Smithfield Foods appoints general counsel

Smithfield, Virginia-based Smithfield Foods has promoted Tennille Checkovich to become general counsel. She reports to Mike Flemming, Smithfield’s chief legal officer (CLO).

Checkovich joined Smithfield in 2020 and most recently was the company’s deputy general counsel for litigation. In her new role, she is responsible for managing all litigation involving the company, overseeing risk management regarding a wide range of regulatory and compliance issues, and assisting the CLO with managing the legal team.

Before joining Smithfield, Checkovich was an equity partner at McGuireWoods in the law firm’s business and securities litigation department. She was previously an attorney at Cravath Swaine & Moore in New York, where she advised Fortune 100 public companies on securities litigation and white-collar defense matters.

Smithfield has also hired Isham Bennett to fill the newly created position of chief human resources officer. Bennet was previously vice president of human resources for Lockheed Martin’s rotary and mission systems business, before which he was vice president of human resources for Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company. Earlier in his career he was vice president of human resources for Rolls-Royce.