GC Appointments

Staples Inc. hired Michael Williams as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary. Williams joins the office supply company from Sony Electronics Inc., where he served as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary. Williams also was a partner at both Heller Ehrman and Andrews Kurth.

Aerospace company Alliant Techsystems Inc. named Scott Chaplin senior vice president, general counsel and secretary. Chaplin has years of experience in the defense and aerospace sector, having served as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Stanley Inc., and vice president and general counsel of BAE Systems Information Technology.

Ivan Fong, formerly general counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, joined 3M Co. as general counsel and senior vice president, legal affairs. Prior to joining Homeland Security in 2009, Fong was chief legal officer and secretary of Cardinal Health. He also worked at General Electric as senior vice president and general counsel of GE Vendor Financial Services.

Ann Thielke joined VHA Inc., a national network of community-owned health care systems, as senior vice president and general counsel. Thielke most recently served as vice president and general counsel of St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System in Houston, where she oversaw the system’s expansion from two to six hospitals. Between 2000 and 2005, Thielke practiced health law at Andrews Kurth.

Thomas Moriarty is now executive vice president and general counsel of CVS Caremark Corp. Moriarty most recently was general counsel at Celgene Corp., where he also served as a member of the company’s management committee. He previously was general counsel at Medco Health Solutions Inc.

Isis, the mobile commerce joint venture of AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, appointed Stephen Ambrose as general counsel and secretary. Ambrose comes to the company from BuckleySandler’s New York office, where he was a managing partner focusing on transactional and regulatory practices. He also was general counsel for GE Money, Americas, as well as a corporate lawyer at Morgan, Lewis and Bockius.

Virginia Murray was appointed general counsel of the Kansas City Police Department in Kansas City, Mo. Murray most recently spent 14 years as a supervising attorney in the litigation division of the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. She replaces outgoing GC, Lisa Morris, who retired after 30 years with the department.

Audience Inc., a provider of voice and audio technology for mobile devices, hired Craig Factor as vice president, general counsel and secretary. Factor joins the company from Nanosolar Inc., where he was vice president and general counsel. His prior work experience also includes general counsel postings at Innovative Silicon Inc. and RITA Medical Systems Inc.

Bradley Lerman joined Fannie Mae as general counsel. Lerman comes to the agency from Pfizer Inc., where he was chief litigation counsel, senior vice president and associate general counsel. Before joining Pfizer, Lerman was a partner and co-chair of Winston & Strawn’s white collar defense practice group.

Professional services firm Towers Watson promoted Kirkland Hicks to the general counsel spot. Hicks joined the company 12 years ago and most recently served as managing counsel, commercial, for the Americas region. He also chairs Towers Watson’s Diversity and Inclusion Council for the Americas.

Franck Courmont was promoted to general counsel, Asia Pacific of Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. Courmont previously was vice president, legal, at Rezidor Hotel Group, where he negotiated more than 100 management agreements and licenses for Radisson Blu, Park Inn by Radisson and Hotel Missoni. He also served as global head of legal at AXA Investment Managers and legal team leader at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Technology firm iRunway hired Dallas Martin as senior vice president and general counsel. Martin previously was vice president of licensing at IPVALUE Management Inc., where he oversaw patent monetization activities. His prior work experience also includes stints at Level 3 Communications, SwitchPoint Networks Inc. and First Data Corp.

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