Morgan Stanley appoints new chief legal officer

International bank Morgan Stanley Dean Witter has appointed a new chief legal officer from Chicago-based law firm Kirkland & Ellis.

Linklaters & Alliance and Allen & Overy are among the UK firms used by Morgan Stanley which may be affected by the change of leadership.

Donald Kempf is senior partner at Kirklands and specialises in anti-trust and M&A litigation.

He will also become executive vice president and a member of the management committee at the international bank.

Kempf replaces Michael Stone who has been acting as interim general counsel since Christine Edwards resigned in June.