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Sep 09, 2020

Kelly hires new general counsel

Vanessa Williams most recently worked at IHS Markit

Employment services company Kelly has hired Vanessa Williams as senior vice president and general counsel.

In her new role, Williams leads the strategic direction of Kelly’s legal and corporate security teams, including managing regulatory and legal compliance, directing strategic legal initiatives and advising senior management regarding company objectives. She reports to president and CEO Peter Quigley.

Williams was most recently a senior vice president in legal, risk and compliance at IHS Markit. Before its acquisition by IHS, she spent seven years at RL Polk.  

She began her legal career at Plunkett & Cooney in Detroit, litigating employment law, insurance contract and other general liability actions. She also has experience in commercial transactions, data privacy, international law and contract management.

Hannah Lim-Johnson, senior vice president and chief legal officer (CLO), left Kelly in March this year. The company appointed Janis Acosta as vice president and interim general counsel, according to a securities filing. Lim-Johnson has since joined Meritor as senior vice president, CLO and corporate secretary.

‘Vanessa has a strong background and proven success in providing counsel to high-growth private [and] public technology companies that will be instrumental as Kelly continues to execute on its specialty growth strategy,’ says Quigley in a statement. ‘She will be a valued member of Kelly’s leadership team.’

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...