Apple names Oracle exec new General Counsel

Apple said Friday that Daniel Cooperman, general counsel and secretary at Oracle Corporation, will join the company as its new top legal aid reporting directly to Steve Jobs.

Cooperman, who will begin his term on Nov. 1, will become the second individual to assume the role of Apple's general counsel and secretary since long-time legal aid Nancy Heinen departed in May of 2006 amid the company's options backdating fiasco.

"Dan will be an excellent addition to our team and will fit right into Apple's fast paced culture,” said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs. "Dan is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in securities compliance, intellectual property, litigation and corporate governance."

Making way for Cooperman is the departure of Donald J. Rosenberg, who began serving as the Cupertino-based firm's general counsel and secretary several months after Heinen's departure (and ahead of her indictment by the SEC on charges she helped facilitate the company's options backdating mess). Reports at the time suggested that Rosenberg was lured to the company from IBM with the help of an then $18.25 million, 200,000-share options grant.

"We thank Don for his contributions to Apple during the past ten months, and wish him well in his future endeavors," said Jobs.

At Oracle, Cooperman has been responsible for the software maker's legal department, including worldwide legal policies, corporate governance, securities compliance, mergers and acquisitions, commercial licensing, intellectual property, employment law, litigation, patent law and legal support for the firm's various business units.

Cooperman currently serves as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Software & Information Industry Association, the largest trade association in the software industry. He is also a member of the American Bar Association's Committee of Corporate General Counsel and is on the Advisory Council for the Law, Science and Technology Program at Stanford Law School.

Prior to joining Oracle, Cooperman was a partner with the San Francisco-based law firm of McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen (now known as Bingham McCutchen), and served as chair of the firm's 65-lawyer Business & Transactions Group and managing partner of the San Jose office.

Cooperman graduated summa cum laude with highest distinction in economics from Dartmouth College in 1972, then attended Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and School of Law, receiving both his M.B.A. and J.D. from Stanford in 1976.