Travel commerce platform Travelport (TVPT) has appointed the general counsel of bookmakers William Hill to head up its legal department. Thomas Murphy, whose appointment is with  immediate effect, brings more than 16 years of experience as in-house legal counsel. During his eight year tenure at William Hill plc, Mr Murphy also served as Head of Business Systems. He was responsible for the bookmaker’s regulated US gaming businesses based out of Las Vegas. Prior to that, he was General Counsel and Company Secretary of RHM, a leading food business sold to Premier Foods in 2007 and earlier as  General Counsel of the Automobile Association, then part of Centrica.  Originally qualifying as a barrister in England and Wales, Mr Murphy also worked at Clifford Chance and spent a period outside the law in financial analysis with HSBC.

TUI Travel lawyer Euan Sutton has joined Multiplex cinema operator Vue Entertainment International as group general counsel. He will report into the group management board and assume responsibility for advising on risk management and M&A. He replaces Anne Whalley who left in September 2014. At TUI Travel, he was general counsel of aviation, hotels and emerging markets. Prior to working at TUI, he was a senior legal advisor for First Class Holidays and also worked at Norton Rose and Macfarlanes.

In the US, car and trick fleet services provider ARI has recruited James Wells as General Counsel to oversee the legal affairs of the company across the globe. He will support a range of areas including regulatory and compliance, mergers and acquisitions, international law, intellectual property, employment matters, governance, litigation management and risk evaluation. Wells joins from Environmental Tectonics Corporation (ETC), a public company operating in the defense, aerospace and medical sectors, where he was Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer. Prior to ETC, Wells worked at ARAMARK for more than 20 years and also previously worked in law firm Pepper Hamilton LLP.

Former general counsel Rebecca Fuller has joined the board of Aim-listed London Capital Group. As a senior independent non-executive director, she has 20 years’ experience as a lawyer and has been a non-executive director at BATS Trading since May 2013. Ms Fuller has served as general counsel and head of compliance at Citadel Investment Group in Europe.

The National Air Transportation Association has selected Timothy Obitts as the association’s Senior Vice President for Business Development, Membership and as General Counsel. Mr Obitts will help  NATA’s development of benefits and products to assist general aviation businesses in better serving their customers.  Prior to joining NATA, Obitts was the managing partner of the law firm Gammon & Grange and specialised in  representating nonprofits, including trade associations.