The longtime associate general counsel for Riverbed Technology Inc. is stepping up to head the global software company’s legal department.

As the new general counsel, Rebecca Hazard’s focus has now shifted, in part, to trade compliance issues, according to a statement from the San Francisco-based company. She joined Riverbed in 2007, after three years as an associate at Kirkland & Ellis in New York and California, where she focused on transactional law for IP and technology businesses.