Yesterday Menlo Park-based Facebook announced that Colin Stretch will has been promoted to General Counsel for the company. Stretch currently serves as Facebook’s Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, but as of July 5, Stretch will take the lead as General Counsel.
Stretch joined Facebook’s legal team in 2010, and in his time with the company, spearheaded a number of its most significant legal initiatives, including a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission in 20011 and an appellate victory against the Winklevoss brothers, who made claims to the ownership of the company. Stretch leads a team that advises Facebook on legal issues that could arise from new products and initiatives.
“Colin has been an instrumental leader on the Facebook legal team and has earned the trust and confidence of management, the Board of Directors and our entire company. We are very excited to have him as our new General Counsel,” said Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook.
Stretch will take over for Ted Ullyot, who was served as Vice President and General Counsel since October 2008. Ullyot announced his plans to leave the company in May, and has not yet announced any future career plans.
Prior to joining Facebook, Stretch was a partner at Kellogg Huber Hansen Todd Evans & Figel in Washington D.C. He earned his J.D. from Harvard, and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Laurence Silberman.