The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) has appointed Lisa LaBruno its VP for loss prevention and legal affairs. In her new role, LaBruno will oversee RILA’s asset protection offerings in the areas of loss prevention, retail crime, workplace safety, disaster recovery, operational audit, research and benchmarking.

With over 20 years of professional experience, LaBruno spent eight years as senior in-house attorney at The Home Depot (THD), in which capacity she dealt with operations, criminal investigation and prosecution, compliance, civil recovery, risk management, litigation and training. During her time at THD, LaBruno was the primary legal adviser in matters related to criminal and unethical conduct by employees, customers and suppliers, and directed and managed complex corporate internal investigations while collaborating with local, state and federal law enforcement and prosecuting agencies, among other high-level duties.

Among her outstanding achievements at THD was the development of tools for LP employees to minimize civil liability.

“[LaBruno] will bring to the role a depth and breadth of executive experience that will serve both the retail community and RILA very effectively,” said THD EVP. U.S. stores Marvin Ellison.

“With an outstanding track record and reputation in the industry, Lisa brings invaluable knowledge and experience to RILA and will be a strong resource and leader for the industry,” added RILA President Sandy Kennedy.

Before THD, LaBruno was a corporate litigation attorney at the Archdiocese of Newark (New Jersey), assistant prosecutor in the Hudson County (New Jersey) Prosecutor’s Office and associate attorney at Hannoch Weisman. She was also an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University.

LaBruno officially joins RILA at the end of this month, and will be at the trade group’s Loss Prevention, Safety and Auditing Conference (LPAS) scheduled for early May in Dallas.