Roku has found its new top legal exec: Chris Handman, who joined the streaming media and devices company as senior vice president and general counsel last week.

Handman takes over the role after Roku’s former head lawyer, Louise Pentland, left the company to join Adobe as chief legal officer this May.

Handman has more than two decades of legal experience at technology companies. He most recently was general counsel at Rippling, an HR and workforce management software vendor, which he joined in May 2025. Before Rippling, Handman was co-founder and COO of TerraTrue, privacy platform designed to work in conjunction with product development.

Handman served as general counsel for Snap, parent of Snapchat, from May 2014 to September 2017 where he helped guide the company through its IPO in 2017. “I’m a lawyer who thrives on legal ambiguity and understands how to balance risk and innovation,” Handman says in his bio on LinkedIn.

Roku said in a statement: “We’re delighted to welcome Chris to our leadership team as general counsel. His deep legal expertise and strategic mindset will be instrumental in guiding our legal strategy and supporting our company’s long-term goals.”

With his hire, Roku granted Handman 95,186 restricted stock units, which will vest in eight substantially equal quarterly installments starting on March 1, 2026, according to a regulatory filing with the SEC.

Handman began his career as a partner at Hogan Lovells LLP in the law firm’s Supreme Court and appellate practice. He holds a bachelor’s degree in international studies and political science from the American University in Washington, D.C., and a law degree from Yale Law School.