Around the house

French oil company Total SA has appointed Maarten Scholten as its new general counsel. The appointment follows the retirement of the present incumbent Peter Herbel who will retire this year. Scholten is a director on the board of BW Offshore and was previously at Schlumberger. He trained at Dutch law firm Loeff & van der Ploeg which later became part of global firm Allen & Overy.

The general counsel of  the UK’s Nationwide Building Society Liz Kelly is leaving to spend more time with her family.
She has occupied the role since 2009, having joined eight years prior to that from a global law firm.  According to Legal Week, she will finish reviewing the Society’s review of its legal panel and step down at the end of the year. No successor has been identified yet.

Mountain resort operator Vail Resorts has hired Randall Mehrberg as its executive vice president and general counsel.
Mr Mehrberg, who has been executive vice president of stategy and development for public Service Enterprise Group and president and PEEG Energy Holdings and previously a partner with Jenner & Block, joins the company in December.
Vail Resorts Chairman and Chief Executive Rob Katz said Mr Mehrberg had ‘a deep understanding of not only the complex issues facing public companies, but a broad perspective on business and corporate strategy and a keen sensitivity to community and government initiatives.’
Vail Resorts is the leading mountain resort operator in the US and is lised on the New York Stock Exchange.  A skier, Mr Mehrberg has been visiting the resort for the past 30 years.

Partner James Scott has left law firm Greensfelder Law to join design and construction company CRB as general counsel.  The engineering and construction specialist will represent the company on all legal matters. Mr Scott is also adjunct professor with the Washing Unversity School of Architecture where he lectures on the legal aspects of design and construction.

Cantor Fitzgerald partner and senior managing director Jay Itzkowitz has left the financial services company to take up a role at in-flight connectivity specialist Golden Eagle Entertainment. He joined the company on 1 October as senior vice president and general counsel and will work from the company’s Los Angeles office.He previously worked for Vivendi Universal and law firm Hogan Lovells as well as News Corporation.