Cryptocurrency company Ripple has lost its general counsel at what has been termed ‘a critical time.’ Brynly Llyr, general counsel of Ripple, has left the payment and remittance network, just as Ripple is preparing for a class-action battle about whether its XRP cryptocurrency is a security or not. The firm has added its legal team recently, including former US Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White and the regulator’s former director of enforcement, Andrew Ceresney. Ms Llyr joined Ripple in 2016, starting as a leading legal officer and staying with the startup for two and a half years. Reasons for leaving are not disclosed but appears to be on mutual terms. Before Ripple, Ms Llyr worked high-level legal positions at eBay and PayPal.

Ryan Damon, previously a general counsel at Riverbed Technology, has joined Nasdaq-listed Criteo as executive vice president and general counsel. In his new role, Mr Damon oversees the legal, data privacy and government relations functions at the internet advertising platform. He reports directly to JB Rudelle, Criteo’s CEO. Damon started work with the company last month. At Riverbed Technology, he oversaw more than 10 acquisitions that helped grow the company from a single product offering to a multi-product platform organization.

James L. Banks Jr has joined the executive team as general counsel of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), an organization whose mission is to transform work. Mr Banks Jr will manage the legal function of SHRM, oversee the work of outside counsel, and serve as key lawyer and legal advisor on major business transactions. Prior to joining SHRM, he served as attorney for the US city of Alexandria in Virginia, where he was general counsel for the city. Mr Banks has served for over 10 years in the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary system, including seven years on the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board where he served as chair.

M&A Lawyer Christina Marshall has returned to practice at Haynes and Boone after a stint as general counsel. Ms Marshall left Haynes and Boone in early 2015, shortly after she was promoted to partner. After a few years working as general counsel for a Dallas company, and then managing her own small firm, Ms Marshall went back to her legal roots.

Kiadis Pharma has appointed James Joy as general counsel and company secretary. Mr Joy will be a member of the Senior Management Team at Kiadis Pharma. He reports to the Chief Executive Officer and is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Mr Joy has over 20 years of legal and corporate finance experience, and previously worked at multinational companies TomTom NV and as  Royal Ahold NV, and is a member of the New York State Bar.

Biopharmaceutical company Clearside Biomedical has appointed Leslie Zacks as general counsel and chief compliance officer. In a legal career spanning over 24 years, Mr Zacks most recently served as vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer at Arbor Pharmaceuticals Inc, where he provided strategic counsel on legal, intellectual property and compliance issues. Prior to joining Arbor, Mr. Zacks was executive vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer at Shionogi Pharma Inc from 2004 to 2010. 

The University of New Mexico president has as a new chief legal counsel, appointing Loretta Martinez, starting Oct. 1. Ms Martinez will serve as general counsel and vice chancellor for legal affairs at City University of New York. A graduate of Harvard Law School, she also has served as legal counsel at Metropolitan State University in Denver.