Brett Hart has traded all-he-could eat cheesecake to fly the friendly skies as the top lawyer for the world's largest air carrier.
United Continental Holdings, Inc., announced late Wednesday that it has named Sara Lee Corporation's top lawyer as its new general counsel. Hart's first day on the job will be Dec. 15.
Hart replaces Thomas Sabatino Jr., who announced his plans to parachute out of the position on the same day that the Oct. 1 merger was finalized. Sabatino had been selected to head the merged airlines' legal department, but a spokesperson told CorpCounsel.com at the time that he'd simply opted not to move forward with the company.
Hart will be responsible for managing United Continental's legal affairs across the globe — and will report to CEO Jeff Smisek.
"Brett's experience, leadership skills and legal expertise are great assets to our senior management team," Smisek said in a statement announcing Hart's hire. "He will play a key role as we integrate United and Continental and build the world's leading carrier," he said.
Hart joined Sara Lee in 2003 as assistant general counsel, but he had been in the general counsel role for just over a year. He told Corporate Counsel sibling publication The National Law Journal in an interview earlier this year that he hoped not to leave anytime soon. ChicacoBusiness.com reported that Hart departs Sara Lee in anticipation of a management shake-up following the resignation of CEO Brenda Barnes. Barnes suffered a stroke this year.
A Michigan native, Hart earned his law degree from the University of Chicago in 1994 and joined Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal. After a two-year stint as special assistant to the general counsel for the U.S. Treasury, he returned to Sonnenschein and made partner.
Sabatino, 51, previously a lawyer at Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter International, joined United in March from Schering Plough. That was not long before Chicago-based UAL Corp. chose to merge with Houston-based Continental Airlines.
When he resigned, Sabatino was the second general counsel to leave United in less than a year. Paul Lovejoy resigned in November 2009 "for personal reasons," a company spokesperson said at the time.
Shannon Green can be contacted at sgreen@alm.com.
Also See: United's General Counsel Resigns Just Ahead of Merger (from CC)
Also See: Nothin' But Blue Sky: United Airlines' New Top Lawyer Is Flying High (from CC)
Also See: Top Lawyer 'Ceases' to Ride the Friendly Skies (from CC)
Also See: Sara Lee General Counsel Brett Hart: 'It's Delicious' (from NLJ)
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