US student loans company Sallie Mae has named deputy general counsel Michael Sheehan as its new legal chief, taking over from former incumbent Robert Lavet.

Sheehan, who joined Sallie Mae in 1992, was named as interim general counsel when Lavet left the group on 31 January. He played a key role in the privatisation of the company, which included the refinancing of assets worth $100bn (£50.95bn), and now heads up Sallie Mae's stable of 29 in-house lawyers.

Lavet spent 16 years at the company after joining in 1992 from Washington DC firm Cole Corette & Abrutyn. He resigned last month, three days after Sallie May settled a suit against buy-out group JC Flowers, which abandoned a $25.3bn (£12.9bn) takeover bid for the loan company.

Commenting on the appointment of Sheehan, Sallie Mae chief executive Albert Lord said: "Mike has been a solid contributor to Sallie Mae's success over the past 16 years. He's a veteran who has played a leadership role in the most significant transactions of our company's history. I trust his counsel and his ability to lead the legal team as we move forward."

Sallie Mae is the US's largest student loan lender, with more than 10 million borrowers and $126.9bn (£64.7bn) of debt under its management. The company became the focus of press attention recently when the student lender filed a suit against JC Flowers after the private equity house backed out of the highly leveraged deal, citing the economic downturn as a trigger for the bid's failure.

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