The longtime general counsel of F. Hoffmann-La Roche is preparing to hand over the reins of the Swiss global health care company’s legal department.

Claudia Böckstiegel will step up from her post as legal head of Roche’s diagnostics division and take over as general counsel when Gottlieb Keller retires on March 31. Keller, 65, arrived at Roche in 1984 as a corporate counsel and steadily climbed the company’s ranks until he reached the top lawyer position in 2008.