It was announced by UnitedHealth Group, Inc., that Marianne Short will join the company as its executive vice president and chief legal officer. Short is leaving the Minneapolis law firm of Dorsey & Whitney LLP, where she served as the managing partner for the past five years, according to Twin Cities Business.
Beginning on January 1, Short is joining UnitedHealth, which is based in Minnetonka and is the largest public company in the state. Short is the replacement for Richard Baer, who is leaving the company to work as general counsel at Liberty Media Corporation in Colorado.
Short formerly worked as the assistant attorney general for the State of Minnesota. She then joined Dorsey & Whitney in 1977, leaving in 1988 so she could work as an appellate judge. Short returned to the law firm in 2000 and became its managing partner in 2007.
Bob Kleiber, the spokesman for Dorsey & Whitney, said that Short’s successor at the law firm has yet to be chosen and that the firm does not have a time frame set to name its new head. Short is staying with the law firm until the end of the year.
“Marianne is a highly experienced and wise counselor with deep legal skills, exceptional business judgment, and significant experience in health care,” UnitedHealth President and CEO Stephen Hemsley said in a statement. “Short is very familiar with our company and its operations.”