Newsmakers

Brendan P. Halligan has been appointed vice president and corporate counsel in the legal department of Citizens Bank of Rhode Island. Previously, Halligan was with the Braintree, Mass. firm of Baker, Braverman & Barbadoro.

Ticor Title Insurance Co. has named Terry J. Romaniak as vice president, state manager and counsel for Massachusetts. Romaniak will oversee the company’s Massachusetts agency operations and provide underwriting counsel for residential and commercial transactions. Prior to joining the company, Romaniak served as assistant vice president and counsel for LandAmerica’s Commercial Services Office in Boston.

Mark Waxman former president and general counsel of CareGroup, Inc, recently rejoined Foley & Lardner in its new Boston office. Waxman in 2000 joined CareGroup, a nonprofit health care system that includes Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center academic health center, three community hospitals and multiple physician organizations. During his tenure, CareGroup engaged in a unique turnaround, selling non-productive assets, reforming its non-profit board structures, engaging with state and federal regulators, and ultimately returning to financial health in a new confederation model of nonprofit systems. Prior to joining CareGroup, Waxman was a partner in both the Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. offices of Foley & Lardner, chairing the firm’s mid-Atlantic and eastern United States health law practice.

Kellye L. Walker – senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. in Natick, Mass – was among ten Boston-area women honored at the YWCA Boston 11th Annual Academy of Women Achievers Awards luncheon held in Boston recently. The YWCA Boston Academy of Women Achiever Awards is presented annually to inspirational women who have demonstrated leadership in their respective professions and have made significant contributions to their organizations and communities.

Liberty Mutual Group, John Hancock Financial Services, Hill Holliday, Shawmut Design & Construction, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Inc. were among the corporate sponsors of the event.

At BJ’s since 2003, Walker’s responsibilities include oversight of all of BJ’s legal, regulatory and compliance matters.

Laura S. Peabody, senior vice president and general counsel for Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, has been elected a member of the New England chapter board for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.