Some of the nation’s best-known companies in recent months have announced plans to spin off subsidiaries into stand-alone public companies—creating the need to hire legal chiefs.

Rachel Gonzalez, who lost her job as Starbucks’ top lawyer when Howard Schultz returned as CEO last year, is among the latest to capitalize. She recently agreed to become general counsel of GE Vernova, its energy-business subsidiary, which it plans to spin off into a separate public company next year.