Apple's Bruce Sewell retires as general counsel, replaced by former Honeywell exec Katherine Adams

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."

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.

8 Comments

randominternetperson 3095 comments · 8 Years

About 7 years ago

AppleInsider said:

Cook and Sewell.

I don't know if I'll ever get used to the idea that C-suite execs from one of the biggest companies in the world dress like that every day. I wouldn't expect to my CEO and CLO dressed like that except on "go out and do charity work in the community day." Oh well.

thompr 1521 comments · 16 Years

randominternetperson said:

AppleInsider said:

Cook and Sewell.

I don't know if I'll ever get used to the idea that C-suite execs from one of the biggest companies in the world dress like that every day. I wouldn't expect to my CEO and CLO dressed like that except on "go out and do charity work in the community day." Oh well.

In a lot of different professions, once you have clearly made it to the top of your game and everyone knows your inherent value, you finally reach a point in which you can dress down (to within certain limits and at appropriate times, LOL) without any loss of respect. Sure, many large companies' C-suite execs haven't reached that status (my CEO certainly hasn't... he has to try to re-earn respect from everyone that walks in his door, lol) but I am not surprised to see that Cook and Sewell have reached that level. Nobody that does business with them would dare underestimate them based on what they are wearing in that picture. They simply have elevated above the need to impress via "image".

macxpress 5910 comments · 16 Years

I find that when people are more comfortable wearing what they want to wear you feel better about going to work everyday and doing what you like versus being forced to wear a specific set of clothes. Obviously, you can't wear something offensive, but I think its the laid back culture of Apple. I believe there are other Silicon Valley companies with similar policies.

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?

red oak 1104 comments · 13 Years

Honeywell has none of the DNA traits that makes Apple Apple. It's end user experience, confusing websites and messaging, and design are plain awful. I'm surprised if a C-level person from that company can come into Apple and help the company be better

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

phone-ui-guy 1018 comments · 18 Years

red oak said:

Honeywell has none of the DNA traits that makes Apple Apple. It's end user experience, confusing websites and messaging, and design are plain awful. I'm surprised if a C-level person from that company can come into Apple and help the company be better

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.