Interbrew legal chief takes helm of C&I Group London

The Commerce & Industry (C&I) Group has elected a new chair for London.

Head of legal at Interbrew, Deepak Malhotra, takes over from Anthony Armitage - who resigned in October - as the regional head for London of the Law Society's group for in-house lawyers.

Malhotra remains co-chair of the C&I Group’s corporate governance committee. New members of the London region committee are expected to be announced shortly.

On 1 January, Stanley Williams, the director of legal affairs and company secretary at BSi, takes over from Northern Foods legal head Carol Williams as the national chair of the C&I Group.

The moves follow Armitage’s decision to break away from the C&I Group two months ago after the group announced contested elections for the role of chair, which was previously filled through automatic succession from the vice-chair position. Armitage, who formerly held the role of vice-chair. set up a rival group, the In-House Lawyers’ Association.

At a C&I Group board meeting on 9 December Armitage turned down an offer to rejoin the group. The board unanimously rejected Armitage’s request to be reinstated as the group’s chair.