Arya Towfighi, general counsel of LBI Media Inc.

A former executive and in-house leader for Univision Communications Inc. has taken the helm of the legal department at LBI Media Inc., a Spanish-language television and radio company that recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  

Arya Towfighi was named general counsel of Burbank, California-based LBI on Monday, though he started the job Nov. 1. He succeeds Ashley Wilson, who was appointed GC in 2017.

Towfighi spent 13 years at Univision, where he served as senior vice president and associate general counsel in charge of the media company's litigation matters. He parted ways with Univision in 2017.

As LBI's top lawyer, Towfighi will oversee the company's nationwide legal affairs and act as chief legal officer for the firm's business operations in Atlanta, Burbank, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Miami and New York. 

Towfighi said in an interview Monday that LBI's new CEO Peter Markham and chief financial and operating officer Brian Kei "seem like media-savvy entertainment industry veterans who have a clear vision for where they want to take the company." 

He added he hoped to bring his "own perspective to the table." Referring to his time at Univision, he said, "I certainly have ideas about what I thought worked well and what I thought perhaps did not work well. I would advance that perspective." He declined to go into further detail. 

LBI is one of the largest producers of Spanish-language television content in the country, but Univision and Telemundo are the industry leaders. 

LBI owns Empire Burbank Television Studios and the Estrella TV network, which is available to more than 40 million homes through national distribution agreements with AT&T, Spectrum and other major telecom firms. The company also develops and produces Spanish-language radio programs. 

Towfighi is now responsible for all legal aspects of LBI's general corporate matters, employment issues, corporate governance and board matters, privacy and cybersecurity, intellectual property matters, corporate and finance transactions, and compliance. 

His boss, Markham, said in a prepared statement that Towfighi's "extensive media experience and legal expertise will benefit our efforts to develop and expand our digital, multimedia and distribution properties."

In October, LBI announced it had hired Markham as CEO and eliminated more than $350 million in debt as part of a Chapter 11 reorganization plan. Weil, Gotshal & Manges served as the company's legal counsel during the process. 

Markham said at the time that LBI had emerged from bankruptcy restructuring with a "strong financial foundation and significant flexibility to grow the business." 

Towfighi most recently served as a partner at Hawxhurst Harris, a boutique litigation firm in Los Angeles. He represented stateside and international clients in the media, entertainment, banking and health care industries, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Between his stint at Hawxhurst and his departure from Univision, Towfighi spent two years as vice president and associate general counsel at TriNet, a human resources firm. He led a legal department with more than 20 employees in California, New York and South Carolina and oversaw internal and external company claims, litigation and privacy and data security. 

Earlier in his career, Towfighi was an associate at Loeb & Loeb and, later, a partner at McDermott Will & Emery. He is a graduate of Pepperdine University School of Law and the University of Pennsylvania.