June marked an active midyear hiring spree where major companies such as Fox Corp., Nokia, Rent-A-Center, Accenture and Grammarly named new legal leaders, and industries such as cannabis and finance saw higher rates of change in their legal departments.

Last month also saw a few high-profile retirements such as Teri McClure, UPS's first black general counsel who was most recently the chief human resources officer and senior vice president of labor, and Rita Tuzon, who most recently served as executive vice president and corporate counsel at Fox, ended her 22-year tenure in its legal department.

The cannabis industry seemed to have experienced a bump in building legal departments with chief lawyers joining cannabis information company Leafly, products maker Revolution Enterprises, and Harvest Health & Recreation, which hired a general counsel and an assistant general counsel.

Banks and financial technology companies also appeared to have more chief lawyers come on board. BankUnited Inc. in Florida, Opus Bank in California, Options Clearing Corp. in Chicago, and Bank Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., all named new general counsel while cryptocurrency firms Paxos in New York and Marqeta in California picked legal leaders.

Like in the spring, more top lawyers transitioned into an interim or permanent CEO role. That was seen by the Allied Minds general counsel sharing the co-CEO title with the company's chief financial officer and Lehigh Valley Health Network chief legal officer becoming acting CEO. Other general counsel stepped into other C-suite positions like Blackboard's general counsel taking over as interim chief financial officer and Cooper Standard's general counsel moving into a newly created chief transformation officer position.

EDUCATION

Carrie Nee, university counsel with William & Mary.

The Virginia attorney general, Mark R. Herring, has appointed Carrie Nee to university counsel at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Nee will start July 15.

Nee, a senior assistant attorney general and chief of the education section who will work under the direction of the attorney general as the university counsel, joins Sarah Melchior who's been in the associate university counsel role since 2013.

”This is an exciting time to join the William & Mary community,” Nee said in the university's press release. “I'm looking forward to helping the university navigate the complex demands placed on higher education institutions in the 21st century.”

Nee has served in her current role in the education section of the attorney general's office since 2017, overseeing the 46 attorneys who advise all state educational agencies, including 17 institutions of higher education. She previously worked as a senior assistant attorney general for the education section from 2011 to 2017, serving as university counsel for the University of Mary Washington, representing the Library of Virginia, and advising the Virginia Department of Education. From 2005 to 2011, Nee was an assistant attorney general in the technology and procurement section of the attorney general's office.

She will succeed Deborah Love, who was William & Mary's university counsel from 2011 to 2019 before returning to the Virginia Office of the Attorney General, as a senior assistant attorney general.

Before the attorney general's office, Nee was a judicial clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, an intellectual property associate for McGuireWoods and a judicial clerk for the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

Roy Collins, general counsel with New Mexico State University.

Roy Collins III has been selected as New Mexico State University's new general counsel and chief legal affairs officer. Collins will begin his new role at the Las Cruces campus July 29.

Collins was previously associate general counsel and interim general counsel at the University of Hartford in Connecticut.

“New Mexico State University has a proud heritage as a premier land-grant institution in the Southwest,” Collins said in the university's statement. “The university has positioned itself with a formidable leadership team to both honor the purposes of that past and to ensure it meets the ever-evolving needs of all stakeholders in this region.”

Collins worked at the University of Hartford since 2010 and previously served as associate general counsel at Idaho State University and assistant general counsel at Texas Southern University. He also held a stint as commercial counsel for Chrysler Corp.

“My background in providing business-focused legal counsel to three other universities and a major U.S. automobile manufacturer, and in administering technology transfer programs at a state university system, can be of benefit to NMSU in aligning its operations with strategic initiatives set forth by its governing board and senior leadership,” he added.

ENTERTAINMENT

Monumental Sports & Entertainment, an integrated sports and entertainment company, has promoted Abby Blomstrom to executive vice president and general counsel. Blomstrom joined Washington, D.C.-based MSE in January 2017 and previously served as senior vice president and deputy general counsel, the company said in its press release.

Prior to MSE, Blomstrom served as assistant general counsel at AOL Inc., now part of Verizon Media, in the 12 years in the legal department. She began her legal career as a corporate associate, first at Latham & Watkins in Chicago and then K&L Gates in Pittsburgh.

FINANCE

Chicago-based Byline Bancorp Inc. has hired Donald J. Gibson Jr. as executive vice president and general counsel.

Gibson joins Byline from MB Financial Bank N.A., where he served as general counsel since 2014. Prior to MB Financial Bank, Gibson was a partner at Chicago-based McGuireWoods, where he chaired the firm's community banking industry team, according to Byline's statement. He served as general counsel and assistant general counsel at Boulevard Bancorp Inc. and completed private practice stints at Ross & Hardies and a founding partner of Tatooles, Foley, Kluever & Gibson.

National mortgage lender Waterstone Mortgage Corp. has promoted Stephanie Ziebell to senior vice president and general counsel at the Pewaukee, Wisconsin-based corporate office.

Ziebell has been with Waterstone Mortgage since 2012, the company statement read, when she started as the assistant general counsel. She joined the Waterstone Mortgage executive team in December. In her new role, she will oversee the legal, customer service and compliance departments.

HEALTH

Shockwave Medical Inc., a Santa Clara, California-based biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing intravascular lithotripsy to treat complex calcified cardiovascular disease, has appointed Hajime Tada as general counsel.

From 2017 to 2019, Tada was general counsel and corporate secretary at LakePharma Inc., a contract research organization specializing in biologics services and technology, according to Shockwave's press release. Prior to LakePharma, Tada spent 16 years with Agilent Technologies, where he started as corporate counsel and eventually moved up to director of litigation and vice president and deputy general counsel then acting general counsel.

Virpax Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Malvern, Pennsylvania-based company specializing in the development of pharmaceutical products for pain management, has appointed Michèle C. Linde as the executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary.

Linde most recently served as general counsel of Akloma Bioscience AB in Stockholm, according to Virpax's press release. She also was a vice president of Endo Pharmaceuticals and has held legal roles with AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb in Belgium, and DuPont Pharmaceuticals. Her law firm experience includes Mannheimer Swartling.

EGenesis, a biotechnology company in the field of transplantation with its multiplexed gene editing platform, has hired Ariel Jasie as chief business officer and general counsel.

Jasie most recently worked at Dermavant Sciences, where he served as the chief business and strategy officer. Prior to Dermavant, Jasie was the chief business officer at Codiak Biosciences. Before Codiak, he served as the executive director for business development at Celgene Corp. He also served as in-house counsel at Reliant Pharmaceuticals amid the company's $1.6 billion acquisition to GlaxoSmithKline in 2007.

“EGenesis' unique gene-editing platform and the unparalleled expertise of its team highlights the company's potential to pioneer a much-needed alternative approach to allotransplantation and bring hope to thousands of patients on the organ waitlist,” Jasie said in a company statement. “I look forward to leveraging my past experience leading business operations at multiple biopharmaceutical companies, including those with platform technologies, to advance a solution to address the global organ crisis.”

Precision BioSciences Inc., a Durham, North Carolina-based genome editing company, has brought Dario Scimeca on as general counsel.

Prior to joining Precision BioSciences, Scimeca served as associate general counsel for Genentech, a biotechnology and oncology therapeutics company. Before Genentech, he was corporate counsel at Élan Pharmaceuticals, a neuroscience-based biotechnology company. Scimeca was a corporate associate at Cooley and at Heller Ehrman and a litigation associate at Farella Braun + Martel. He served as a law clerk for the Judge James L. Dennis of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

“As in-house counsel for companies that develop and commercialize innovative therapies, I view helping those with unmet medical needs as the ultimate goal of my work,” Scimeca said in the company's statement. “Precision BioSciences is not only developing cutting-edge therapies but also working to solve important agricultural problems, and I am excited to work with the team toward making a significant, positive impact on medicine, nutrition and the environment in my new role.”

Sheniece Smith, general counsel with Hannibal Regional.

Hannibal Regional has named Sheniece Smith as vice president and general counsel.

Smith is joining the Hannibal, Missouri-based hospital system from Children's Hospital of Orange County, or CHOC, in California, where she was the chief of staff and senior counsel to the CEO. Smith founded H.O.P.E. Through Affordable Legal Services as a community benefit project to bridge the gap between pro bono services and full attorney fees by increasing access to quality legal services for low-income individuals. Smith also launched Family Legal Assistance at CHOC Children's, a medical-legal partnership to provide free guardianship and conservatorship services to CHOC families who otherwise would not be able to afford the services.

“I am impressed by Hannibal Regional's dedication to the community and excited about our plans to enhance service offerings,” Smith said the hospital system's press release. “I joined HRHS because I wanted to join a community of caring individuals who are making a difference. I hope to support Hannibal Regional as we continue to guide patients to better health.”

NONPROFIT

Robert L. Hawkins Jr., general counsel with Compassion International.

Compassion International, a children's nonprofit in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has named Robert L. Hawkins Jr. as its new general counsel and senior vice president.

Hawkins founded the Hawkins Counsel Group in 2009, which specializes in representing for-profit and nonprofit organizations, according to the nonprofit's press release. It also said Hawkins has experience working at World Vision and Time Warner.

“When I first joined Compassion's board 18 years ago, I felt a strong calling from the Lord to serve children living in poverty,” Hawkins said in the release. “I'm honored to continue in that calling, and I'm excited to join the Compassion team in this new capacity.”

REAL ESTATE

Liberty Property Trust, a Wayne, Pennsylvania-based commercial real estate firm operating in the U.S. and U.K., has appointed Shawn Neuman to secretary and general counsel. He starts July 1 and will succeed Herman Fala, who will become the company's senior vice president–senior legal adviser, according to the company press release.

Currently, Liberty's senior vice president and deputy general counsel, Neuman joined the company in 2012 as associate real estate counsel. Prior to Liberty, he was a member of the real estate practice group at Cozen O'Connor and previously an associate at Wolf Block and Schulte Roth & Zabel.

TECHNOLOGY

Gentherm, a developer of thermal management technologies, announced Wayne Kauffman has been promoted to vice president and general counsel. He starts July 1.

Kaufmann replaces Ken Phillips, “who has decided to leave the company for personal reasons,” according to Gentherm's press release.

For the past five years, Kauffman has led Northville, Michigan-based Gentherm's intellectual property policy and development. He joined Gentherm from Robert Bosch LLC, where he supported Bosch divisions in intellectual property development. Kauffman began his legal career with the national IP law firm of Harness, Dickey & Pierce. With a mechanical engineering bachelor's degree from Kettering University on top of his law degree from Wayne State University, Kauffman began his career with General Motors, where he held various positions over his 17-year tenure.

Amkor Technology Inc., an outsourced semiconductor packaging and test service provider, has named Mark N. Rogers executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. Rogers succeeds Gil Tily, who has retired as general counsel, according to Amkor's press release.

Rogers joins Tempe, Arizona-based Amkor after five years at ON Semiconductor, where he served as assistant general counsel and assistant corporate secretary. Rogers also worked 11 years with Insight Enterprises as associate general counsel. He started his legal career at Fennemore Craig and Quarles & Brady.