Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has hired Lesley Freeman as its new chief legal officer. Ms Freeman joins from HBO, where she served as senior vice president, legal affairs, for nearly 10 years, according to her LinkedIn profile. She will report to the company’s chairman Gary Barber and replaces outgoing GC Scott Packman, who will step down from his post in August after 14 years with MGM.  

Copeland Capital Management has hired Sofia A. Rosala as general counsel and chief compliance officer. Ms. Rosala comes to Copeland from Aberdeen Asset Management, where she served as US counsel and deputy head of compliance. Earlier in her career, Ms Rosala was a senior associate for Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and prior to that she was VP and corporate counsel at SEI Investments.

In an unusual move, Kim Viti Fiorentino is moving from private practice at Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker to become general counsel of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. She will leave her position as senior equity partner and seat on the board of directors at Shulman Rogers, a D.C. regional firm with about 100 lawyers, in June.

Meanwhile, American football team the Detroit Lions have announced that Jay Colvin will sign on as senior vice president of legal affairs and general counsel. Mr Colvin, a former certified public accountant who most recently worked as a partner at Michigan-based Bodman PLC law firm, is no stranger to the Lions organisation, as according to Lions president Rod Wood he has worked closely with the team on legal matters for more than 20 years. While at Bodman, Mr Colvin advised clients on estate planning and taxation, helping wealthy clients with the sale of large personal assets. He spent 25 of his 27 years at the law firm advising the Ford family, owners of the Lions.  

Global tax services firm Ryan has made Melissa Drennan its senior vice president and chief legal officer. Ms Drennan will lead the strategic direction of the Ryan Legal department, as well as the day-to-day operations, including acquisitions, contract review, corporate governance, litigation, compliance, and intellectual property matters. She previously served as deputy general counsel for several high-growth tech-sector companies, is a member of the State Bar of Texas and serves in leadership roles with the Association of Corporate Counsel and the General Counsel Forum.