Appointments: May 2016

Eileen Coggins

1) AmeriHealth Caritas, part of the Independence Health Group in partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, has appointed Eileen Coggins as general counsel and senior vice president for long-term services & supports/Medicare solutions (LTSS/MS). She was previously senior vice president of compliance and risk management.

Citing Coggins’ ‘significant career experience working with Medicare and companies specializing in home care, long-term care, durable medical equipment and pharmacy,’ chairman and CEO Paul Tufano says the new role at LTSS/MS is a natural evolution for Coggins and the company.

A veteran attorney with more than 24 years’ legal experience in public and private healthcare companies, Coggins previously served as general counsel and senior vice president of government affairs at Univita Health, a provider of home-based care management programs, and senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Genesis HealthCare, one of the largest US skilled nursing and rehabilitation therapy providers.

Coggins earned her BA in public administration from West Chester University of Pennsylvania and her JD from Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware.

Nancy Axilrod

2) Nancy Axilrod has been appointed as general counsel and assistant secretary at Coach, succeeding Todd Kahn, who has been promoted to the role of president, chief administrative officer and secretary.

Before joining Coach in 2010 as senior vice president and deputy general counsel, Axilrod served as assistant general counsel for Carl Icahn’s holding company, Icahn Associates, from 2006 to 2009. She was previously vice president and general counsel of the Icahn-owned Sands Casino Hotel in Atlantic City. 

Paula Maggio

3) Retail Properties of America has appointed Paula Maggio as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary. She succeeds Dennis Holland, who had previously announced he would be retiring on June 30 this year.

Before joining the real estate investment trust, which is one of the largest owners and operators of shopping centers in the US, Maggio was executive vice president, general counsel and secretary at Strategic Hotels & Resorts, where she served in various positions from 2000 onwards. After helping the company with its IPO in 2004, she was promoted to general counsel.

Before that, Maggio practiced law with Altheimer & Gray, where she focused primarily on real estate and hospitality law. She received both a BA and JD cum laude from the University of Illinois.

Thomas DesRosier

4) Thomas DesRosier has been named as chief legal officer and executive vice president at Seres Therapeutics, a microbiome therapeutics company. In addition to being responsible for global legal operations, corporate compliance and quality assurance, he will act as secretary for Seres’ leadership team and its board of directors.

DesRosier has more than 30 years’ experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Most recently, he served as chief legal and administrative officer at ARIAD Pharmaceuticals. Before that he held the same position at Cubist Pharmaceuticals until the company’s acquisition by Merck in 2014. He has also served as senior vice president and general counsel for North America of Sanofi, beginning in 2011 after Sanofi acquired Genzyme Corp, where he had been senior vice president and chief legal officer. Prior to his 12 years at Genzyme, he held senior legal positions at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Genetics Institute and DuPont.

DesRosier received his JD from Wake Forest University School of Law and his BA in chemistry from the University of Vermont.

Laura Bednarski

5) US Bancorp’s board of directors has elected Laura Bednarski as corporate secretary. She retains her position as senior vice president and deputy general counsel at the firm, the parent company of US Bank, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the US.

Since joining US Bancorp in 2000, Bednarski has been responsible for the company’s corporate governance matters. In her role as corporate secretary, she will act as the firm’s named representative on legal and other documents. Prior to joining the company, she was an attorney at the law firm Faegre & Benson (now Faegre Baker Daniels), practicing primarily in the areas of M&A and capital markets. She also spent three years in the corporate group of law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York City.

Bednarski received her JD from Columbia Law School and her bachelor’s degrees in economics and French from Duke University.

Paul Oakley

6) Paul Oakley has been appointed as senior vice president and general counsel at Wolfe Laboratories.

With more than 20 years’ experience as an executive and entrepreneur, building and managing high-growth, mission-oriented teams and organizations, Oakley’s integrated business, legal and strategic perspectives ‘will be invaluable in helping us navigate during this time of rapid growth,’ company president and founder Janet Wolfe says in a statement.

Prior to joining Wolfe Laboratories, Oakley was chief administrative officer at TrueLight, an energy firm engaged in short-term trading in the wholesale electricity markets through its proprietary hedge fund, TrueLight Energy Fund. Previously, he was a corporate finance and transactional partner at Sullivan & Worcester in Boston. He began his legal career as an associate at firms in New York City and Washington, DC. Before practicing law, Oakley held communications positions in advertising and public relations and was also a reporter.

He received his bachelor’s degrees in English and journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia, a master’s in international politics from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, and his JD from the College of Law at Syracuse University, where he was on the editorial board of the Syracuse Law Review.