Appointments: September 2016

Kate Hargrove Ramundo

Alcoa names Kate Hargrove Ramundo chief legal officer of Arconic

Alcoa has named Kate Hargrove Ramundo as executive vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary of Arconic, a role that will take effect when the company separates from Alcoa later this year. Ramundo will succeed Audrey Strauss, Alcoa executive vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary, who plans to retire at the completion of Alcoa’s separation.

Alcoa chairman and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld comments: ‘As we chart a new future as Arconic, it is clear that Kate Ramundo’s impressive legal acumen, extensive international experience and successful track record in a wide range of business situations will be an ideal fit for our innovation-driven growth strategy.’

Ramundo comes to Arconic from ANN, based in New York, where she was executive vice president, general counsel and secretary. Prior to this she was vice president, deputy general counsel and assistant secretary of Colgate-Palmolive, during which time she managed global specialty legal activities throughout the entire company, including North America, Europe, Asia, South Pacific, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. She began her career as a litigator, practicing at major New York-based law firms.

Ramundo has a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and a JD from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

Stuart Alderoty

Stuart Alderoty joins CIT Group

CIT Group has appointed Stuart Alderoty as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. He arrives from HSBC North America Holdings, where he served as general counsel since November 2010. He succeeds Robert Ingato, who will continue as a strategic adviser until year-end.

Alderoty serves on CIT’s executive management committee and reports directly to CEO Ellen Alemany, who says: ‘We are excited to have a lawyer of Stuart’s caliber join CIT as general counsel and corporate secretary. Not only is he a trusted counselor with vast experience in managing complex legal matters, but he also brings a wealth of banking and regulatory expertise to support CIT’s strategic growth in the years to come.’

Before HSBC, Alderoty was managing counsel at American Express and prior to that was a partner with the law firm of LeBoeuf Lamb Greene and MacRae. He is on the board of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, a not-for-profit that advocates the expanded hiring, retention and promotion of minority attorneys in corporate law departments and law firms.

He is also on the board of the Count Basie Theatre, a community arts center in Red Bank, New Jersey, and on the advisory committee of the Corporate Law Center at Rutgers University, of which he is a graduate.

Chris Paul

Chris Paul joins Gulf Oil

Chris Paul has moved to Gulf Oil to become general counsel, overseeing capital markets, M&A, corporate governance, commercial, contracts, litigation and regulatory compliance. He joins from Blueknight Energy Partners where he served as chief legal officer and general counsel since 2013.

Paul has more than 30 years’ extensive legal experience, primarily in the energy industry. He was a leader of the aerospace and midstream energy/transportation industry groups at McAfee & Taft and held positions with Sun Company and Sun Refining and Marketing. Before that he was in private practice as an owner of Joyce & Paul and a partner with Gardere & Wynne, and had earlier served in the US military as counsel in the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps.

Paul earned his BA in international studies from Dickinson College and his JD from the College of William and Mary.

Lucy Fato

Nardello appoints Lucy Fato as general counsel

Lucy Fato has joined investigations firm Nardello as managing director, head of the Americas and global general counsel, effective October 11. Nardello’s clients include legal and compliance teams and boards of directors of publicly listed multinational firms, which will now benefit from Fato’s more than 25 years’ experience in the legal, compliance, regulatory and corporate governance arenas.

Most recently Fato served as executive vice president and general counsel of McGraw-Hill Financial (now S&P Global), favorably resolving litigation resulting from the financial crisis and other regulatory issues raised by the US Department of Justice and the SEC. Before that, she was deputy general counsel and corporate secretary at Marsh & McLennan Companies, overseeing SEC/NYSE compliance, privacy, trade sanctions, e-discovery and capital markets and corporate finance transactions.

Admitted to practice law in New York and California, Fato began her legal career in 1991 at Davis Polk & Wardwell, becoming a partner in the capital markets group. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a bachelor’s in business and economics and went on to earn her law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Fato is on the board of trustees of the Randall’s Island Park Alliance, a non-profit helping to maintain the East River Park for the wellbeing of all New Yorkers. She was its business honoree in 2015 and Ethisphere Magazine cited her as one of its 2015 Attorneys Who Matter for her dedication to furthering corporate ethics.

Elisa Garcia

Elisa Garcia becomes chief legal officer of Macy’s

Elisa Garcia has joined chain store giant Macy’s as chief legal officer responsible for legal and government affairs. She arrives from Office Depot, where she became chief legal officer after the 2013 merger with OfficeMax, having joined Office Depot in 2007 as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary.

Before that, Garcia was executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Domino’s Pizza in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Latin American regional counsel for Philip Morris International after beginning her legal career with the New York firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Fluent in English and Spanish, she was previously a developing country energy analyst.

Garcia is a graduate of St John’s University School of Law in New York and also received a joint BA/MS in political science and management and policy sciences from W Averell Harriman College. She is on the boards of Canadian retailer Dollarama, the American Arbitration Association and the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce. She has also served on the boards of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the Association of Corporate Counsel.

Steve Kemps

S&P Global appoints Steve Kemps

Steve Kemps has joined S&P Global as executive vice president and general counsel, reporting to president and CEO Douglas Peterson and serving on the company’s operating committee.

‘Steve’s 25 years of corporate legal expertise make him an essential addition to the team,’ comments Peterson. ‘Additionally, his extensive experience practicing law across both the public and private sector will bring valuable perspective as we continue to transform our business.’

Before S&P, Kemps was executive vice president and general counsel at Quanta Services, where he supervised all legal affairs and advised the business on regulatory, ethical and compliance matters. Prior to that, he was general counsel of Hess Retail Corporation and Dean Foods Company. He has also held various senior legal positions with Kimberly-Clark Corporation and law firm Dorsey & Whitney, and served as a federal law clerk to Judge Paul Magnuson of the US District Court of Minnesota.

Kemps holds a JD from the University of Wisconsin Law School and a BBA in accounting from the University of Wisconsin School of Business. He is also a certified public accountant.

Lauren Ezrol Klein

Time names Lauren Ezrol Klein executive vice president and general counsel

Lauren Ezrol Klein has been named executive vice president and general counsel for Time. Previously senior vice president and deputy general counsel at the firm, she succeeds Lon Jacobs and reports to chairman and CEO Joe Ripp.

‘With her experience and skills, Time is very fortunate to have someone of Lauren’s caliber take on the critical general counsel role. I’m delighted to have her on my executive leadership team,’ says Ripp, who also pays tribute to Jacobs for his leadership and contributions to the organization.

Since starting with Time in 1996, Klein has worked on most of the company’s significant acquisitions, dispositions and other corporate transactions, including a leading role in the June 2014 spin-off from Time Warner. As the company’s second-most senior lawyer since then, she has overseen the corporate legal group, including the company’s transactional, public company, corporate governance, corporate contracts and non-editorial businesses’ legal work. In this role she has managed the legal department’s M&A and securities function and has worked closely with the board of directors.

Klein began her 25-year career in corporate law as an associate at the New York law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett where she worked on transactions in the M&A, securities and banking areas. A graduate of Harvard Law School, she also earned a BS from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University.