Discover’s Interim Legal Chief Exits as Capital One Deal Closes

Capital One Financial Corp.’s $35.5 billion acquisition of Discover Financial Services, finalized Sunday after a 15-month takeover battle, has already led to an in-house legal shakeout at the combined credit card giant.

Kelly Welsh, named interim chief legal, corporate, and public affairs officer at Discover late last year, is “no longer with Discover as of May 18,” according to an auto-response email message. Welsh had joined Discover after the exit of its former legal chief, Hope Mehlman. An ex-Mayer Brown partner and longtime legal leader at Northern Trust Corp., Welsh also was general counsel at the ...