Appointments: February 2013

Xylem
Christian Na has been appointed senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Xylem, a global water technology provider.

Since 2010, Na has served as deputy general counsel of Circor International, a global manufacturer specializing in highly engineered industrial products, where he managed the day-to-day legal affairs of the company and its subsidiaries worldwide. From 2007 to 2010, Na was group vice president and general counsel at Danaher’s product identification division. Prior to that he was general counsel and corporate secretary for the US, Asia-Pacific and Latin America at Mitel Networks; during this period he also served as part-time adjunct professor at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs.

Hydrogenics
Hydrogenics, a leading developer and manufacturer of hydrogen generation and fuel cell products, has appointed Bob Motz as chief financial officer and corporate secretary. 

Motz brings over 26 years of financial and operational experience to the position. He is a chartered accountant who started his career with Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC). Prior to joining Hydrogenics, Motz was senior vice president and chief financial officer from 2008 to 2011 and president and chief executive officer from 2011 to 2012 of Aeroquest International (a TSX-listed company at the time).

Hydrogenics president and chief executive officer Daryl Wilson says, ‘Bob brings to us excellent professional skills, maturity and versatility, which will complement our very strong leadership team for the growth we anticipate in coming years.’

Flowserve
Flowserve, a leading provider of flow control products and services for the global infrastructure markets, has appointed Carey O’Connor as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary. In her new role she reports to Mark Blinn, president and chief executive officer.

O’Connor joined Flowserve in January 2003 and has served since May 2011 as the company’s vice president and corporate secretary. She succeeds Ron Shuff, Flowserve’s former senior vice president and general counsel, who earlier this year announced his plans to retire in the first half of 2013 after nearly 25 years with the company.

Liverpool Victoria
Insurance company Liverpool Victoria (LV) has promoted general counsel Rachel Small to group company secretary.

Small, who first joined LV in September 2007 and was appointed general counsel in 2009, will hold the new responsibilities of group company secretary in addition to her existing general counsel role. She is taking over for Paul Cassidy, who has returned to LV’s general insurance business unit in a projects-based role.

As part of her expanded role, Small will be in charge of advising the mutual’s board of directors on corporate governance-related issues. She will continue to lead her 12-strong team, which includes eight lawyers, and will manage the group’s relationship with its panel firms.

Commenting on her appointment, Small says: ‘In the five years since I joined LV I have been able to revitalize the in-house legal function to ensure we are offering a first-class and cost-effective service to the group, which has grown significantly over the same period of time to become a leading financial mutual. This new role will see me working closely with the LV group board of directors to help continue the success we have seen over recent years.’

Silvercorp Metals
Silvercorp Metals, a low-cost silver-producing Canadian mining company, has promoted Peter Torn to the position of corporate secretary and general counsel. 

Torn has 20 years’ experience with various companies in Europe, Asia and the US. He is a securities and corporate commercial lawyer and a current member of the British Columbia Law Society. He has been involved in a wide range of corporate and securities matters, including mergers and acquisitions, takeovers, corporate reorganizations, joint ventures, cross-border transactions, stock exchange listings, initial public offerings, public and private financings and securities regulatory issues. He replaces Lorne Waldman, who has resigned from the company as corporate secretary to pursue other interests.

Brown & Brown
Insurance firm Brown & Brown has announced that Laurel Grammig, vice president and corporate secretary, has been promoted to the newly created position of vice president, secretary and chief compliance and regulatory officer. In her new role she will continue to report to Robert Lloyd, vice president and general counsel of the company.

Grammig served as general counsel for the company and its subsidiaries from 1994 until 2009, when she was named chief corporate counsel. In her new role she will have increased focus on compliance and regulatory issues and will continue to have responsibility for corporate governance and securities law matters. Prior to joining Brown & Brown she was a partner at the law firm of Holland & Knight in Tampa.

Powell Brown, Brown & Brown president and chief executive officer and a member of the board, comments, ‘The creation of the position of chief compliance and regulatory officer evidences our board’s recognition of the importance of compliance as we grow toward our $2 billion intermediate revenue goal.’

Novo Nordisk
Global healthcare company Novo Nordisk has announced that Curtis Oltmans has been promoted to corporate vice president and general counsel, legal and quality affairs, and joins the company’s US executive team.

In his new role Oltmans is responsible for strategy and initiatives in the areas of law, quality, intellectual property, grants and philanthropy for the company’s business in North America.

Previously, as vice president and deputy general counsel, Oltmans led the legal affairs team. He was tapped in 2010 to lead Novo Nordisk’s Native American Health Initiative, a project designed to build sustainable diabetes care and education programs with the Rosebud Sioux tribe in Rosebud, South Dakota.

‘Curt has used his extensive knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry to make significant contributions during his tenure so far at Novo Nordisk,’ says Jerzy Gruhn, president. ‘He has led our legal team through a number of significant milestones, along with overseeing an important social responsibility effort for the Native American community. We look forward to his continued leadership as a part of the executive team.’

Oltmans joined Novo Nordisk in June 2005. Prior to that he held various positions in the legal department of Eli Lilly (1992-2005). He has worked as an associate at Shook, Hardy & Bacon in Kansas City (1989-92), and as a visiting associate at Cameron McKenna (1988-89) in London. 

Oltmans earned a BA in political science from the University of Nebraska in 1985 before going on to the school’s College of Law, where he graduated with high distinction in 1988. 

Anacostia Rail Holdings
Anacostia Rail Holdings, a short-line railroad holding company, has appointed Mark Sidman as general counsel. In this newly created position, his responsibilities include legal guidance, regulatory matters and transaction negotiations for Anacostia and its railroad subsidiaries.

Sidman has provided legal assistance to transportation and railroad industry clients for more than 30 years. Previously he was partner, founder and transportation practice leader at Weiner Brodsky Sidman Kider, a Washington, DC law firm. At that firm Sidman represented Anacostia and many other short-line railroads, trade associations and transportation-related businesses.

Sidman was previously special assistant to the executive vice president of the United States Railway Association. He holds a BA in economics from Hobart College and a JD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Walmart
Walmart has announced the promotion of 17-year company veteran Karen Roberts to the post of executive vice president and general counsel. She will report to executive vice president and corporate secretary Jeff Gearhart. 

In her new role Roberts will manage the legal department, which is responsible for handling all legal matters affecting the company in its domestic and international markets. Gearhart will maintain oversight for the legal function in addition to his newly expanded responsibilities for Walmart’s compliance, ethics and investigations teams as part of the company’s plans to align the functions and further strengthen its global compliance efforts. 

Gearhart says that Roberts ‘is an extremely talented professional whose integrity, breadth of experience and knowledge of Walmart make her uniquely qualified for this important role. Karen’s legal background and previous responsibilities directing our US compliance and real estate functions provide an important perspective for overseeing the complex legal issues we deal with every day in our business.’

Roberts is currently executive vice president and president, Walmart Realty for Walmart US, where she is responsible for Walmart’s real estate operations and a portfolio of close to 1 billion square feet. Prior to that she was senior vice president and chief compliance officer for Walmart US, where she oversaw the establishment of best-in-class food safety and product safety programs and directed a recycling program that kept more than 80 percent of all waste generated by the company’s US operations out of landfills in 2011. 

Melkior Resources
Melkior Resources, a small mining and exploration company, has announced the appointment of Sabino Di Paola as chief financial officer and corporate secretary. Di Paola has a wide variety of auditing and accounting experience for both private and public companies.

Paola replaces Ingrid Martin, CPA, who the company says has been an excellent and much-appreciated contributor to Melkior as its chief financial officer and corporate secretary during the past seven years.