Ping An Insurance Group of China, has appointed Steven D Winegar to the role of overseas company lawyer and international general counsel. In this role, Mr Winegar will have responsibility for legal and compliance matters globally. His appointment reflects the Group's commitment to attracting top international talent to enhance the Group's corporate governance practices as a listed company and to accelerate the international transformation of the Group. M  Winegar has over 24 years of experience in law firm and in-house positions, serving as partner and chair of the Paul Hastings Hong Kong office before joining Ping An in September.

Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D Doak has appointed Ron Kreiter as deputy general counsel at the Oklahoma Insurance Department (OID). Mr Kreiter previously worked at the OID as an assistant commissioner and staff attorney, and brings over 40 years of experience in both the regulatory and business sides of insurance.

Canadian cannabis grower Wayland Group has chosen Matthew McLeod as their first general counsel. Mr McLeod comes into the marijuana industry having served as in-house counsel for a software company and an app maker. He previously worked as a corporate lawyer for the New York office of Canadian law firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt.

General counsel Ruwan (Roo) de Soyza is leaving Worldpay, the global payment processing company, in 2019. Mr De Soyza, who led Worldpay into a transatlantic £22.2bn merger with Vantiv last year, is expected to take up a GC and executive committee role at a FTSE 100 technology company mid-year. He joined Worldpay from Standard Chartered in 2012, where he was general counsel of the bank’s global e-commerce business, and  became group general counsel n January 2017 when predecessor Mark Edwards left after two years in the role.

Northwestern University general counsel Philip Harris has left his post, and is being replaced by Stephanie M Graham as interim general counsel. Ms Graham is a long-serving member of the university’s legal team, but the University has not announced plans for a formal replacement.

HR solutions company TriNet has appointed a new svp and general counsel to replace Brady Mickelsen, promoting internally. Mr  Mickelsen is to resign at the end of the year, and the  Dublin, California-based company says they will promote one of its own in-house attorneys to the role of chief legal officer, effective immediately.

JetBlue has promoted Brandon Nelson to become the company’s general counsel and corporate secretary. In his new role, Nelson leads the airline’s legal, ethics and compliance, cyber-security and ESG efforts, and reports to JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes. Mr Nelson joined JetBlue in 2005 and served as director, corporate counsel and assistant secretary before being promoted in 2009 to vice president and associate general counsel. He had been serving as general counsel on an acting basis since July 2018.

Raleigh, North-Carolina-based Syneos Health has hired Jonathan Olefson as general counsel and corporate secretary. In his new role, Mr Olefson leads Syneos Health’s global legal, compliance and quality functions, reporting directly to CEO Alistair Macdonald. Before joining Syneos Health, Olefson served as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Cotiviti Holdings.