Mountain View, Calf. (Feb. 2, 2004) -- Marking its third personnel change in as many weeks, business and financial software maker Intuit Inc. announced that Nick Spaeth, senior vice president and general counsel, has departed the firm to join tax prep giant H&R Block Inc. as chief legal officer.
In early January, just weeks after restructuring its Professional Accounting Solutions unit into two divisions, Intuit announced that Tom Allanson, senior vice president of the consumer tax group, and recently hired chief marketing officer Tom Weigman, were leaving the company. In an interview at that time, an Intuit spokeswoman described those changes as “not even a bump in the road for us.” She added, “One thing you will always find with us is that we are never satisfied with where we are. Steve [Bennett] is driven. We are working with customers to understand their needs as we continue to evolve and challenge ourselves to be better.”
In his new role, Spaeth will oversee the legal functions of Block’s business units as well as the company’s government relations.
In its announcement on the move, H&R Block chairman and chief executive Mark Ernst commented, “We're continuing to more closely align our tax, financial services and mortgage businesses so that we can address our clients' comprehensive financial needs. That requires that we also take a unified approach to our legal and government relations activities."
Block also announced that James Ingraham, senior vice president and general counsel, is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. Ingraham has been a member of H&R Block's legal department since 1980 and has led the tax, e-solutions, business services and corporate legal functions during his career.
-- Seth Fineberg
