Appointments: September 2014

Charles Kraus

1) Bellatrix Exploration in Calgary has appointed Charles Kraus as vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, effective September 2. A  Canadian and US qualified lawyer, Kraus joins Bellatrix from another Calgary-based oil and gas exploration and development company where he was an executive officer and the general counsel for the past three years.

Prior to that, he was in private practice for 10 years, most recently with the Calgary office of Stikeman Elliott, where he focused on cross-border public and private capital markets transactions, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance.  Kraus received his JD magna cum laude from Hamline University School of Law in St Paul, Minnesota in 2001. He is admitted to the bars of Alberta, Washington and Minnesota, and is a member of several Canadian and US legal associations such as the Association of Corporate Counsel, where he is on the board of the Alberta chapter.

Mark Isaacson

2) The Mosaic Company, a producer of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients, has appointed Mark Isaacson as vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, a role he has held on an acting basis since May when Richard L Mack was named chief financial officer.

Isaacson, who has become a member of Mosaic's senior leadership team, joined the company on its formation in 2004 as its chief phosphates counsel. He was then promoted to vice president, associate general counsel and chief compliance officer in 2011. He has significant experience in compliance, commercial transactions, litigation and antitrust practice. Before joining Mosaic, Isaacson worked for 15 years at Cargill as senior attorney for a number of its business units. He holds bachelor's degrees in accounting and political science from the University of North Dakota, and a JD from the University of Minnesota. 

3) National Oilwell Varco has chosen Craig Weinstock to succeed Dwight W Rettig as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary after Rettig retires on October 1.

Before joining National Oilwell Varco, Weinstock practiced law for 29 years at Locke Lord in Texas, where he counseled corporate boards and independent directors regarding governance, securities and compliance matters. While practicing with Locke Lord, Weinstock worked on behalf of National Oilwell Varco on a variety of matters. Since joining National Oilwell Varco in October 2013,  he has served as the company’s chief compliance officer and vice president of Internal Audit.

Chairman, President and CEO Clay C Williams expressed his gratitude to Rettig for more than two decades of ‘extraordinary service and leadership.’   ‘We are confident that Craig will continue to build our strong, worldwide legal team and provide sound counsel and advice as he has for years,’ he said.

Weinstock holds a BA from the State University of New York and a JD from Vanderbilt Law School.

Rachel Gonzalez

4) Sabre Corp, a global technology provider to the travel and tourism industry, has appointed Rachel Gonzalez as executive vice president and general counsel, effective September 22.

Prior to joining Sabre, Gonzalez served as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at Dean Foods in Dallas. Previously, she was senior vice president and group counsel at Affiliated Computer Services.  Earlier in her career, Gonzalez was a partner with the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, focusing on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, SEC compliance and corporate governance.

She earned a bachelors degree in Comparative Literature with high honors from the University of California, Berkeley.  She also earned a law degree from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dianne Ralston

5) Weatherford International has appointed Dianne Ralston as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. She joins Weatherford with more than 20 years of combined legal, compliance, and contractual experience in the oil and gas industry, including working for Schlumberger in a variety of roles since 1998.  Her most recent positions with Schlumberger were of deputy general counsel, corporate, as well as deputy general counsel, government affairs and litigation.  Ralston also acted as director of compliance with responsibility for the continuing development and management of Schlumberger’s global corporate ethics and compliance program.

Ralston holds two BBAs from Texas A&M University and a JD from the University of Houston School of Law. She will report directly to Chairman, President and CEO Bernard J Duroc-Danner.

With this appointment, Weatherford will merge its legal and compliance departments under Ralston, ensuring best practices in legal and compliance activities while securing a more efficient and effective organizational structure.