Retail giant Walmart has appointed Erin Nealy Cox as its next chief legal officer, replacing Rachel Brand who left the company at the end of January.
Cox joins from Kirkland & Ellis, where she was a partner in its government, regulatory and internal investigations group. At Walmart, she will lead its global governance unit which includes responsibility for legal, compliance, ethics, corporate governance, risk management, litigation, investigations and corporate security. She will take up her new role on 13 April.
John Furner, Walmart’s president and CEO, said: “To lead global governance for a company of our scale and complexity, you need a leader who has thrived in the most demanding environments. Erin is exactly that leader. She brings a rare combination of legal strategy and operational rigour that will be essential as we continue to navigate the new era of retail, while staying true to our purpose of helping people save money and live better.”
Cox arrives after just over four and a half years at Kirkland, having previously been US attorney for the Northern District of Texas and head of the incident response unit at risk management and investigations business Stroz Friedberg. She also spent more than eight years as an assistant US attorney in Dallas and almost two years as chief of staff and senior counsel at the Office of Legal Policy.
She started her career as a litigation associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett before moving to Carrington Coleman.
Cox said: “Throughout my career in both the public and private sectors, I’ve found that the best strategies are always rooted in purpose. Walmart has a clear purpose, one I believe in deeply, and I’m excited to dive in and help our teams continue to serve our customers and members when, how and where they want.”
Brand, meanwhile, left Walmart after just under eight years, having previously been associate US attorney general, chief counsel for regulatory litigation at the US Chamber Litigation Center and a counsel at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr. Earlier in her career she clerked for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and served in the White House as associate counsel to the president during George W. Bush’s first term.
Writing on LinkedIn in September last year, she said: “As I told my team, I have been incredibly conflicted about this decision, but coming up on almost eight years in this role, the time will be right to move onto my next chapter early next year.
“I am so grateful to Doug McMillon, our board of directors, the Walton family, my colleagues on our executive council, my team in global governance and the many other Walmart associates around the world who have made this an incredible experience.”
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