The In-house Transfer Window - GC moves at Mothercare, Toys 'R' Us and Kickstarter
Mothercare hires ex-French Connection GC Alice Darwall to head up its legal team
November 10, 2017 at 05:33 AM
4 minute read
Mothercare has hired Alice Darwall from UK textile services company Berendsen, to take over as group general counsel and company secretary from interim GC Andrew Eames.
Darwall spent nine months as GC of Berendsen before its takeover by French rival Elis this year, and was previously group GC of French Connection for 10 years.
Eames replaced former GC and company secretary Daniel Talisman in July, following his resignation after less than two years at the company. Eames' next move is not clear. Previously, he spent 14 years at Japanese financial services giant Nomura, where he was co-head of corporate legal and company secretary.
Meanwhile, Legal Week sister publication Corporate Counsel reports that Toys 'R' Us' general counsel Cornell Boggs has departed the company after just 10 months in the role.
James Young, an in-house lawyer with Toys 'R' Us since 2007, has been promoted to replace Boggs, effective immediately. Young will assume leadership for the legal department of close to 15 in-house lawyers and paralegals.
The announcement comes less than two months after the New Jersey-based toy store chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Boggs joined Toys 'R' Us in February, replacing long-serving GC David Schwartz who left to lead the legal department of Canadian-based retailer Hudson's Bay.
Thomson Reuters has recruited Citi managing director and general counsel Vivienne Artz as its new global chief privacy officer. Artz joined Citi in 2000, and in 2009 she was appointed GC for intellectual property, technology, social media and e–commerce legal for EMEA and Asia-Pacific.
In April this year she became president of the UK networking and development organisation Women in Banking and Finance, taking up a three-year term.
Raspberry Pi Foundation has announced it has hired its first ever GC and company secretary, Anne-Marie Garner. The charity, founded in 2009 to promote the study of basic computer science in schools, launched the UK's best-selling computer Raspberry Pi in 2012.
Garner, who joined the company in October, previously founded legal services consultancy Lightwave Law. Before that, she spent 15 years working for British sustainable technologies company Johnson Matthey, including 10 as legal director.
Raspberry Pi previously solely used Olswang for external advice, and then subsequently CMS post-merger, but decided to bring in Garner to boost its in-house legal capabilities. It continues to work with CMS alongside Garner.
Mobile phone network Three has promoted ex-Slaughter and May associate Michael Roy to the role of head of legal for finance and business. Roy left the magic circle law firm in 2013 to join Three, where he has focused on IT, outsourcing, commercial, corporate and finance.
During his time at the company he supported Three UK and its parent company on its proposed £10bn acquisition of O2 UK, which was later blocked by the European Commission.
Kickstarter general counsel Michal Rosenn has departed the New York-based crowdfunding company to take up a new general counsel role with San Francisco-based Expa, which describes itself as a "global network of entrepreneurs helping each other build companies". The company will now begin a search for Rosenn's replacement.
United States Steel Corporation has announced that Suzanne Rich Folsom will leave her post as general counsel at the end of the year. No reason was given for her departure, and a US Steel spokesperson declined to comment. Deputy GC Richard Fruehauf will assume Folsom's day-to-day responsibilities while the company searches for a permanent replacement.
Elsewhere in the US, Oregon-based energy technology company Innovari has recruited Jive Software GC Lisa Jurinka as its new legal chief. She replaces former GC Robin Lunt, who left Innovari in April for law firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer.
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