Apple hires new general counsel

Katherine Adams will join Apple as its new general counsel and senior vice president of legal and global security, reporting to CEO Tim Cook and serving on the technology company’s executive team.

She will succeed Bruce Sewell, who has served as Apple’s general counsel since 2009 and will retire at the end of the year. Adams was most recently senior vice president and general counsel of Honeywell. Before joining Honeywell in 2003, she was a partner at Sidley Austin in New York.

‘We are thrilled to welcome Kate to our team,’ Cook says in a statement. ‘She’s a seasoned leader with outstanding judgment [who] has worked on a wide variety of legal cases globally. Throughout her career she’s also been an advocate on many of the values we at Apple hold dear.

‘Bruce has our best wishes for his retirement, after eight years of dedicated service to Apple and a tremendously successful career. He has tirelessly defended our [intellectual property], our customers’ right to privacy and our values.’

Honeywell has appointed Anne Madden as Adams’ successor, reporting to president and CEO Darius Adamczyk and serving as a company officer. She had served as vice president of corporate development and global head of M&A with the company since 2002. Before joining Honeywell, Madden was in private practice at Shearman & Sterling, with a practice focused on M&A and corporate finance.

‘We appreciate all of Kate’s contributions to Honeywell, and under her leadership we built a deep bench of legal talent,’ Adamczyk says in a statement. ‘Anne has strong business acumen and deep legal expertise, and she is a welcome addition to Honeywell’s leadership team. She has a proven track record of not only facilitating transactions, but also supporting Honeywell’s growth around the world.’