Shoppers walk past a Nordstrom Inc. store at the King of Prussia mall in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania on Oct. 20, 2018. Photo: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg

Nordstrom Inc. has hired a veteran retail industry in-house lawyer as its new general counsel, the department store chain announced Monday.

Ann Munson Steines will lead Seattle-based Nordstrom's legal and risk departments, the company said in a press release. As general counsel, Steines is responsible for “Nordstrom's risk management strategies and policies and will provide strategic counsel on legal, risk, business and operational matters.”

She'll also serve on the executive team as executive vice president and corporate secretary.

“Ann is a seasoned leader whose deep retail perspective and significant legal experience is an excellent addition to our leadership team,” said Nordstrom co-president Erik Nordstrom in a press release.

Steines is sliding into a general counsel position after more than two decades in-house at Macy's, another department store chain. She most recently served as the Cincinnati-based company's senior vice president, deputy general counsel and assistant secretary.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Steines advised Macy's counsel on “all aspects of employment law matters and legal matters relating to retail operations, which includes regulatory, intellectual property and contractual matters.” Her responsibilities also included overseeing legal operations and Macy's credit and collections group.

She served as secretary to the Macy's Foundation board of trustees and the assistant secretary to the Macy's Inc. board of directors.

“Her breadth of experience supporting business leaders and boards of directors will be a valuable asset as we continue to scale our critical investments in technology, people and physical spaces to serve customers no matter how they choose to shop,” Nordstrom said. Steines did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Before moving to Macy's, Steines worked in-house at Overnite Transportation. She started her legal career in employment law as an associate first at Dinsmore & Shohl and then Michael Best & Friedrich. She earned her Juris Doctor at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law.

Steines replaces Robert Sari, who retired from the GC role in March. Since then, longtime in-house Nordstrom lawyer Sheryl Garland has served as interim general counsel. She'll now return to her deputy GC role.