Nissan Motor Company has appointed its new chief legal officer to replace whistleblower Hari Nada. He will become a senior adviser and “focus on important tasks for the company, such as forthcoming legal action.” Mr Nada had been the key whistleblower against its indicted former ceo, Carlos Ghosn. The legal chief is Hitoshi Kawaguchi, an executive vice president who had overseen sustainability, government affairs, communications and corporate services. He reports to an acting CEO, and was Nissan senior vice president and head of Dongfeng Motor Co, a state-owned automobile company in China that operates in joint ventures with other car companies.

In a executive reshuffle in the midst of a probe into accounting disclosures, oilfield services firm ProPetro Holding Corp on Wednesday shuffled its top executives amid an internal investigation into equipment purchases and expense reimbursements. The statement said the board's review had not uncovered any matters that would require a restatement of past results. The probe is continuing to evaluate "one or more related party transactions" involving real estate dealings, the filing said. Those transactions do not involve current or former customers or vendors, the company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Amidst the shakeup general counsel Mark Howell left his position in August, and has now been replaced by Trey Wilson as general counsel.

Events company ExCel London has announced the appointment of Caroline Grange in the new role of General Counsel. Ms Grange trained with Osborne Clarke, before joining DLA Piper, where she worked as a senior associate in the corporate team. In 2015, she moved in-house as General Counsel with LabTech, where she had responsibility for legal matters across the group, including delivering on key funding and development projects.

Royal Gold has appointed Randy Shefman as vice president and general counsel. His promotion will be effective upon the retirement of Bruce Kirchhoff, vice president, general counsel and secretary. “I congratulate Bruce on a fantastic legal career and thank him for his wise counsel over the past 12 years with Royal Gold,” commented Tony Jensen, president and chief executive officer. Mr Shefman joined Royal Gold in 2011 as associate general counsel, and brings 20 years of legal experience in international transactions across the mining, oil and gas, and power sectors.

Litigation funder Augusta has appointed Frances Coats as general counsel, based in London. Ms Coats joins from diversified insurance business The Ardonagh Group, where, as chief counsel, she managed the corporate and commercial legal needs of the group. Augusta say they are undergoing continued growth and investment in professional functions to support the increasing demand for dispute and litigation funding.

SNC-Lavalin has appoints Charlene A Ripley new executive vice-president and general counsel. Ms Ripley will report to Ian L Edwards, interim president and CEO, and join the executive committee. Prior to joining SNC-Lavalin, Ms Ripley led her team at Goldcorp as the executive vice-president and general counsel for six years. She was responsible for developing and implementing a company-wide antibribery compliance program. She also led the legal, ethics and compliance, human resources and internal audit departments.

Los Angeles-based cannabis company Lowell Herb Co has hired a former MedMen board member as its first general counsel. Stacey Hallerman takes the title of chief administrative officer and general counsel. She will be in charge of the company’s internal operations and supervise compliance, legal, and human resources activities. Before MadMen, Ms Hallerman worked for Richemont North America, Inc. that runs brands like Cartier, Montblanc and Chloe.

New general counsel at Cubic is Hilary Hageman, previously deputy general counsel for SAIC. The San Diego-based has hired Hilary Hageman as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. She reports to Cubic chair, president and ceo Bradley Feldmann and is now responsible for managing the NYSE-listed military technology company’s legal department. She also oversees ethics, contracts, global trade compliance and security issues. Jim Edwards, who has held the position of senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at Cubic, is shifting to an executive advisory role and will continue to provide support until he retires next June.

NBT Bancorp has appointed its next general counsel. Angela Wolfe Kelley, previously worked at Heartland Financial USA, joines the NASDAQ-listed bank as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. She co-ordinates NBT’s legal activities and outside counsel and oversees relations with regulators. She is based at the company’s headquarters in Norwich, New York. Ms Kelley is successor to Sheldon Prentice, who retired in January 2019. Mr Prentice is now senior counsel with Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer in Montpelier, Vermont.

Max Minzner has joined Arcadia Power as general counsel. Mr Minzner, former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) general counsel, joins the consumer technology company at a time of major market innovation and expansion of community solar. He has joined from Jenner & Block, where he was a partner in the energy practice. Mr Minzner served as general counsel of FERC during the Obama Administration, where he oversaw the legal aspects of the agency’s work in energy regulation, wholesale electric markets and the reliability of the interstate power grid.