Apple's Bruce Sewell retires as general counsel, replaced by former Honeywell exec Katheri...
Apple on Friday revealed that the company's current general counsel, Bruce Sewell, will be retiring at the end of 2017, to be replaced by Katherine Adams, who was previously a senior VP and general counsel for Honeywell.
Adams is a "seasoned leader with outstanding judgment and that has worked on a wide variety of legal cases globally," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a prepared statement. Her title will also make her the senior VP of Legal and Global Security.
On Sewell, Cook remarked that he "has tirelessly defended our IP, our customers' right to privacy and our values" over the course of eight years, setting "a new standard for general counsels."
Cook and Sewell.
Sewell's tenure has been marked by a number of high-profile legal battles, including a global patent war with Samsung, and fights with the U.S. government over encryption. As general counsel, much of his work involves identifying potential legal issues and coordinating a response with executives and outside lawfirms.
His eight-year stay means that he has served under both Cook and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died just six years ago.
Adams is a "seasoned leader with outstanding judgment and that has worked on a wide variety of legal cases globally," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a prepared statement. Her title will also make her the senior VP of Legal and Global Security.
On Sewell, Cook remarked that he "has tirelessly defended our IP, our customers' right to privacy and our values" over the course of eight years, setting "a new standard for general counsels."
Cook and Sewell.
Sewell's tenure has been marked by a number of high-profile legal battles, including a global patent war with Samsung, and fights with the U.S. government over encryption. As general counsel, much of his work involves identifying potential legal issues and coordinating a response with executives and outside lawfirms.
His eight-year stay means that he has served under both Cook and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died just six years ago.
Comments
We also don't know why Bruce was there. Was he actually working? Was this a weekend or something and he just happened to stop by?
And why was not someone internally groomed/choosen for such an important position? There is a breakdown in succession planning at Apple if they feel they need to go to the outside for this
What does user experience, websites, messaging, and design have to do with what she is being hired for as General Counsel? Maybe you should look at Honeywell's legal activities and strategies for a better comparison.
Maybe they chose the best person to apply for the position inside or outside the company? Don't see how it is a known breakdown in succession planning as they may have opted to not go with the plan for a better external candidate.
Here we go…
You understand that she's a lawyer, right? How much time did she spend on writing their messaging platform and hacking the javascript code for their website? I'm guessing pretty much zero, and I think I'm right.
Er, C-level person? She was a director, and the highest-ranking female executive at the company. She was in charge of their HR legal, environmental governance, litigation, and managing and defending their IP rights. I found that with a web search and a minute's worth of reading, which you clearly didn't bother to do.
Because legal legwork is not the company's core product. That's why Steve Jobs didn't set up the Apple Legal School before he died.
Rubbish. This job requires experience and contacts from someone who has built them up from years at the top level.
I'm actually surprised you didn't end your poorly-researched post with something like: "If Steve were alive, he would have never allowed the company to hire someone from the outside to take on their legal work."
You know that Tim Cook was hired from outside of Apple, right?
Back in the 70's and 80's, I worked for a major media company and I had to wear a suit every day. But the facilities themselves, were ugly, dirty, cheap and run-down and except on rare occasions, the only people to visit our offices were vendors, contractors, talent and freelancers. So again, who were we dressing up for? I was managing and maintaining media facilities in those days and to keep my clothes clean, I took to wearing a lab coat for a time. People started calling me "Doctor".
From the mid 80's to the mid-90's, I worked for another major media company and we were located in suburban New Jersey. It was incredibly rare that anyone from the outside world would come to the building. And as a VP, I remember getting berated by the CEO once because on a summer day over 100 degrees, I wore a polo shirt and slacks. When they finally went to "casual Fridays", there were actually executives opposed to it.
As a consultant, when I visited client facilities, I did feel like I had to dress up a bit more even if the clients themselves were dressed casually.
Having said that, when I see the senior Apple execs give presentations, my impression is that they're not just dressed informally, which would be okay, but badly. IMO, they never look good in their clothes - there's little style. No matter what their clothes actually cost (and certainly they can afford good ones), they all look like they're wearing "Dad jeans" and sneakers they bought at the mall from a chain store. And it's also true that at some companies that have no dress codes - either express or implied - that some people take advantage and show up looking like they're going to the beach (ripped t-shirt, shorts and sandals) or in clothes that looked like they were slept in. I do think employees have to look like they care just a bit when they show up for work.