Fortune 500 science and technology company Leidos has appointed Dan Antal as its next general counsel, effective April 1.
Antal is at present general counsel for Rolls-Royce Defense and North America. He will succeed Jerald Howe, who had announced his planned retirement from the company. Howe will remain general counsel until March 31 and will continue in an advisory capacity to ensure a smooth transition until March 15, 2025.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Antal previously spent more than seven years with Leidos before joining Rolls-Royce in 2021. During his previous spell with Leidos, he was most recently general counsel for the company’s civil group. His earlier roles include general counsel for the company’s defense group and corporate secretary.
Before first joining Leidos, Antal was senior counsel with exp Global. He previously worked at MWH Global as director of risk management for the Middle East and director of operations.
Howe joined Leidos in July 2017 having previously been a partner at Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson (now Fried Frank) where he was a member of the law firm’s litigation, government contracts, M&A and aerospace and defense practices.
Before joining Fried Frank, he was the senior vice president and general counsel at aerospace and defense company TASC. In that role, he oversaw legal affairs, corporate development and M&A, ethics and compliance programs, government relations and security. He was previously owner and principal of InSequitur, a consulting firm, and executive vice president of the Olive Group. Howe was earlier senior vice president and general counsel of Veridian Corporation.
Leidos CEO Tom Bell says in a statement: ‘I’m very proud to welcome Dan back to Leidos and very much look forward to having him on my executive team. With his deep industry knowledge and his thorough understanding of Leidos, Dan is uniquely positioned to hit the ground running and lead our legal team. His expertise will be instrumental in safeguarding our global business.
‘On behalf of the board of directors and management team, I want to extend our deepest gratitude to Jerry for his exemplary service as general counsel... Over the past seven years, his legal expertise and unwavering ethical commitment have been essential in navigating complex legal landscapes and reinforcing our strong governance… [W]e wish him the very best in his well-deserved retirement.’
Ben Maiden
Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Governance Intelligence, an IR Media publication, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. Ben was previously managing editor of Compliance Reporter, covering regulatory and compliance...
