Protective intelligence software company Ontic has appointed Scott Shepherd as chief legal officer, reporting to CEO Lukas Quanstrom. In this role Shepherd leads all corporate legal affairs, including regulatory compliance, and is legal counsel for Ontic’s leadership and board of directors.Â
In addition, former Walmart general counsel Tom Mars has joined the Ontic advisory board.
Shepherd has previously managed global legal operations and compliance for two start-ups. Before going in-house, he spent more than 15 years at law firms, primarily as a litigator.
Mars, who is now head of Mars Law Firm, is a trial lawyer, an advocate in collegiate sports and an experienced crisis consultant for companies, executives and public officials. He was recruited to Walmart as general counsel to manage the company’s litigation portfolio. He was responsible for all of the company’s legal matters both in the US and internationally, and later became chief administrative officer (CAO) of Walmart US.
In that role, Mars was responsible for US business units such as human resources, compliance, real estate, financial services, labor relations and external relations.
‘We are pleased to welcome Scott, whose proven legal expertise and leadership will serve our company and Fortune 1000 clients well as we continue our growth trajectory and transform this vital security sector,’ Quanstrom says in a statement. ‘Likewise, we are honored to have Tom Mars as an Ontic adviser. He brings an invaluable breadth and depth of experience, from helming legal affairs at multinational retail corporations and state law enforcement roles to representing individuals and corporate clients in complex litigation proceedings.’
‘The pandemic, racial justice activism and political unrest have spurred a pile-up of lawsuits against employers in state and federal courts,’ Mars says in the announcement. ‘This increase in litigation, combined with a dramatic increase in threat-related data, only compounds the number of ongoing threats and potential lawsuits corporations face on a more consistent basis from employees. The demand for a physical threat-management solution like Ontic has never been greater.’
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...
