Spirits producer MGP appoints legal chief

Curtis Landherr to join next month having previously worked at Cirrus Aircraft

Spirits and food company MGP Ingredients has hired Curtis Landherr as its chief legal officer, effective October 17.

Most recently, Landherr was senior vice president and general counsel at Duluth, Minnesota-based Cirrus Aircraft, where he created and expanded the legal function starting in 2014.

Before his time with Cirrus Aircraft, Landherr was vice president and general counsel for the North American subsidiaries of Netherlands-based CSM (now called Corbion), which produces green biochemicals and private-label bakery products and ingredients.

Before that, he was assistant general counsel at Garmin, which creates GPS consumer electronics. According to his LinkedIn profile, Landherr’s legal career also includes being corporate counsel at Bracco Diagnostics and working as a litigation attorney with Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice. MGP states that his legal expertise includes litigation management, intellectual property, contracts and negotiations, insurance and risk management, M&A and commercial transactions.

MGP president and CEO David Colo says in a statement: ‘Curtis is joining MGP at a pivotal time as we experience significant growth across all our businesses and anticipate future investments to support both acquisitions and organic growth. We welcome his background in multi-national corporations and experience building and managing in-house legal departments.’

MGP created the position of general counsel and corporate secretary in 2017. Thomas Lynn was the first person to take on the role.