Around the house

Penguin Random House deputy group legal director Sinead Martin will step up to the helm after current UK and international legal director Helena Peacock retires in June. Ms Peacock has been with Penguin for 23 years and oversaw the legal aspects of its 2013 merger with fellow publishing company Random House. Ms Martin joined Random House in 2006 after working in-house as a senior solicitor for British telecom Sky. She will assume her new role from July 1.

Meanwhile, EE general counsel James Blendis has held onto his position following the mobile company's £12.5bn merger with BT in January. Retaining his title as general counsel and company secretary, Mr Blendis will now sit on BT's legal leadership board together with group general counsel Dan Fitz and other senior legal managers. Mr Blendis will manage his EE legal team as a largely independent unit while also collaborating on the integration of core legal functions across BT and EE, including employment and litigation.

Also in the telecommunications corner, global bandwidth infrastructure provider Zayo Group has named Wendy Cassity as its new general counsel. Ms Cassity will replace former GC Scott Beer who exited the company late last year. She leaves her role as vice president and general counsel for publicly-traded metals group Thompson Creek Metals Company to join Zayo. Ms Cassity also brings extensive experience in M&A and securities from her stints in private practice with New York firms Cravath, Swaine & Moore and McDermott Will & Emery.

Leading cloud security company Zscaler has created a chief legal officer position as it pushes towards the next stage of its growth. Robert Scholssman will fill the role, joining Zscaler after holding legal and executive roles with a range of companies including Aptina, ONI Systems and Venture Law Group. 'My job will be to not only help [Zscaler] effectively manage growth but also to ensure that we are on the forefront of critical issues involving privacy and security,' said Mr Scholssman of his appointment. Zscaler's systems are currently used by 50 companies in the Fortune 500.