Newsmakers

Denise Choquette has joined Gilbane Building Company as senior legal counsel. Prior to joining Gilbane, Choquette was associated with Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP. As counsel at EAPD, she focused on construction cases in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. She also previously was a prosecutor in the criminal division of the Rhode Island Department of the Attorney General. Gilbane Inc. is based in Providence, R.I., and is a full-service construction and real estate development company. Gilbane is one of the largest construction and program managers in the nation, and provides a full slate of facilities-related services for clients in the life sciences, transportation, healthcare, convention/cultural, government, educational, mission-critical, corporate, sports/recreational, and criminal justice markets.

Ralph C. Derbyshire recently joined Fidelity Employer Services Company (FESCo) as senior vice president and deputy general counsel. FESCo, which is part of Fidelity Investments, provides retirement, benefits, human resources outsourcing, and stock plan services to employees and retirees. Derbyshire was formerly at Mercer HR Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.

Leigh-Ann Durant recently joined EMD Serono, Inc. as associate general counsel. EMD Serono, based in Rockland, Mass., is a biotechnology company focusing on neurology, reproductive health and oncology. Durant was previously a litigation partner at Nixon Peabody in Boston.

Elizabeth Brody Gluck recently joined the Boston office of Verrill Dana as a partner in the health law group. Verrill Dana is based in Portland, Maine. From 2001 through 2006, Gluck was vice president and legal counsel at Analysis Group, Inc., an economic and strategic consulting firm with offices in Boston and nine other major metropolitan areas in the United States and Canada. She began her career at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, in the firm’s health care section from 1992 to 2001, representing clients on a variety of matters relating to risk management, regulatory compliance, privacy and confidentiality, contracting, bioethics, and patient care.

Jo Ann Shotwell Kaplan recently became general counsel at the New England Legal Foundation. She was previously counsel at Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Nestor M. Nicholas has joined Boston Capital as general counsel. Nicholas, a syndication and tax lawyer, was formerly a partner at Nixon Peabody in Boston.

Carolyn A. Wiesenhahn recently joined Rhode Island-based CVS/pharmacy as senior legal counsel in the labor and employment law group. Wiesenhahn was most recently a senior associate in the employment law group at Mintz Levin in Boston, which she joined in 1998 following graduation from Boston University School of Law.