Consulting group Accenture has promoted its general counsel to group chief executive for North America. Julie Spellman Sweet replaces retiring CEO Stephen Rohleder. It also named Chad Jerdee as its general counsel and chief compliance officer and Joel Unruch as corporate secretary from 1 June. Ms Sweet is Accenture’s general Counsel, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer. She joined the company in 2010 from Cravath, Swaine & Moore where she was a partner for 10 years in the Corporate department.  'Since joining Accenture in 2010, Julie has distinguished herself as a key member of our senior leadership team,' said Pierre Nanterme, chairman and CEO. 'She has made a significant contribution to our business strategy and our investment strategy, as well as to our Capital Committee, and has demonstrated a strong commitment to our clients and our people. Julie brings to her new role a wide breadth of international experience from her more than 20 years as a business leader and a practice builder.'

Legal team

Mr Jerdee is deputy general counsel – Sales & Delivery, with responsibility for leading global legal support for Accenture’s client-facing business, including its sales, solution development and client delivery teams. During his 18 years with Accenture, Mr Jerdee has held a variety of leadership positions,  working on large, complex transactions and developing contract and compliance standards. In his new role as general counsel and chief compliance officer, Mr Jerdee will join the company’s global management committee. Mr Unruch is currently associate general counsel – M&A, governance and corporate matters and will take on the additional role of corporate secretary, serving as an advisor to the board on corporate governance and leading securities compliance. Before joining Accenture in May 2011, Mr Unruch was corporate counsel at Amazon.com and an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Mr Unruch will report to Mr Jerdee.