The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) has brought its outside counsel inhouse, hiring Diane Peters for the newly created role of general counsel. Peters will help the OSDL take a leadership role in legal issues facing Linux, according to OSDL CEO Stuart Cohen.

“As we have expanded the Lab's charter, we saw the need to create a new role at the Lab of general counsel to help us take a leadership role in addressing many of the legal challenges facing Linux. Diane has the experience to get that job done,” said Cohen.

Cohen adds, “Diane has gained the trust and respect of our board and Linus Torvalds.”

''I've enjoyed working with Diane over the last year as external counsel, and think she's a great addition for OSDL,'' said OSDL Fellow and Linux originator Linus Torvalds.

Eben Moglen, outside counsel for the Free Software Foundation, and law professor at Columbia, remarked, ''[Diane's] a very experienced and knowledgeable lawyer and I look forward to working closely with her.''

Peters began serving the OSDL as outside legal counsel in 2002. She leaves a position at Portland law firm Ater Wynne LLP, where she served on the management committee. She began her legal career as a staff attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago, and previously practiced law with firms in Buenos Aires, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles. She holds a J.D. from Washington University School of Law in Missouri, and a B.A. from Grinnell College in Iowa.

 
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