Global pharmacy retailer Walgreens Boots Alliance has appointed Lanesha Minnix as its global chief legal officer, replacing Danielle Gray who left the company at the start of this year.

Minnix joins the Deerfield, Illinois-based Nasdaq-listed company from food safety business Ecolab, where she was general counsel and corporate secretary.

In her new role, which she is due to start in mid-April, she will oversee the company’s global legal, compliance, corporate governance and corporate security functions, reporting to recently appointed CEO Tim Wentworth. 

She will also sit on the company’s executive committee. Walgreens owns the Walgreens pharmacy chain in the US and the Boots pharmacy chain in the UK.

Wentworth said: “Lanesha is a widely respected leader and legal expert, and we are thrilled to welcome her to WBA in this important role. The healthcare and retail landscapes continue to evolve, and her legal guidance and expertise will be invaluable as we continue to expand our reach beyond neighbourhood pharmacies into other fast-growing areas of healthcare.”

Minnix spent just under two years at Ecolab, having previously been CLO at industrial machinery-maker Flowserve Corporation. She also had in-house spells as GC at building supplies company BMC and as deputy GC at facilities manager ABM Industries. 

Prior to that she was senior legal counsel at Shell and corporate counsel at Sprint Nextel, having started her career in private practice at K&L Gates.

She said: “I look forward to working with Tim and the executive committee, as well as other leaders across the global legal function and the organisation more broadly, to advance WBA’s business objectives, deliver sustainable value for stakeholders and position the company for long-term success.”

Gray, meantime, departed Walgreens after just over two years in the role, having previously been CLO at Blue Cross. Prior to that she was a partner at O’Melveny & Myers, which she joined after serving under former US President Barack Obama as assistant to the president and cabinet secretary. Walgreens said Gray was leaving to pursue an as yet unnamed external opportunity.

Chief compliance and ethics officer Matt D’Ambrosio has been serving as interim CLO during the search for Gray’s replacement.