Ellen Fitzsimmons, SunTrust Banks, Atlanta

After more than 25 years working for railroad company CSX Corp., Ellen Fitzsimmons is making a move to SunTrust Banks Inc., joining the Atlanta-based banking giant next week as general counsel and corporate executive vice president.

She succeeds Raymond Fortin, who is retiring after nearly 30 years with SunTrust, including 22 years as GC.

Fitzsimmons was not available for an interview. But in a statement emailed to the Daily Report, she said she “is looking forward to joining the strong and effective legal organization that Ray Fortin has developed and continuing to advance SunTrust's business and purpose of advancing financial well-being.”

At CSX, Fitzsimmons served as executive VP of law and public affairs, GC and corporate secretary from 2003 until November. Before joining the Jacksonville, Florida-based company in 1991, she was an attorney in the Richmond, Virginia, office of Hunton & Williams. Fitzsimmons will relocate from Jacksonville to Atlanta for her new role, a SunTrust spokeswoman said.

Fitzsimmons will oversee all of SunTrust's legal affairs and serve as a member of the SunTrust Executive Council and as corporate secretary of its board of directors.

Fitzsimmons will report to SunTrust Chairman and CEO Bill Rogers. In a statement he said “Fitzsimmons has a strong business and legal background in addition to experience working with regulatory agencies and ensuring high standards for compliance and client service.”

“She will provide valuable counsel and insight to SunTrust,” he added.

SunTrust, a Fortune 500 company, had total assets of $208 billion and total deposits of $163 billion, as of Sept. 30. It has two business segments: consumer banking and wholesale banking. Its flagship subsidiary, SunTrust Bank, operates an extensive branch and ATM network throughout the Southeast and Middle Atlantic, along with 24-hour digital access.

Fortin, the outgoing GC, oversaw a legal department of about 73 attorneys and 46 support staff members, according to a 2017 Daily Report profile of him. Fortin said that he kept “substantially all of [SunTrust's legal] work” in-house.

In 2013, including salary, incentive plan income and stock awards, Fitzsimmons earned $2.74 million that year, making her the third-highest paid public company GC in Florida, according to a Daily Report affiliate in Florida, the Daily Business Review.

Last October, Fitzsimmons was a shortlist nominee for the 2017 Transformational Leadership Awards as part of the Women of Influence, Power and the Law conference sponsored by the Daily Report's sister publication, InsideCounsel. The awards celebrate global general counsel leading legal departments of Fortune 1000 companies or smaller companies that serve customers throughout the world.

Fitzsimmons holds degrees from Virginia Tech and the Georgetown University Law Center. She also serves on the board of power company Ameren Corp. and the board of trustees for Washington and Lee University.