Stephens Inc.'s executive vice president and general counsel, David Knight, will retire after 34 years as legal chief of the independent financial services firm.

Knight will be succeeded by associate general counsel Rachel Mondl Mayo, who joined the family-owned, Little Rock, Arkansas-based company in February 2021.

Knight became the firm's first general counsel when he joined Stephens in 1988. He will retire at the end of this month. During his run, the company, which launched in 1933, grew to 28 offices across the globe with more than 1,200 employees.

"David [Knight] has been a pragmatic and discerning steward of Stephens, giving us the assurance that our interests and concerns were always in good, capable hands," Stephens CEO Warren Stephens said in a statement.

"This trust in David began with my dad, continuing with me and now the third Stephens generation. We are ever grateful for his governance and leadership and we wish him well in retirement.

He added that Mayo is a formidable successor whose expertise aligns with the firm's business objectives and the future of the industry.