Leslie Zmugg, general counsel, Gordon Brothers. (Courtesy photo)

A former in-house leader for Caterpillar Inc. has left the construction equipment-maker to lead the legal department at global advisory and investment firm Gordon Brothers.

As Gordon Brothers' Boston-based general counsel, Leslie Zmugg will oversee the firm's worldwide legal operations, including corporate governance, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, compliance and employment matters, according to an announcement Tuesday. She also serves as strategic counsel and corporate adviser on Gordon Brothers' executive and investment committees.

She replaces former Gordon Brothers GC Michael Chartock, who is launching a new litigation claims business at the firm, where he now serves as a senior managing director.

Zmugg wrote in an email that she “was attracted to the opportunity to lead a less-matrixed in-house legal department, a departure from my experience in the public company sector. Also, Gordon Brothers allows me to swiftly address complex legal issues in collaboration with a group of key decision makers.”

She added, “Beyond that, the day-to-day role of the general counsel remains much the same even though the stakeholders and constituencies may change. After a long career within a large, public company framework, the opportunity to work within a different construct is extremely exciting.”

Gordon Brothers CEO Ken Frieze trumpeted Zmugg's “global perspective and experience in highly complex environments,” which he said “will strengthen our ability to rapidly execute for our clients to help them transform their businesses.”

Zmugg had worked for Caterpillar since 1999, when she joined Cat Financial as a corporate attorney in London. She went on to serve as deputy general counsel of Caterpillar and general counsel and secretary of Cat Financial, according to her LinkedIn profile.

During her time with Caterpillar, Zmugg “gained extensive experience in global corporate legal affairs and complex financial transactions across multiple cultures, languages, and geographies,” Gordon Brothers stated in a news release.

Before she joined the in-house world, Zmugg spent three years as an associate at Schulte, Roth & Zabel in New York, where she focused on asset-based finance, bankruptcy and corporate restructuring. She is a graduate of Fordham University School of Law and has a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Binghamton University.