Jefferies Group Hires Michael Sharp as General Counsel of New York Firm

Jefferies Group Inc., the New York- based securities firm that added 20 percent more staff in one year, hired Michael J. Sharp as general counsel.

Sharp, 55, a former Citigroup Inc. lawyer who is leaving the law firm of WilmerHale, was also named executive vice president and secretary. He replaces Lloyd H. Feller, who will retire at the end of the year, Jefferies said today in a statement. Feller, 68, had been general counsel for eight years.

Jefferies has increased its staff in a drive to pick up capacity from failed investment banks including Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos. and profit from a recovery in the financial-services industry.

Sharp “brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to Jefferies at this critical time of ongoing growth and change for our firm and our industry,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rich Handler, 49, said in the statement.

Sharp had been a partner at WilmerHale since March 2009 and focused on litigation and enforcement issues for Wall Street clients. Before that he spent 12 years at Citigroup, where he was general counsel for global wealth management, consumer banking and global cards, according to the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: David Henry in New York at dhenry19@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alec McCabe at amccabe@bloomberg.net