Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has appointed a new general counsel, according to two people close to the matter. 

Current chief legal officer Jonathan Kembery is expected to take the reins from incumbent Colin Hargreaves in May 2020, one of the people said. 

Kembery has been chief legal officer since he joined Freshfields in 2001 and was promoted to partner earlier this year. He was a lawyer at Clifford Chance between 1993 and 1997, according to his LinkedIn profile, following which he had stints in the legal departments of Big Four firm PwC and Sky Interactive.