Newsmakers

Jodi Ackford recently became general counsel at Charles River Laboratories, which is based in Wilmington, Mass. It offers various biomedical products and services.

David Berndt has been named director of regulatory affairs for Lightship Telecom, a New England-based Internet and telephone service company. Berndt is responsible for all of Lightship’s regulatory matters, including work before state public utilities commissions, The Federal Communications Commission and numerous legislative bodies in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont. Prior to joining Lightship, Berndt had his own practice, focusing on regulatory, business and real estate issues. Previously, Berndt served as a telecommunications consultant for The Yankee Group and as a market analyst with Watch Hill Partners, now a subsidiary of MasterCard International. He was also an attorney for the telecommunications department of Ford Motor Company.

Melinda J. Brown recently left her in-house position to join the corporate department of Boston-based Gadsby Hannah. Brown has extensive experience advising executive officers and board members on general corporate law, governance and technology matters. She most recently served as vice president and general counsel at Sonus Networks, a publicly held telecommunications company. At Sonus, Brown oversaw the successful completion and integration of the $400 million acquisition of Telecom Technologies, Inc. Prior to Sonus Networks, she served as vice president and general counsel for Lotus Development Corporation.

Frank T. Judge III recently joined Honeywell Consumer Products Group in Danbury, Conn. as vice president and general counsel. Judge was formerly vice president and assistant general counsel of Timex Corporation in Middlebury, Conn. The consumer products group of Honeywell manufactures and markets automotive products for the after-market consumer, as well as for automotive original equipment manufacturers and installers, including brand products Prestone, Fram, Autolite and Holts.

Daniel Rabinowitz was recently named counsel to the Alston Project for Harvard University.