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Sep 21, 2010

Colfax names Lynne Puckett general counsel and corporate secretary

The one-time CIA member takes the helm of Colfax's legal department

Colfax Corporation has selected Lynne Puckett for the position of senior vice president, general counsel and secretary. Puckett succeeds Thomas O’Brien, who has announced his retirement after 25 years at the company. To help facilitate the 
transition, O’Brien continues to 
serve Colfax in an advisory role.

Puckett comes to Colfax from 
private practice, where she served as a partner at the law firm Hogan Lovells. While at Hogan, she specialized in mergers and acquisitions, cross-border transactions, complex corporate restructuring, securities law and transaction matters such as venture capital financing and debt and equity offers.

Although she has spent much of her career in private practice, Puckett is no stranger to life 
in-house, particularly at Colfax. While at Hogan she worked on several acquisition deals for Colfax, including the company’s recently announced acquisition of the Baric Group. In addition to M&A work, Puckett further specialized in cross-border transactions and corporate restructuring.

Touting her experience, Colfax president and CEO Clay Kiefaber says 
in a statement announcing Puckett’s appointment: ‘Lynne is a seasoned corporate lawyer with broad-based experience in all relevant practice areas, including mergers and acquisitions, and we’re delighted she will be 
joining our team.’

In addition to her legal experience, Puckett has worked for the government in various capacities. She was a 
decorated member of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), having 
won the agency’s award for exceptional 
performance in 1989.
Following her stint in the CIA, Puckett then moved into defense 
contracting and served as a senior 
contractor for one of the US’ principal defense contractors.

Currently, Puckett is a member 
of the bar in both Maryland and Washington, DC. She holds a bachelor 
of science degree from James Madison University and received her law 
degree from the University of Maryland School of Law.