GC Appointments

Lucy Lee Helm was named executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of Starbucks Corp. after 12 years with the company. In her new role, she will lead the company's law and corporate affairs department and support its board of directors. Helm has served as interim GC since April, when former GC Paula Boggs left her post to join President Obama's re-election campaign.

Gigamon, a provider of traffic visibility solutions, appointed Paul Shinn as general counsel. Shinn previously served as vice president and associate general counsel of Hewlett-Packard's enterprise group. He previously was senior counsel at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.


Grant Burns joined fiber optics provider AFL as vice president and general counsel. In this capacity, he will be responsible for corporate governance, intellectual property, human resources, litigation, securities compliance and government affairs. Burns' prior work experience includes a 10-year stint at Nexsen Pruet and a shareholder position with Ogletree Deakins.