Derek A. Smyth has joined Stamford law firm Cummings & Lockwood LLC as chief financial officer. He succeeds J. Robert Merola, who is retiring after nearly 30 years with the firm.
Smyth”™s 30-plus years of finance, strategy and leadership experience in diverse, international corporate and legal environments includes a specialization in profit and loss management, planning and analysis, pricing and capital management.
Prior to joining Cummings & Lockwood, Smyth was the CFO at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, a global AmLaw 100 firm based in New York, with over 1,100 attorneys and $1.5 billion in annual revenues. There he was responsible for the global direction and coordination of all financial activities for the firm (including five direct reports in the U.S. and a total staff of 150, including personnel in Europe and Asia) covering financial accounting, management reporting and analysis, budgeting, billing and collections, payables, banking and treasury, tax and procurement.
Before Weil, Smyth was CFO at global insurance broker Willis North America, where he was responsible for directing and coordinating the financial activities for the company”™s U.S., Canadian and Mexican retail brokerage operations, including overseeing a total staff of over 500 in the United States and India.
