Atlanta-based SunTrust Bank has named Laura Kaplan as managing director and head of its Private Wealth Management Legal Specialty Group. In this role she will assume responsibility for overseeing the strategic direction and operations of the group dedicated to serving the specific financial needs of attorneys and law firms.

In her new role, Ms Kaplan is based in Miami and reports to Mark Peters, executive vice president and head of Private Wealth Management.

She comes to SunTrust from Citi Private Bank Law Firm Group where she served as a regional head, based in Miami with responsibility for Texas and Florida. Ms Kaplan joined Citigroup in 1998 as deputy head of Global Relationship Banking for Latin America. She subsequently ran its Latin America Regional Bank, an inter-country relationship management division. Prior to joining Citigroup, Ms Kaplan worked for General Motors in the Far East in a variety of treasury and marketing roles.

Founded more than 20 years ago, SunTrust's Legal Specialty Group provides products and services for both attorneys and law firms, ranging from investment strategies to financing a new office, merging firms, securing lines of credit and liquidity management.