Apple recruited Intel's top lawyer, Bruce Sewell, just a few days after Intel announced his departure.   He joins Apple as the company's general counsel and senior VP, Legal and Government Affairs, reporting to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Daniel Cooperman, who has served in these roles at Apple for the past two years, will be retiring at the end of September after serving two years.

Bruce Sewell

Sewell is Apple's third general counsel in three years since former general counsel Nancy Hienen was pushed out.  Hienen departed Apple after nine years with the company following an internal review into backdating of stock option grants in 2006. Her replacement, Donald Rosenberg, quit Apple to join Qualcomm within a year.   Jobs recruited Cooperman from Oracle to replace Rosenberg in November 2007.   Will Sewell take to Jobs fiery temperament?  Time will tell.

With Intel's past travails with anti-trust and monopoly issues, Apple gains a well versed top gun to deal with governmental agencies.  Recently, the FCC launched a regulatory investigation into the firm's failure to approve an application submitted by Google for the iPhone.  Sewell's experience in the microprocessor industry will be a plus as Apple made a strategic bet to move into MPUs with the acquisition of PA Semiconductor.  Jobs' health status releases are also in question amid investor grumbling.

Clearly, signs of increasing friction with Google are becoming evident.  Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, has resigned from the board of Apple as Google's Android mobile platform comes into crosshairs of the iPhone. 

At Intel, Sewell has been responsible for leading all of Intel's legal, corporate affairs and corporate social responsibility programs, managing attorneys and policy professionals located in over 30 countries around the world. He joined Intel in 1995 as a senior attorney assigned to counsel various business groups in areas such as antitrust compliance, licensing and intellectual property. In 2001, Sewell was promoted to vice president and deputy general counsel, managing Intel's litigation portfolio, and handled corporate transactions including M&A activities.

Perhaps, Apple sees legal issues and challenges up the road and wanted to circle its wagons beforehand with a high-profile legal expertise.