State Street hires Barclays GC to head up legal team

US financial services giant State Street Corporation has hired Mark Shelton as its new general counsel, replacing David Phelan who announced his retirement last year.

Shelton joins from Barclays, where he was also GC, overseeing all legal issues relating to customer transactions, trading, cross-border regulatory compliance, data security and privacy and ESG strategy. At State Street he will be responsible for all legal and regulatory matters.

Ron O’Hanley, State Street’s chairman and CEO, said: “Mark is an accomplished financial institutions attorney with a commercial orientation and deep knowledge of the banking industry. With more than 30 years practising law in both private practice and public sector environments, he has extensive experience related to multi-jurisdictional regulatory and other sophisticated legal issues facing large, global financial institutions.”

Shelton spent eight years at Barclays, where he was based out of New York. Prior to that he spent a year at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher as co-chair of its financial institutions group, having previously been at UBS for more than 11 years as the Swiss bank’s Americas GC. Prior to that he was a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr and also spent time as a legal counsel in the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s GC’s office.

Phelan, meantime, exits the company after almost 18 years as GC. He also previously worked at WilmerHale.

State Street has around $3.7trn of assets under management and provides custody and admin services for another $40trn.

Photocopying giant Xerox promotes deputy GC to CLO role

US office printing equipment-maker Xerox has promoted long-time counsel Flor Colon to chief legal officer as part of a broader reorganisation of the company’s executive team and operating model.

Colon has been with Xerox since 1999, joining from legacy firm Nixon Hargrave as associate general counsel, becoming deputy GC in 2022. Over that time, she also held positions including chief ethics officer and as vice president for strategic partnerships and alliances.

Colon replaces Louie Pastor who left Xerox last April before returning again this year to become chief transformation and administrative officer. Pastor initially joined Xerox in 2018 as GC from Icahn Enterprises, the investment company controlled by billionaire investor Carl Icahn.

Xerox this month said it was reorganising its business, forming a global business services unit to complement its core print business. The company said it was also planning to layoff about 15% of its workforce as part of the reorganisation.

IAG appoints interim GC after ousting of former legal chief

Australian insurance group IAG has hired Karen Ingram as its interim group general counsel following the exit of previous GC Peter Horton last month.

Ingram, who was appointed in late December but joined this week, is a former partner at Australian firm Clayton Utz. She brings with her more than 23 years of litigation and dispute resolution experience across a wide range of business areas, including financial services, retail and mining, among others. As interim GC at IAG, she will report directly to managing director and CEO Nick Hawkins.

Ingram left Clayton Utz last year, before taking up a part time role as legal officer at health data company Beamtree and as a senior consultant to the Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies.

Horton, meantime, was forced out following an “alleged workplace behaviour breach”, according to The Australian Financial Review. A statement from Hawkins said Horton’s behaviour had “fallen short of the expectations in IAG’s employee code of ethics and conduct”.

Horton had been Sydney-based IAG’s GC since 2019, having joined from Australian electricity transmission network TransGrid, where he was executive manager for legal, governance and risk. He also previously worked at QBE Insurance Group, Woolworths and WMC Resources as group GC.

IAG said it has commenced a search for a permanent GC.

US fintech Parker names Strive counsel as first GC

US fintech start-up Parker has appointed Matthew Kopko as its first general counsel.

Kopko joins from Strive Asset Management – an investment manager co-founded by Republican party presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy – where he was senior counsel for legal and compliance. Kopko announced his move to Parker on LinkedIn.

Prior to his time at Strive, Kopko spent three years as vice president of public policy at US payroll-focused fintech DailyPay, which he joined from Cooley where he was an associate covering venture capital and emerging companies. Before that, he was director of public policy at micromobility start-up Bird; an advisor to the US Department of Transportation Secretary; and an associate at Foley Hoag and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

Parker offers a corporate credit card platform for mid-market e-commerce businesses. It has raised $157m in equity and debt funding, including a $31m Series A round led by Valar Ventures.

Former Skadden lawyer takes on UFC Gym GC role

US gym operator UFC Gym has promoted Jessica Ryan to general counsel.

Ryan has been with UFC Gym – a brand extension of the mixed martial arts promotions company Ultimate Fighting Championship – since 2021, joining as assistant GC. In her new role, she will oversee all legal matters for the company. Ryan announced the news in a LinkedIn post.

Prior to joining UFC Gym, Ryan was executive vice president for business and legal affairs at entertainment company DanceOn and corporate counsel at Relativity Media. She started her legal career in private practice at Weil Gotshal & Manges, before moving to Paul Hastings and then Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, where she spent two years before going in-house.

Former UFC Gym GCs include Shaun Grove, now president of Rumble Boxing, and Mindy Nili, now chief legal counsel at Comfort Keepers.

UFC Gym has franchises in the US and around the world.

Former AWS counsel promoted to GC at Radiant Logistics

US transportation company Radiant Logistics has promoted Jaime Becker to general counsel, replacing John Sobba who is stepping down from the role.

Becker joined Radiant Logistics just two months ago as assistant GC from digital freight network Convoy, where she was corporate counsel. At Radiant she will oversee the company’s legal strategy and help support its “continued acquisition and organic growth initiatives”, she said.

Bohn Crain, founder and CEO of Radiant, said he was excited by the fresh perspective Becker will bring to its leadership team: “I am confident she will leverage her prior experience in working with other tech-enabled transportation companies to help us continue to build out the Radiant platform, in addition to taking a leading role in our efforts around various ESG initiatives.”

Becker spent just over a year at Convoy, having joined from Amazon Web Services, where she spent a year and a half as corporate counsel. Before that she had GC spells at Osbourne Construction Company, Strategic Consulting Services and COR Energy Services.

Sobba, meantime, leaves Radiant after six years. His legal career has spanned in-house and private practice roles, including as GC at Nautilus and as an attorney at Dorsey & Whitney and Foster Pepper.

Crain said: “We appreciate John’s contributions during a time of tremendous growth and change for Radiant and wish him the best in his future endeavours.”