Veteran corporate counsel Juliette Pryor, a former Big Law attorney who has helmed legal departments for a global conglomerate and major food distributor, is joining Albertsons Cos. as general counsel and executive vice president. 

The Boise, Idaho-based food and drug retailer announced Monday that it had tapped Pryor to succeed Bob Gordon, who is retiring after nearly two decades. She joins Albertsons as the grocer experiences "significant increases in customer traffic" amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to the company's latest quarterly report. 

Albertsons reported a 34% increase in sales during the first two months of fiscal 2020 compared with the same period last year.

"In this unprecedented time, Albertsons is demonstrating how foundational the grocery industry is in keeping America going," Pryor said in a statement. 

She added, "I have always respected the company's commitment to providing exceptional service to its customers and communities, as it has grown its business substantially. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help in managing through this period and delivering success into the future."

An attempt to speak with Pryor was not immediately successful. She begins her new job June 15. 

For the past four years, Pryor has served as the Atlanta-based senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Cox Enterprises, a global communications, media and automotive services conglomerate that operates Cox Communications, Cox Automotive and other subsidiaries. The company has about 55,000 employees and $21 billion in annual revenues.  

Cox lured Pryor away from her general counsel post at US Foods, where she worked for more than 11 years, first as deputy general counsel before she was promoted in 2009 to top lawyer and chief compliance officer. She oversaw legal, risk management and ethics and compliance functions for the food service distributor. 

Earlier in her career, Pryor served as counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, as an attorney adviser to U.S. International Trade Commission Vice Chair Janet Nuzum, as general counsel for public telecom company e.spire Communications, and as an in-house lawyer for IBM Corp.