BP has appointed a new group general counsel (GC) with the promotion of long-serving in-house lawyer Eric Nitcher, following former GC Rupert Bondy's departure to Reckitt Benckiser.

Nitcher, who has spent 26 years at BP, was previously GC for BP America and senior associate GC for disputes and regulatory matters.

BP announced Nitcher's promotion internally last month, and he started in his new role on 1 January. He will be based in BP's London office, heading up an an in-house team that numbers around 320 lawyers.

During his time at BP he has worked out of both the US and UK. In the US, Nitcher served as special counsel and chief of staff to BP America's chairman and president and was associate GC for BP's US and Latin America businesses.

Highlights for Nitcher during his time at BP have included working on the 2003 formation of TNK-BP, a joint venture with Russian oil producer TNK. Linklaters took the lead role for BP, with Jones Day advising TNK.

Nitcher also played a key role on the settlement of claims stemming from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, advising on the settlement of both US government claims and private claims that BP faced following the disaster.

His predecessor Bondy, who had been group GC at BP since 2008, resigned from his position last October to join FTSE 100 consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser at the end of the year.

BP's UK panel review is scheduled to take place this year, after the last review in 2014 saw Linklaters, Freshfields, Herbert Smith Freehills, Norton Rose Fulbright, CMS Cameron McKenna, Pinsent Masons and Olswang retain their positions following a reverse auction for spots on the roster.

Addleshaw Goddard, Simmons & Simmons and Ashurst all won first-time places, with Fieldfisher the only firm to lose out.

The previous review, in 2011, saw Norton Rose and Olswang pick up first-time appointments.