Goldman Sachs has announced that Sullivan & Cromwell partner Karen Seymour is joining the investment banking firm as co-general counsel and partner. Ms Seymour, who will take up the role in late January, will share responsibility for all of the investment bank’s global legal matters with Goldman GC Gregory Palm, who is also a former Sullivan partner.

Speciality outdoor retailer REI has appointed Wilma Wallace as general counsel and corporate secretary. Ms Wallace joins from from an interim general counsel position at Enveritas. Prior to that, she worked at Gap where she was deputy GC at the Gap and VP of global sustainability overseeing the company's legal, compliance, social responsibility and public policy efforts. At REI, Wallace will lead all legal efforts on behalf of the co-op. 

Columbia Sportswear Company has appointed Jennifer Warner vice president of legal, reporting to general counsel and chief administrative officer Peter Bragdon. ‘We are excited to have Jennifer join Columbia as a leader in our Legal Department,’ said Mr Bragdon. ‘Jennifer brings a wealth of public company and legal operations experience, including work as global chief compliance officer and general counsel for the Americas at XPO Logistics, a Fortune 200 supply chain and logistics company.’ Ms Warner previously worked as associate counsel for Northwest Natural Gas Company and as a lawyer for Stoel Rives. Most recently, she was vice president of compliance and chief development officer for the Ashe Legal Group and AsheWorks.

China Nonferrous Gold Limited, the mineral exploration and mining company currently mining the Pakrut gold project in the Republic of Tajikistan, has appointed Yong Li as an independent non-executive director. Mr Li is a partner at Gaopeng & Partners. He is also the executive director at the Case Law Research Centre and is a supervisor of graduate students at the Law School of the Central University of Finance and Economics. Mr Li holds a PhD degree in law from the Tsinghua University and is a visiting scholar of Stanford Law School. He has also worked in dispute resolutions in numerous industries including mining, manufacturing, infrastructure, construction, chemical engineering and in private equity and venture capital investment. He is a director at the Beijing Finance Law Institute and the China Securities Law Institute, and is a member of the China Law Society and the China National Lawyers’ Association.

Wymer Brownlee, a leading independent wealth management firm, has appointed veteran lawyer Craig Riffel to the newly-created position of general counsel, effective immediately. Mr Riffel, who brings 20 years of experience in practicing law, will serve as Wymer Brownlee's top legal strategist on an in-house basis.  Previously, Mr Riffel was a partner at Riffel Law, formerly Mitchel, Gaston, Riffel & Riffel, a regional law firm that Mr. Riffel co-founded in 2004. In a related move, Wymer Brownlee also announced a strategic expansion of its capabilities to deliver access for the firm's clients to concierge legal services in support of their financial and business planning objectives. Legal services will be delivered on a preferential cost basis through a new alliance between Wymer Brownlee and Riffel Law.  Going forward, Craig Riffel will maintain an affiliation with Riffel Law for the express purpose of enabling Wymer Brownlee to provide its clients with advice that  incorporates legal, business and tax guidance going forward.