Vista Outdoor hires GC after sale of sporting goods business

US outdoor and sporting brands giant Vista Outdoor has named Jung Choi as general counsel of its outdoor products business following the announced sale of its sporting goods division to Czechoslovak Group (CSG).

Once the sale is completed, the new outdoor products unit will be known as Revelyst. Current interim GC of Vista Outdoor Jeff Enrich will take up the GC role of the sporting products business and move to CSG. Until the sale completes, both Choi and Enrich will serve as co-GCs of Vista Outdoor with responsibility for their relevant business units.

Choi brings with her more than 15 years of legal experience, most recently serving as GC of e-commerce grocery platform Boxed. At Revelyst, she will be responsible for all legal matters related to its outdoor product brands, which include Bushnell, CamelBak, Camp Chef and Giro. She is the latest addition to the Revelyst management team, which includes new CEO Eric Nyman and new CFO Andy Keegan.

Nyman said: “Bringing Jung on board is an important milestone for Revelyst. In addition to her legal proficiency and professionalism, Jung’s most recent experience working with a publicly traded e-commerce platform at Boxed is perfectly aligned with our goal of building a consumer-first, digital culture.”

Prior to her time at Boxed, Choi was assistant GC at US tool company Stanley Black & Decker and a senior corporate counsel at pharma giant Bristol-Myers Squibb. She started her career in private practice as a corporate associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell.

Choi said: “I was drawn to Revelyst’s mission of bringing people together over a shared love for the outdoors, combined with its passion for innovation to drive growth at scale. I look forward to joining Eric and the team on the exciting journey to unlock Revelyst’s future.”

Enrich, meantime, was promoted to interim GC in February having been deputy GC since 2011. He was previously an attorney at Leonard Street and Deinard and is also a former police officer.

Vista Outdoor agreed to sell its sporting products business to CSG earlier this month in a deal worth $1.91bn, having first announced that it planned to separate its outdoor and sporting goods units last year.

Biden appointee takes up GC role at EEOC

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has sworn in Karla Gilbride as general counsel, the first person with a known disability to hold the role.

Gilbride, who is blind, was nominated for a four-year term by US president Joe Biden earlier this year. She brings with her more than 15 years of legal and litigation experience and takes up the role after more than eight years at non-profit organisation Public Justice, where she was co-director of its Access to Justice Project. At the EEOC, she will support the agency and provide direction, coordination and supervision to its litigation programme.

EEOC chair Charlotte Burrows said: “[Gilbride] has extensive experience in employment discrimination law, and her dedication to EEOC’s mission will be an excellent asset to the agency.”

Prior to her time at Public Justice, Gilbride spent three years as a litigation associate at Mehri & Skalet and just under three years as a staff attorney at Disability Rights Advocates, where she worked on disability discrimination class actions. She also spent a year as law clerk to Ninth Circuit appeals court judge Ronald Gould.

Gilbride said: “I am thrilled to join the EEOC, whose mission resonates deeply with my belief in removing barriers and opening up pathways to opportunity. I look forward to learning more about the important work the commission is already doing and how I can best contribute my skills and experience to advancing that mission.”

Former Google lawyer named as e-commerce unicorn’s first CLO

Bain Capital and SoftBank-backed US e-commerce fulfilment platform ShipBob has appointed Google’s former vice president of legal Catherine Lacavera as its first chief legal officer to help support the company’s growth agenda.

Lacavera brings 20 years of legal and compliance experience, most recently serving as CLO of healthtech company Color Health. At ShipBob she will lead and scale its legal function and provide strategic advice. 

Divey Gulati, co-founder and COO of ShipBob, said: “We are excited to partner with Catherine to help us achieve our goals with her breadth of knowledge across different domains of legal and compliance.”

Gulati added that the company will benefit from Lacavera’s experience at Google, where she spent 16 years in a variety of legal roles, including helping oversee global litigation, employment and regulatory investigations, and managing more than 300 lawyers and technical advisors. She also advised on transactions, including its $12.5bn acquisition of Motorola Mobility.

“We look forward to working with Catherine to learn from Google’s growth years,” Gulati said.

Prior to joining Google, Lacavera was an associate at White & Case.

She said: “I was immediately drawn to the ShipBob team, and greatly impressed by the trajectory of the business, plus how ShipBob has innovated on their global solutions and operations to help an expanding addressable market of businesses. I’m excited to help make thousands of small and medium businesses successful through excellence in fulfilment.”

ShipBob raised $200m in a Series E funding round in 2021, valuing the business at more than $1bn.

Space services innovator lands former Raytheon lawyer as GC

US space services company SCOUT Space has appointed Philip Hover-Smoot as its general counsel.

Hover-Smoot joins from Mitsui & Co.’s Spaceflight business, where he was also GC. In addition to his GC role, he will serve as SCOUT’s chief compliance officer and corporate secretary and will be responsible for risk management, governance and commercial matters. SCOUT provides in-space observation data to ensure safety of space missions and in-space applications.

Eric Ingram, SCOUT’s co-founder and CEO, said: “The aerospace and defence industries are highly scrutinised sectors and require sophisticated and comprehensive legal counsel – and Philip’s in-depth knowledge and experience in these fields will support SCOUT’s continued growth, success and development in this complex environment.”

Prior to his time at Spaceflight, Hover-Smoot spent two and a half years as deputy GC at commercial space company Momentus and just over three years at US aerospace and defence giant Raytheon Technologies (now known as RTX), most of them as a senior principal in the GC’s office and briefly as legal advisor for subcontracts.

Hover-Smoot said: “I am excited to join the SCOUT family during this pivotal time of unprecedented growth in the space and satellite sectors – and to help position SCOUT as a leading in-space data provider.”

TPG-backed healthcare startup appoints CLO

Kidney care startup Monogram Health has named Adam McAnaney as chief legal officer.

McAnaney brings with him almost two decades of legal experience, most recently serving as general counsel and secretary of Signify Health, where he worked until earlier this year. At Monogram, he will oversee all legal and compliance matters. Monogram provides home care services for patients living with chronic conditions, notably kidney disease.

Mike Urchin, Monogram’s co-founder and CEO, said: “Adam has a clear and expert understanding of the unique needs among our patients, clinicians, investors and health plan partners, and will drive great value for Monogram Health as we continue to expand our in-home care delivery model across the US.”

Before joining Signify Health, McAnaney spent eight years at US managed healthcare business Aetna, most recently as head of corporate legal. Prior to that he spent seven years as an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York, Frankfurt and London.

He said: “Throughout my career, I have helped lead some of the nation’s most innovative healthcare companies as they worked to transform the healthcare landscape… I’m proud to support both Monogram’s mission and its clinicians as they deliver care and improve clinical outcomes for the patients we serve.”

Monogram raised $375m of growth capital in January from investors including TPG Capital.

Canada’s PPS hires first Black woman GC

Canada’s Public Prosecution Service (PPS) has promoted Althea Francis to general counsel, the first Black woman to hold the position, Canadian Lawyer Magazine reported.

Francis has been a crown counsel working for Canada’s PPS since 1999, becoming a senior crown counsel in 2009.

She told Canadian Lawyer: “Becoming general counsel, as a Black woman with a family, is an achievement that I’m very proud of because I do have those competing commitments that have helped to ground me.”

In her new role, Francis will provide strategic legal advice on national cases, including matters that involve national security and cross-border prosecutions, she told the magazine.