Mars, Incorporated has promoted Stefanie Straub, current vice president and general counsel for Mars Wrigley Confectionery, to the role of vice president and general counsel. Ms Straub will become a member of the Mars Leadership Team and will assume her new role on 1 April. Ms Straub, who is qualified as a lawyer in both the United States and Germany, joined Wrigley in 2001 in Europe and since then has worked across the globe in various roles with broad geographic responsibilities, including Africa, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Russia. Following the acquisition of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. by Mars, Incorporated in 2008, Ms Straub moved to the United States in 2010 where she led the legal function for Wrigley in the Americas. She later became vice president and general counsel for Wrigley globally until her role expanded to include the chocolate business under Mars Wrigley Confectionery. 'I'm delighted to have Stefanie step into this critical role for Mars,' said Grant Reid, CEO of Mars, Incorporated. 'Stefanie's experience in multiple geographies in various roles demonstrates what is possible in building a career at Mars. This experience and her reputation for building strong teams make her a great addition to our leadership team.'

Engineering company Weir Group has restructured its in-house legal team following the hire of new general counsel Graham Vanhegan from international exploration and production company ConocoPhillips where his roles have included deputy general counsel and most recently vice president of business development.  He will be a member of Weir’s group executive and will join Weir on 1 April 2018, becoming company secretary on 1 May 2018, following the group’s Annual General Meeting. In addition to his responsibilities as CLO and company secretary, Mr Vanhegan will also lead the group’s corporate business development function.  Christopher Morgan, current general counsel and company secretary, will remain with Weir in the role of senior counsel.

Buildings solutions company Louisiana-Pacific Corporation has appointed Timothy Mann as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. MR Mann was most recently CEO and president of Axiall, a global manufacturer where he initially served as general counsel. He was previously a partner at the global law firm Jones Day in the mergers and acquisitions practice. Mr Mann has also served in leadership positions at other organisations including as the founder and CEO of an accounting and IT temporary staffing company which he led through its initial public offering on the NASDAQ.

Nickie Cheney has joined the Florida based insurance company LTC Global as general counsel. Prior to joining LTC Global, Ms Cheney was a partner in the New York office of DLA Piper. 'Nickie has led significant acquisition and divestiture transactions over the years for clients in a diverse group of industries. As general counsel, Nickie will oversee LTC Global’s continued push to acquire insurance agencies in the life and health space,' said LTC Global chief executive officer Daniel Schmedlen. 

Portola Pharmaceuticals has appointed John Moriarty as executive vice president and general counsel. Mr Moriarty will report to William Lis, chief executive officer, and will serve as Portola's chief legal officer, responsible for leading all legal, regulatory, governance and compliance initiatives. He also will be directly involved in strategic business transactions and corporate expansion as a member of Portola's Executive Committee. Mr Moriarty joins Portola from Alexion Pharmaceuticals where, as executive vice president and general counsel for more than five years, he was responsible for overseeing all global legal matters spanning 50 countries, as well as managing Alexion's Global Government Affairs and Global Corporate Communications teams during his tenure. Previously, he was senior vice president, general counsel and chief legal officer at Elan Corporation and served as a member of Elan's executive management team. Prior to joining Elan, Mr Moriarty held positions of increasing responsibility and leadership at Amgen. Earlier in his career, he worked as a lawyer in the healthcare practice of a national law firm and was a healthcare fraud prosecutor in the US Attorney's office and in the Virginia Attorney General's office.