August marked the end of summer with general counsel settling into their new positions, including business positions higher in the C-suite and specially created for them.

General counsel becoming CEOs has become a trend this year, and this was still evident in August. For example, BSA | The Software Alliance general counsel took the CEO helm at the Electronic Transaction Association. The trend could even be seen on the international front with Axon Neuroscience promoting its general counsel to CEO.

More in-house lawyers had positions created for them. Insurer Travelers Cos. Inc. gave its associate general counsel the new role of chief sustainability officer to lead its environmental, social and governance issues. Health care trade group American Physician Partners gave its chief legal officer the added title of chief development officer. Cruise line company Carnival Corp. hired its first chief compliance officer in accordance with a court order.

Major companies such as American Airlines, Revlon and Las Vegas Sands inducted new general counsel in August. The health sector saw significant moves with Elon Musk's brain-machine interface company Neuralink Corp., drug developer Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc. and value-based care analytics company Genuine Health Group. As did the finance sector with financial technology firm Cred and consumer credit reporting company TransUnion in the U.S. and Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Kutxabank in Spain.

Below are other top lawyer moves from August.

FINANCE

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc. has appointed Robert "Bob" McKinney as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. He replaces J. André Hall, who served as general counsel since July 2015 and will now serve as special adviser to the general counsel during the transition, according to a company press release.

McKinney also joined the company in 2015 and has served as vice president, assistant general counsel and assistant corporate secretary. 

Before Babcock & Wilcox, McKinney served as vice president of human resources, deputy general counsel and assistant secretary at EnPro Industries Inc. He was also general counsel at Tredegar Corp. His in-house career started at United Dominion Industries Inc. 

McKinney worked at Smith Helms Mulliss & Moore. He has a law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School and an MBA from the McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina. 

Angela Wolfe Kelley has joined NBT Bancorp Inc. as executive vice president and general counsel, the bank said in a press release.

Kelley joins the Norwich, New York-based bank from Heartland Financial USA Inc., a Dubuque, Iowa-based financial services holding company, where she was senior vice president, deputy general counsel and corporate secretary. Before Heartland Financial, Kelley was an attorney with Faegre Baker Daniels in Minneapolis and Des Moines, Iowa. 

She earned her law degree at the University of Iowa College of Law.

Stephen Jacobs has joined financial technology platform company Institutional Capital Network Inc., also known as iCapital, in New York as managing director and general counsel, the company said in a press release.

Most recently, Jacobs was a partner and co-chairman of the corporate department at Herrick Feinstein. Before Herrick, he served as chief operating officer, general counsel and chief compliance officer at Spectrum Group Management, a credit and real estate-focused hedge fund and private equity fund. Before Spectrum, Jacobs was a partner at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel. He also had been an assistant general counsel at American International Group Inc., or AIG. 

Jacobs has a law degree from Columbia University School of Law.

FOOD

Darigold Inc., a Seattle-based dairy producer, has named Monica Johnson general counsel. She will start Sept. 17, according to a company press release. 

Johnson most recently served as the general counsel for Bonduelle Americas in Irwindale, California. Before Bonduelle, Johnson worked in-house at Ventura Foods LLC, Western Digital Technology Inc. and Deutsche Bahn. 

She earned her law degree from Southwestern Law School. 

HEALTH

Sesen Bio Inc. has made Mark R. Sullivan the permanent general counsel after he served in the acting role since April 2018, the late-stage cancer treatment company said in a press release.

Providing outsourced in-house counsel services to companies such as Sandoz Inc. and Bayer Healthcare, Sullivan also had served as general counsel, chief compliance officer and secretary of MModal Inc. He worked at the public health care information technology company for nine years until the company was taken private by One Equity Partners in 2012. 

Sullivan began his legal career at Pepper Hamilton and Drinker Biddle & Reath. He holds a law degree from Rutgers University School of Law.

Immunovant Inc., a biopharmaceutical company based in New York and Switzerland focused on developing therapies for autoimmune diseases, has appointed W. Bradford Middlekauff as general counsel.

Middlekauff joins Immunovant from PDS Biotechnology Corp., where he was senior vice president, general counsel and secretary, said Immunovant in a statement. He previously served as chief legal officer, general counsel and secretary at Kolltan Pharmaceuticals. He was also senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Medarex, an antibody company that was sold to Bristol-Myers Squibb for $2.4 billion; and vice president of business development and general counsel at Algos Pharmaceuticals, a drug company that was sold to Endo Pharmaceuticals.

"I am thrilled to join the Immunovant team, as we look to build a first-rate life science company poised to develop and deliver products that could dramatically impact patients' lives across a broad spectrum of autoimmune diseases," Middlekauff said in the statement.

Following a clerkship in the Southern District of New York, Middlekauff had worked as an associate at Cooley Godward. 

Millendo Therapeutics Inc., an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based biopharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for orphan endocrine diseases, has announced Tamara Joseph will be its general counsel and corporate secretary. She replaces Jeffery M. Brinza who announced his retirement in March, according to Millendo's press release. 

"I was drawn to Millendo for its promising science, talented team, notable progress to date and the opportunity to bring therapies to patients suffering from serious endocrine diseases," Joseph said in Millendo's press release. "I am thrilled to be joining Millendo at this exciting point in its lifecycle, and I look forward to working with Julia, Ryan and the entire team." With the announcement of Joseph's hiring, Millendo also named Ryan Zeidan as chief development officer. Julia C. Owens, president and CEO, welcomed the two new hires.  

Joseph most recently served as general counsel at Enzyvant Therapeutics and previously served as general counsel at InVivo Therapeutics, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Mayne Pharma, and Transkaryotic Therapies. She had leadership roles in Mayne Pharma's acquisition by Hospira and Transkaryotic Therapies' acquisition by Shire Plc, now owned by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. 

Joseph received her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and her master of law degrees from the College of Europe in Belgium and the University of Paris in France.

Providence Service Corp. in Atlanta has appointed Kathryn Stalmack to serve as its senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. Also overseeing subsidiary LogistiCare Solutions LLC, Stalmack succeeds M. Chinta Gaston, who is retiring, according to Providence's statement. Gaston worked in the position since January and served as LogistiCare's general counsel since 2003.

Stalmack recently served as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of infusion and home care management solutions provider BioScrip Inc. since 2015. She was a shareholder at Polsinelli and a health care litigator at Donohue Brown Mathewson & Smyth and Cassiday Schade & Gloor. 

LogistiCare Solutions manages nonemergency medical transportation programs for state governments and managed care organizations. Stalmack holds a law degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

REAL ESTATE

Clarion Partners LLC, a real estate investment manager, has named Susan Boccardi as general counsel and chief compliance officer. She will also be a managing director and member of the operating committee, according to a statement from the New York-based company.

Boccardi most recently spent five years at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where she led the 17-attorney global legal team for the Wealth Management Managed Investments business. Before JPMorgan, she served as head of the Investments Legal Group at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, where she advised on the 2009 joint venture with Citigroup, resulting in the formation of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

Boccardi spent 12 years at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York. She holds a law degree from Georgetown University.

RETAIL

Malouf, a Logan, Utah-based furniture and bedding retailer with 12,000 partner locations in the U.S. and over 20 countries, has added Jeff Steed as chief legal officer.

Before Malouf, Steed was an equity partner at Salt Lake City-based law firm Kirton McConkie, the company said in its announcement. He's also an adjunct law professor at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law.

"Malouf is a successful company dedicated to doing good in the world—for its employees, customers, stakeholders, and society at large," Steed said in Malouf's announcement. "As chief legal officer, my goal is to lead strategic initiatives that will increase the valuation and visibility of the company to ensure sustainable growth and development."

TECHNOLOGY

FanDragon Technologies Inc., a software-as-a-service provider of mobile ticket delivery solutions, has hired Mark Weiss as chief business officer and general counsel, according to the Los Angeles-based company's announcement. 

Weiss will lead FanDragon's business development, finance, operations and legal groups. He spent 18 years as an executive at Staples Inc. Most recently, Weiss provided senior executive services to Cerberus Capital Management L.P., a global private investment firm.

Aryaka Networks Inc., a San Mateo, California-based end-to-end managed software-defined wide area network provider, has hired Christiana Khostovan as general counsel and corporate secretary. 

Khostovan previously served as general counsel and corporate secretary for Revel Systems Inc. Before Revel Systems, Khostovan was senior vice president and chief legal officer at Franklin Templeton Companies LLC. She also worked in-house at Corio Inc., an IBM subsidiary.

"I am excited to be joining a thriving technology company that has been making all of the right moves in terms of its growth strategy, technology innovation and global market leadership," said Khostovan in a company statement. "I look forward to playing an integral role in supporting the company's continued momentum and success."