Southern Company executive vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer James Y. Kerr II today announced that Thomas P. Bishop has been named senior vice president, chief compliance officer and deputy general counsel for Southern Company Services, effective Jan. 1.

Bishop currently serves as senior vice president, chief compliance officer, corporate secretary and general counsel for subsidiary Georgia Power, providing legal counsel to the utility's management team and overseeing corporate security, ethics and compliance, legal services, risk management and the corporate secretary's office.

In his new role, Bishop will provide regulatory and legal leadership and direction in coordination with compliance officers and directors across the Southern Company system.

"Tom's extensive legal and regulatory experience in the Southern Company system will bring immediate value to his new role," said Kerr. "He understands how to effectively address many of the challenges facing our company and industry today while positioning Southern Company for a successful future."

Prior to his current position with Georgia Power, Bishop served as vice president and associate general counsel for Southern Company Services. Bishop chairs the Law & Judiciary Committee and serves on the board of governors of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the executive committee of the Corporate Counsel Section of the State Bar of Georgia, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal's Judicial Nominating Commission and the board of trustees of Mercer University.

Before joining Southern Company in 1993 as a staff attorney, Bishop practiced law in Atlanta, Cartersville and Macon, Georgia. He is a 1985 graduate of Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law.