few industries trended with filling chief lawyer roles. Banking in-house positions, for example, this month include FDIC naming the deputy general counsel and senior vice president at Fifth Third Bancorp as its new general counsel and Federal Reserve Bank of Boston gave the general counsel role to a Holland & Knight partner.

Along with these major moves occurring in March, the companies below announced the appointments of their legal heads along with adding their backgrounds and comments about their career moves.

Education

North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University announced its board of trustees has appointed Melissa Jackson Holloway to general counsel. She will start May 20.

The East Greensboro, North Carolina-based university's statement noted Holloway is currently the deputy general counsel at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. An experienced university in-house lawyer, she also served as chief legal counsel at North Carolina Central University and legal counsel for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Health and Science

Former Kodak general counsel Sharon Underberg joined veterinary diagnostics and practice software company IDEXX Laboratories Inc. in Westbrook, Maine, as corporate vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary on March 1. She succeeds Jacqueline Studer, who held the positions since 2014.

Underberg spent almost 30 years at Kodak. Prior to Kodak, Underberg was an attorney at Fulbright & Jaworski, now Norton Rose Fulbright, in New York.

Ascentage Pharma, a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel small molecule therapies for cancers and other diseases, announced the appointment of Thomas J. Knapp as senior vice president and general counsel.

According to the company's press release, Knapp most recently was general counsel and corporate secretary for Galena Biopharma Inc., a pharmaceutical company now a part of New York-based SELLAS Life Sciences Group Ltd. after a 2017 merger.

Prior to Galena, Knapp was the executive vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary at Sucampo Pharmaceuticals Inc., now a part of U.K.-based Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals after a 2018 acquisition.

He also served as vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at NorthWestern Corp.

Renovia Inc. in Boston promoted general counsel Jim O'Connor with the additional title of senior vice president of strategic development.

The company makes digital therapeutic and diagnostic devices for women with pelvic floor disorders. O'Connor joined Renovia as general counsel last year and in his new role his responsibilities will expand to include corporate business development, manufacturing, program management and overseeing Renovia's finance team, according to a press release.

“I am so fortunate to work with the outstanding, mission-driven teams across Renovia and genuinely honored to take on this broader leadership role,” O'Connor said. “I look forward to working closely with Marc and everyone at Renovia as we leverage our pipeline of digital therapeutic and diagnostic devices to help create a new standard of care in women's health.”

Prior to Renovia, O'Connor worked for 12 years at United Technologies Corp.

Maxar Technologies, a global space technology solutions provider, has hired James C. Lee as general counsel. He will start April 1.

Lee most recently was senior vice president and deputy general counsel at Aramark Corp., where he spent the past 15 years. Maxar's announcement said Lee was instrumental in Aramark's $1 billion purchase of Ameripride in 2018.

“Maxar's powerful culture of innovation and unique combination of assets and capabilities make it indispensable to government and commercial customers around the world,” Lee said in the announcement. “In addition, Maxar's mission resonates with me, and I'm looking forward to working with a team who is committed to building a better world.”

Ovid Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company in New York City that develops medicines for rare neurological disorders, has hired Thomas Perone as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. Perone succeeds Ana Ward, who will leave the company after joining in 2017.

Perone most recently was vice president, assistant general counsel and assistant corporate secretary at Celgene Corp. for 12 years, the Ovid statement said. Prior to Celgene, he was a senior legal director at ImClone Systems Inc.

“I am excited to be joining the leadership team at Ovid at this important time for the company as it prepares to progress its pipeline products into pivotal clinical trials,” Perone said in the statement. “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to the growth and success of Ovid and to advance Ovid's pipeline products which have the potential to have a positive impact on the lives of patients in need.”

Selecta Biosciences Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company in Watertown, Massachusetts, has hired Elona Kogan as general counsel and corporate secretary.

The company announced the hiring in a press release along with the start of a six-month clinical trial for its chronic refractory gout treatment.

“I am delighted to join Selecta and to work with such driven and accomplished colleagues. This is a pivotal time for the company as we kick off the COMPARE trial with the aim of making significant therapeutic advances in chronic refractory gout and continue advancing Selecta's promising ImmTOR gene therapy platform,” Kogan said in the release. “Physicians and patients are relying on the delivery of novel treatments to improve patients' lives and I am eager to contribute to this mission.”

Kogan most recently was the general counsel and head of government relations at ARIAD Pharmaceuticals Inc., a rare disease oncology company, where she came into the executive position through the acquisition of the company by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.

Media

Sizmek, the buy-side advertising platform, appointed George Pappachen to general counsel.

According to the company, Pappachen previously served as the first chief privacy officer for Kantar, a manager of research and data brands.

Finance

The Brink's Co., the Richmond, Virginia-based secure logistics and payment solutions, named Dana O'Brien its senior vice president and general counsel. She is set to start April 15.

O'Brien plans to leave Houston-based CenterPoint Energy Inc., where she held the same two titles, on April 2, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Before CenterPoint, O'Brien was the chief legal and compliance officer at CEVA Logistics from 2007 to 2014.

Financial holding company CIT Group Inc. named James R. Hubbard general counsel and corporate secretary. He started March 18.

Hubbard joins the New York-based company that operates its national online bank and OneWest Bank in Southern California from TIAA Bank as the general counsel and secretary, according to CIT. Before TIAA, Hubbard had also served as the general counsel and secretary for Everbank Financial Corp. Hubbard spent 23 years in various legal roles at Fifth Third Bancorp, including as the chief legal officer.

Jennifer Vance was promoted to general counsel, secretary and chief legal officer at the Bloomington, Illinois-based Country Financial, an insurance and financial company affiliated with the Illinois Farm Bureau.

“We have so many talented attorneys working for the family of companies, and I am truly humbled to have been selected from among such an amazing group,” Vance said in a statement. “I am also honored to lead such a dedicated and hard-working group in the Office of General Counsel, and I am so proud of the work they do every day to protect our companies.”

Vance replaced Jim Jacobs, who became the CEO for Country Financial on Feb. 1. Jacobs was general counsel from 2008 to 2018.

“Jennifer has the ability to grasp very complex issues and move fluently between the levels of a matter, from the strategic down to the minor details,” Jacobs said in the statement. “Her intellect is matched by her high emotional quotient—she is always positive and constructive. We are very fortunate to have her as our general counsel.”

Vance joined the company's legal department as an attorney in 2005 and later served as a general attorney and assistant general counsel. Since 2013, she had been the deputy general counsel and assistant secretary.

Prior to Country Financial, Vance worked as an associate for Jenner & Block in Chicago from 2001 to 2005.

Food

Irwindale, California-based Bonduelle Fresh Americas, formerly Ready Pac Foods, has appointed Monica Johnson to general counsel.

Johnson joined the company in October from Brea, California-based Ventura Foods, where she was assistant general counsel and assistant corporate secretary, the Bonduelle statement read. She was elevated to Bonduelle's leadership team in January, and as general counsel, she is responsible for providing legal advice and support to the entire company and the subsidiary Bonduelle Americas Long Life, the canned and frozen business unit based in Canada.

Real Estate

New York-based ground lease investment manager iStar Inc. appointed Douglas Heitner as chief legal officer. He started March 11 as Nina Matis is set to retire from the position of vice chairman and chief legal officer in July to oversee the transition.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to have helped develop iStar's unique and innovative businesses over the years and will miss the many talented colleagues and friends I've made along the way,” Matis said in a press release. “I know that Doug will be an excellent member of the executive team to help push our ground lease platform forward, and I look forward to watching the company's growth.”

Prior to iStar, Heitner was a partner in Kasowitz Benson Torres' real estate transactions group.

“Nina is a first ballot hall of famer in our business and it is an honor to have the opportunity to build on her legacy and success,” Heitner said in the release. “I am excited to join a company with such a tremendous growth opportunity and am eager to help execute across all of iStar's strategic initiatives.”

Technology

EXp World Holdings Inc., the parent company for eXp Realty and eXp World Technologies, has added James Bramble as general counsel.

The Bellingham, Washington-based company's announcement said Bramble most recently was chief legal officer, general counsel and corporate secretary at USANA Health Sciences, a direct-selling nutrition, personal health and wellness company. While at USANA, Bramble successfully expanded operations into Colombia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Western Europe.