GitLab has appointed Thomas Lloyd as its new chief business and legal officer.
In his role, Lloyd will oversee all the company’s business and legal functions, including serving as the leader of the broader legal and corporate affairs organization and as counsel to GitLab's board of directors.
Lloyd succeeds Robin Schulman, who left his role as chief legal officer, head of corporate affairs and corporate secretary at the end of June.
Before joining GitLab, Lloyd served as chief business and operations officer at web tracking and analytics company New Relic. During his tenure he also served as the company's chief legal officer and corporate secretary. Prior to this, he worked for private firm Latham & Watkins.
‘Thomas' experience across business operations, law, and product and cloud partnerships makes him a strong addition to GitLab's leadership team,’ says Godfrey Sullivan, board member at GitLab.
Staying in the US, biotechnology company Biogen has confirmed that, as of August 3, Michael Parini will serve as the company’s chief legal officer. In addition, he will become a member of Biogen's executive committee, reporting to Christopher Viehbacher, president and CEO.
Parini enters the role with more than 20 years of senior legal and strategic leadership experience. Before joining Biogen he served as CEO of Spur Therapeutics and held a number of different leadership roles at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, before ascending to the position of chief administrative, legal and business development officer.
‘Michael brings to Biogen a rare combination of deep legal and industry expertise as well as broad operational leadership that will further contribute to Biogen’s next chapter of renewed growth,’ says Viehbacher.
Over at NYSE-listed shipbuilder HII, Michael DeBernardis has been named VP and chief counsel for the company’s Mission Technologies division.
DeBernardis will advise senior leadership and lead the delivery of legal services for Mission Technologies. He will also serve as member of the division’s leadership team.
He enters the role with almost 20 years of experience, previously working as the managing partner at the Washing DC office of Hughes, Hubbard & Reed.
‘Michael has a proven record of leading talented teams and solving some of the most complex legal challenges around the globe,’ says Chad Boudreaux, EVP and chief legal officer of HII.
‘As chief counsel for Mission Technologies, he will continue to advance our company’s mission of delivering all-domain solutions in service of the nation, creating the advantage for customers to protect peace and freedom around the world.’
Over at Terrestrial Energy, the company announced in an 8-K filing that Steven Millsap, its general counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer, would be leaving his position as of September 12, 2026.
Millsap joined the company in 2025, before which he worked at the likes of Virginia Transformer Corp, Divergent, Czinger Vehicles and Global Advanced Metals. His successor was not named in the filing.
Elsewhere, Euronext Amsterdam-listed Arcadis has appointed Barbara van Koppen as global general counsel. Van Koppen, who will also join Arcadis’ executive leadership team, has served as interim general counsel at the company since January 2026.
‘I look forward to continuing to work alongside our legal, compliance & privacy teams worldwide to enable the business, support confident decision making and help Arcadis achieve its ambitions with integrity and purpose,’ says van Koppen.
She assumes the new role with 27 years of experience at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines where she held the role of general counsel for more than 16 years.
‘Barbara has already demonstrated strong judgement and leadership as interim general counsel and her experience will be critical as we continue to transform Arcadis,’ says CEO Heather Polinsky.
Lastly, ore producer Champion Iron has confirmed the appointment of Steve Boucratie as chief legal and strategy officer and corporate secretary.
Boucratie joined Champion in 2019 and most recently held the role of SVP, general counsel and corporate secretary. In his new, expanded role, Boucratie will continue to lead legal affairs while contributing to the company's corporate strategy and long-term growth initiatives.
His appointment was announced alongside confirmation of Michael Marcotte joining Champion as its new CFO. Speaking about both appointments, CEO David Cataford notes: ‘Over the past several years, Steve and Michael have worked closely together and have played central roles in Champion's success. Their collaboration, leadership and deep understanding of our business will continue to be key assets for the company and enable us to consolidate key responsibilities within the existing executive team.’
Natalie Bannerman
Natalie is a former telecoms and infrastructure journalist, a role she held for nearly seven years. Before this, she worked in the B2C startup space, covering lifestyle, arts and culture reporting. As senior reporter for Governance Intelligence she...
