Guardian News and Media (GNM) has appointed Times Newspapers litigation head Gillian Phillips as its new director of editorial legal services.

Phillips will lead GNM's in-house editorial legal function and will take up her new role in May. She replaces Nuala Cosgrove, who moved to media regulator Ofcom in December.

Commenting on the appointment, GNM editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger said: "We are delighted that Gillian is joining us. Her wealth of experience in print, online and broadcast will be enormously valuable as we continue to fulfil our multimedia ambitions."

Phillips (pictured) added: "I am thrilled to be offered this job – it is a great role and I look forward to joining GNM and working with Alan Rusbridger and the team."

The arrival of Phillips does not affect the role of Sarah Davis, who will continue to head up GNM's separate commercial in-house legal team.

The GNM legal team was restructured in 2007, with managing director Tim Brooks and Rusbridger deciding to establish distinct editorial and commercial divisions following the arrival of Siobhan Butterworth as the reader's editor.

Phillips, whose move to GNM brings to an end an eight-year stay at Times Newspapers, also worked in-house at the BBC after training and qualifying at magic circle law firm Clifford Chance.

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