Longstanding Google general counsel for the UK and Ireland Emma Jelley has left the search engine giant to head the legal department at technology startup Onfido. Onfido is a London-based startup that automates background checks, allowing employers to electronically vet job applicants. It was launched last year after securing £3m in funding from the backers behind Dropbox and Spotify. Ms Jelley joined the company in recent weeks after overseeing Google’s legal affairs and department in the region for the last eight years. A former Hogan Lovells lawyer, Ms Jelley was seconded to pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline and luxury fashion house Gucci during her time in private practice.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Media Producers Association has announced the appointment of Erin Finlay as the organisation’s new chief legal officer.  Ms Finlay joins the CMPA from Access Copyright, where she was general counsel and director of legal and government relations. Her experience and expertise includes entertainment industry-specific litigation, policy development, privacy, copyright, intellectual property and risk management. Before moving in-house, Ms Finlay an advocacy and entertainment associate at Cassels Brock & Blackwell.

Royal Bank of Scotland has lost its divisional head of legal for large corporate and sectors in the UK and Western Europe, Robin Macpherson, to real estate investment management Valad Europe. Mr Macpherson has joined Valad as its head of risk, a role that encompasses the roles of general counsel and chief compliance officer. A onetime Travers Smith lawyer, Mr Macpherson joined RBS in 2009 and was senior manager for RBS Legal before being elevated to his divisional head of legal role in 2015. Valad chief executive David Kirkby said the decision to hire Mr Macpherson demonstrates the company’s ‘commitment to implementing robust and transparent risk management procedures across the business particularly in light of increasing regulation facing the industry.’

Johnson & Johnson’s top intellectual property lawyer, Philip Johnson, has resigned from the company. The exit comes as the multinational medial, pharmaceutical and consumer goods company continues to battle a string of product liability cases, the latest of which saw the New Jersey-based company ordered to pay $1bn in punitive damages by a Dallas court. There are also reports that Mr Johsnon is on the shortlist of President Elect Donald Trump as a potential pick to head the US Patent and Trademark Office. Another J&J in-houser, Robert DeBerardine, will be taking over from Mr Johnson as chief IP counsel.

Finally, Pennsylvania-based industrial materials company Kennametal has named Michelle Keating as its new vice president, secretary and general counsel. Ms Keating joined Kennametal in 2010 and most recently served as the company’s assistant general counsel and assistant secretary. Before arriving at Kennametal, Ms Keating was a contract manager at Wesco International, an electronics distribution company. She will now be responsible for all global legal operations, ethics and compliance at Kennametal.