DeSanto spent last year as senior vice president of legal affairs at Tenneco in Southfield, Michigan, a Detroit suburb where Federal-Mogul was based prior to its $5.4 billion sale to Tenneco that closed in October 2018. Sotheby`s has a long history of employing lawyers in roles outside its legal group. Kevin Ching, a former partner at Johnson Stokes & Master, a Hong Kong-based law firm now part of Mayer Brown, has been CEO of Sotheby`s Asia since 2006. Adam Chinn, a former partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, was chief operating officer of Sotheby`s for nearly two years until he left the company at the end of 2018. Prior to joining Sotheby`s International Realty, Stephen was corporate counsel in New York at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, LLP, where he held public positions and advised private companies. Through a pro bono initiative between Kramer Levin and South Brooklyn Legal Services, he has worked as a litigator in the legal department, representing clients in housing courts and various state government proceedings. Stephen also worked in the General Counsel office of Newmark & Company Real Estate, Inc. and the New York offices of Ropes & Gray LLP (formerly known as Reboul, MacMurray, Hewitt, Maynard & Kristol). DeSanto began his legal career in the mid-1990s at the Michigan-based law firm Warner Norcross & Judd before leaving private practice in 2005 to take up a number of internal positions at German auto giant Daimler AG. From 2012 to 2016, DeSanto served as General Counsel for North America at Atlanta-based Mercedes-Benz USA LLC, the leading U.S.
passenger car distributor owned by Daimler. Aimée Scala joins the Los Angeles firm as a partner, which left a long-standing editorial position at Artforum to begin her legal career in New York at Cahill Cossu before establishing an arts, entertainment and intellectual property practice in Los Angeles. Pamela L. Grutman focuses on taxation, estate planning, nonprofits, philanthropy and artistic legacy and will be based in New York City, where she earned her LLM in Taxes from NYU School of Law. Grutman, who also has a degree in architecture, is a member of the bars of New York, Florida and New Jersey. This incumbent will act as independent legal counsel to support core auction activities and commercial efforts throughout the [Mainland China region]. Olsoff and Cahill met in February and founded the New York art law boutique Olsoff Cahill Ossu. Bloomberg Law also reported last month that Vladimir Kleyman, a senior lawyer specializing in transactions in Sotheby`s lending and finance arm, would become the first general counsel for on-demand paid startup DailyPay Inc.
Kleyman said his departure had nothing to do with the sale of Sotheby`s and its subsequent reorganization. He or she will participate in core activities, business projects and major business projects to ensure compliance with the Company`s legal requirements and expand the Company`s business in China. Individually and in collaboration with global and regional legal and business experts, the Senior Legal Counsel will be responsible for supporting key transactions and business projects from a Chinese perspective. Sotheby`s installed new legal and compliance officers two months after the overhaul of its management. A spokeswoman for the auction house confirmed Wednesday to Bloomberg Law the hiring of Marco DeSanto as general counsel and the promotion of Cecilia Fletcher to global chief compliance officer. The two lawyers are in the process of moving to New York, where Sotheby`s is headquartered, and were not immediately available to discuss their new roles. Federal-Mogul hired DeSanto as co-general counsel with Michelle Taigman in 2016 after former general counsel Brett Pynnonen, now general counsel at auto parts giant Visteon Corp. DeSanto was also chief compliance officer at Federal-Mogul, where Taigman served as corporate secretary. Today, she is General Counsel at Harman International Industries Inc. The restructuring of Sotheby`s under the leadership of new owner Patrick Drahi cascades in the legal community that supports the art market. Jonathan Olsoff, the auction house`s longtime general counsel, left late last year with John Cahill, Phillips` former general counsel, who spent several years in private practice before taking on a business role as Sotheby`s lead negotiator. Bloomberg News reported in December on a series of personnel changes at Sotheby`s after Drahi finalized his acquisition.
Among those who left the company at the end of the year were former global general counsel Jonathan Olsoff, former chief global compliance advisor and head of government and regulatory affairs Jane Levine, and former chief commercial officer John Cahill. Sanoj Stephen joined Sotheby`s International Realty in 2004 and has served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the brand`s proprietary brokerage business since 2006.
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