Apple announced Tuesday that former SVP and general counsel of Intel, Bruce Sewell, will be replacing the retiring Daniel Cooperman as the head of Apple's legal department. Intel had announced that Sewell had decided "leave the company to pursue other opportunities" yesterday, amid the announcement that CTO Pat Gelsinger was making a similar move. Sewell will become the senior vice president of Legal and Government Affairs as well as general counsel beginning next month.
Sewell served as Intel's general counsel since 2001 and had served on the company's legal team since 1995. Most recently, he has been working on an appeal for the huge fine levied by the European Union for anticompetitive practices. Prior to working for Intel, he was a partner with Brown and Bain PC, which Fortune notes was the law firm that represented Apple in its "look and feel" case against Microsoft over copying of the Mac's GUI.
Sewell is Apple's third general counsel in as many years, ever since former general counsel Nancy Hienen was let go. Hienen left after nine years with the company following an internal Apple investigation into backdating of stock option grants in 2006. Her replacement, Donald Rosenberg, left Apple to join Qualcomm after less than a year. Steve Jobs then hired Daniel Cooperman away from Oracle to replace Rosenberg in late 2007.
At Apple, Cooperman oversaw all of Apple's legal business, including worldwide legal policies, corporate governance, securities compliance, commercial licensing, intellectual property, employment law, litigation, patent law, mergers and acquisitions and legal support for Apple’s various business units. He also managed Apple's Government Affairs and Global Security groups. Sewell will certainly have his work cut out for him, but his experience at Intel should have him well-prepared for working at Apple. "With Bruce's extensive experience in litigation, securities and intellectual property, we expect this to be a seamless transition," said Jobs in a statement.
No comments:
Post a Comment