Around the house

Universal Pictures has recruited Clarissa Weirick as general counsel from Warner Bros after 18 years in various legal roles in the competing studio. She will report to both Jeff Shell, chairman of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, and to Kimberley Harris, NBCUniversal executive vice president and general counsel. She will also oversee Fandango’s legal matters as part of the Filmed Entertainment Group. At Warner Bros., Ms Weirick most recently served as executive VP and general counsel of the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. Before working at Warner Bros., Weirick worked for Fidelity Federal Bank handling real estate and corporate matters and was also an associate with Armstrong & Hirsch and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Recruitment website Glassdoor has appointed Brad Serwin as general counsel, responsible for overseeing all legal matters as the company continues its growth within the employment industry and its global expansion into new markets. Mr Serwin brings more than 25 years of legal and operations experience to Glassdoor, having most recently served as senior vice president and deputy general counsel for eBay Inc, where he was responsible for all legal affairs for eBay.com and its affiliated sites. As part of his role, he oversaw all litigation and non-patent intellectual property matters for all eBay companies and managed 160 professionals in 15 countries. The company employs 500 in the US and the UK. Prior to eBay, Mr Serwin was general counsel of Playdom and was previously general counsel of Dean & Deluca and Las Vegas Sands Corp, as well as general counsel at Ticketmaster. He began his career as a corporate, securities and M&A attorney in private practice with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher.

Redwood Scientific Technologies has hired Rhonda Pearlman as general counsel. As general counsel, she will manage general corporate matters, debt and equity financing, litigation, and intellectual property. Ms Pearlman joins Redwood from the law offices of Stuart L. Melnick, LLC, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP and Par Pharmaceutical, where she served as contract attorney. She has been an associate at Baker & McKenzie, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and at Schulte Roth & Zabel. 

Australian Radio Network (ARN) has recruited Sarah Tinsley as its legal and business affairs director. She joins from Fairfax Media and Fairfax Radio Network, where she was senior counsel. She has also served as general counsel and company secretary for Nova Entertainment (DMG Radio). She will report to ARN’s COO Michael Harvey and will also support the broader APN News & Media legal team on group matters where she will report to Yvette Lamont, group general counsel and company secretary.

Football Association (FA) group legal director and company secretary Alistair Maclean is leaving the organisation today as part of a management shake-up to reprioritise significant investment towards the grassroots and the England teams. Mr Maclean said: 'I have spent over a quarter of my life working for The FA Group. It has been a privilege to grapple with the high profile and diverse range of complex legal and corporate governance issues that the organisation has faced. I've worked alongside four chairmen and five chief executives and learnt a huge amount from the Group Boards, The FA Council and all of my colleagues. Seeing the opening of St. George's Park, which was the culmination of a massive team effort that I was proud to lead on, will be a difficult moment to top in my career.' 

QPharma, a provider of commercial and compliance services to the life sciences industry, has announced the appointment of Johnathon Wright to the position of general counsel. Mr Wright will oversee the firm’s legal matters, including contracts and mergers and acquisitions. He will also apply his healthcare compliance expertise as a consultant to the firm’s roster of clients. Before joining QPharma, Mr Wright served as in-house staff attorney for a national hospice provider headquartered in New Jersey. His experience also includes a period as grievance and appeals officer with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.