G/O Media announced Wednesday that an experienced media attorney has taken over to lead its legal department.

Kai Falkenberg now oversees the company's legal, business and compliance functions, according to the announcement. She started her new role earlier this week and is based in New York. Falkenberg reports to CEO Jim Spanfeller.

The general counsel role at G/O was last held by Lynn Oberlander. Oberlander served as the top lawyer at G/O Media, formerly Gizmodo Media, from March 2017 to July of this year. According to her LinkedIn profile, Oberlander left G/O to take a job as chief news counsel at Univision Communications Inc.

Most recently Falkenberg has been of counsel at Miller Korzenik Sommers Rayman in New York. She said in an interview Thursday that G/O Media was one of her clients while she worked in private practice. When the company presented the opportunity to her, she said it was the kind of challenge she wanted to take on.

"The company is at an inflection point and is in an industry that is at a crossroads," Falkenberg said. "My sweet spot has been in advising companies like this during moments of rapid change."

Earlier this year Gizmodo Media became G/O Media when the company split from Univision. The media industry itself has changed significantly over the last five years. Falkenberg said legal departments for media companies used to be primarily concerned with libel cases. Now those in-house attorneys have much more on their plates.

"We now have issues of privacy and [intellectual property] protection. Employment and labor issues are an increasingly large component of the job. Both on the compliance front and in terms of dealing with unionized workers," Falkenberg said.

Falkenberg and two junior lawyers make up the legal department at G/O Media. She said she is waiting to see if the legal department needs to be expanded.

"Kai's unique experience and talent are perfectly suited to the role of general counsel," Spanfeller said. "I look forward to G/O Media's continued growth with her guidance, problem-solving skills, and expertise."

She currently serves as a member of the Open Data Advisory Council and is a lecturer at her alma mater Columbia Law School. She has previously served as first deputy commissioner and acting commissioner of the New York City Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment. Falkenberg has worked at law firms Davis Wright Tremaine and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

She has also served as editorial counsel at Forbes. She is known for her work in defending the company from a $10 million libel lawsuit brought on by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal challenging his ranking on the Forbes billionaires list, according to her biography.