Sara Lee appoints new executive vice president and general counsel

Sara Lee has promoted Brett Hart to executive vice president and general counsel for the company.

Hart will have responsibility for all of the company's worldwide legal activities, replacing Peggy Foran who has left Sara Lee for personal reasons.

Hart joined Sara Lee in 2003 as assistant general counsel and was promoted to senior vice president, deputy general counsel and global business practices (GBP) officer in 2005.

Prior to Sara Lee, Hart was a partner with Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal in Chicago. Before that, he served as special assistant to the general counsel at the US Department of the Treasury in Washington, D.C.

Hart received his bachelor's degree in philosophy and English from the University of Michigan and a juris doctorate degree from the University of Chicago Law School.