Bet Tzedek named Sandor “Sandy” Samuels as its new president CEO, tapping the community leader and financial industry legal expert to head the Los Angeles-based Jewish public interest law firm that serves nearly 12,000 disadvantaged clients every year.

Samuels recently retired from a decades-long career in the corporate financial world. He served as senior executive and chief legal officer at Countrywide Financial Corporation and then moved over to Bank of America when it acquired Countrywide in 2008, focusing on helping people stay in their homes.

Samuels said he had been looking toward moving into public sector work, when Mitchell Kamin, who headed Bet Tzedek for seven years, announced last summer that he would be leaving in September.

“When this opportunity came my way, I just thought that this was really a dream come true, because I’m so excited about the mission of Bet Tzedek, and the need for our services is so great,” said Samuels, who has served on the Bet Tzedek board since 1994 and chaired the organization for two years.