Around the house

Sony's general counsel Nicole Seligman has got the top job at the company. She has just been appointed president of Sony Entertainment. Ms Seligman will have three jobs - president of both Sony Corporation of America and Sony Entertainment and senior legal counsel at Sony group although it is thought she will give up her GC role. She joined Sony in 2001 from Washington law firm Williams & Connolly where she represented clients from Ollie North in the Iran-Contra hearing to representing President Clinton in the Lewinsky scadal.

Silicon Valley Bank has hired Michael Zuckert as the company's new General Counsel. Mr Zuckert was previously Deputy General Counsel at Citigroup, where he served as general counsel for Citi Holdings as well as general counsel for Finance and Capital Markets. Before joining Citigroup, he worked at Morgan Stanley in both legal and business roles. He was also General Counsel of The Street from 1999-2000, when the company went public. In his new role he will be responsible for leading the legal department and providing strategic guidance to the company's management team and board of directors, while helping the company navigate the complex regulatory landscape. A graduate of Brown University and the New York University School of Law, Zuckert started his career as a corporate associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP in New York. He has served on the resiliency committee of the New York region of the American Red Cross and was a board member of The Picture House in Pelham, New York.

The Amercan Insurance Association (AIA) has appointed Amanda Greenwold Wise as its vice president and chief counsel for federal affairs. Ms Wise joines the washington DC trade group from law firm Debevoise & Plimpton. She also served for more than ten years at the US Department of Treasury. Previous jobs included drafting the insurance provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act and advising on the Terrorism Risk Insurance Programme.

Florida East Coast Industries has hired MylesTobin as its general counsel for a proposed privately funded, intercity passenger-rail link between Orlando and Miami. Mr Tobin, who was a former partner at Chicago law firm Fletcher & Sippel, will run All Aboard Florida's legal affairs. He has also served as vice president of US legal affairs for CN, where he headed up legal affairs for 40 US subsidiaries in the transportation business.

Genus has appointed Dan Hartley has group general counsel and company secretary on 9 June. Mr Hartley was admitted to practice law in Australia, where he initially worked with Allens Arthur Robinson and then Anderson Legal on biotech patent litigation. In 2000, he moved to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in the UK. In 2002, he joined Shire Pharmaceuticals, where he held positions including general counsel for Europe, a three year secondment to the US and global counsel for Shire's biologics business, before being appointed Shire's International Counsel for all ex-US operations. Mr Hartley has a wide range of experience, including corporate governance, acquisitions and licensing.

David M. Billings will be the next Affiliated Managers Group Inc general counsel starting on 30 June, replacing John Kingston, who is vacating the position. Mr Billings received his degree at Harvard Law School and was partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in London before receiving his position at AMG. While in London, Mr Billings focused on representing private investment funds and their sponsors. Mr Kingston, who was previously the Beverly firm's general counsel for 15 years, will become a vice chairman.

Brocade named Ellen "Nell" O'Donnell as General Counsel and the head of the company's legal department, the company announced Tuesday. Ms O'Donnell's experience includes roles as SVP and General Counsel at Micromuse Inc. and associate general counsel at LucasArts. Her education includes a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University and Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

Around the house

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