In a widely speculated move, Houston-based energy group ConocoPhillips has announced the appointment of Baker Botts corporate transactional partner Kelly Brunetti Rose as its new general counsel. Ms Rose is also the latest in a growing trend of firms hiring general counsels from outside the firms rather than promoting from within the company. Prior to the appointment, Rose had represented ConocoPhillips and other major oil and gas companies in numerous billion-dollar mergers,  acquisitions, joint ventures and securities offering. Ms Rose replaced Janet Langford Carrig who retired as the general counsel to ConocoPhillips. Carrig joined ConocoPhillip as deputy general counsel in 2006 and became the chief legal officer a year later.

Amanda McMillian, who has served in positions of increasing responsibility since joining Anadarko Petroleum in 2004 has been selected to become executive vice president and general counsel. Ms McMillian, now a member of the company’s executive committee, has served most recently as senior vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer. Robert Reeves, who joined Anadarko in March 2004 as senior vice president for corporate affairs and law, will retire at the end of the year.

Choice Hotels International Inc has promoted Stacey Werner Shapiro to vice president and assistant general counsel. In addition to supporting many strategic business projects, Werner Shapiro will expand her role to manage the legal aspects of real estate and investment initiatives for the company’s upscale brand, Cambria Hotels. Ms Werner Shapiro joined Choice Hotels in 2009 and, throughout her tenure, has held roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as senior legal advisor where she provided strategic counsel on a range of topics, including commercial contracts, intellectual property, technology, e-commerce and growth initiatives. She also played a central role in the company’s acquisition and integration of WoodSpring Suites. Prior to joining Choice, Ms Werner Shapiro served as associate general counsel for commercial transactions and employment at Arbitron (now Nielsen Audio).

Investoo, a Foreign exchange and CFDs trading affiliate, has named James McCarthy as general counsel. In this role, Mr McCarthy will provide strategic and risk-sensitive legal advice to the firm, and help the firm formalise its internal governance policies. He will also ensure that the company is compliant with the relevant legal and regulatory requirements. His most recent role before Investoo was senior counsel at Aztec Group, a fund and corporate services provider.

TrueCore Behavioral, a behavioral health services provider and multi-state operator of at-risk-youth residential facilities and outpatient services based in Tampa, has named Mellissa Longo as general counsel. Ms Longo brings almost two decades of legal experience focusing on labour arbitrations, mediations, settlement negotiations, collective bargaining, labour and employment issues, and employment litigations. Most recently, she worked as corporate counsel for the GEO Group, a Florida-based company specializing in privatized corrections, detention, reentry and juvenile facilities. She was also an adjunct faculty member at Seton Hall University School of Law.

Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, an energy holding company based in Phoenix, has  announced the appointment of Bob Smith as senior vice president and general counsel of Pinnacle and its primary subsidiary, Arizona Public Service Company. Mr Smith oversees the firm’s legal department and office of the corporate secretary, and has over 20 years of legal experience in the energy industry. He Smith most recently served as senior vice president and general counsel at Columbia Pipeline Group, where he led the company’s legal affairs and several major strategic initiatives.

Local lottery tech startup Linq3 is not gambling with legal issues. The Atlanta-based outfit, which builds and markets technology for digital lottery game play, has appointed Matt Dillard as their first chief legal officer, responsible for all company legal matters. Mr Dillard has 20 years of expertise as in-house legal counsel for technology-centered organizations, and is both an attorney and engineer. His specializations include information technology, intellectual property, cybersecurity, and privacy and data protection. Most recently, he was Deputy General Counsel Operations as well as the Global Vice President of Legal Technology for Travelport, based in Atlanta as well as London.