Google names Halimah DeLaine Prado new general counsel as antitrust cases loom

Google has a new head general counsel, company legal exec Halimah DeLaine Prado.

The company announced Tuesday that Prado will be taking over legal duties from Kent Walker, a senior vice president, effective immediately. The company promoted Walker to senior vice president of global affairs in 2018, where he took on extra responsibilities, including overseeing Google’s policy, legal, trust and safety, and corporate philanthropy teams.

The latest appointment comes as the company faces potential antitrust cases against it this year. Google is reportedly expecting a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice, focused on its dominance in online advertising and search. Last month, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai joined CEOs of Amazon, Apple and Facebook at the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust for a four-hour questioning session about the company’s competitive practices. That was followed by the release of trove of internal emails.

Prado will oversee legal responsibilities and teams, reporting directly to Walker, the company said.

In a statement, Walker said: “Halimah has been a trusted counselor and exceptional leader, having navigated a variety of cross-product and company-wide issues over the course of her nearly 14-year career at Google. She is uniquely qualified to lead the Legal Department at this critical moment, and I look forward to working with her as we enter this next chapter.”

Before the new appointment, Prado oversaw Google’s global team that worked on legal counseling for Google products including advertisements, Search and YouTube, the company said. She’s been at Google since 2006.

The company said she is not taking on a replacement role for Alphabet’s longtime chief legal officer, David Drummond, who in January retired after he was the subject of shareholder lawsuit alleging misconduct.