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D. Bruce Sewell has a new job at Apple Inc. after resigning as general counsel at Intel Corporation. Cupertino, California-based Apple announced Tuesday that Sewell will head the tech giant's legal department.

He'll report to CEO Steve Jobs. Daniel Cooperman, who had been Apple's general counsel for the past two years, will retire at the end of September. "We expect this to be a seamless transition," Jobs said in a press release.

Sewell decided to leave Intel after the company began reorganizing its business units and shifted more power to three executive vice presidents as part of a management shakeup. Deputy general counsel Suzan Miller is now serving as the interim head of Intel's law department, which employs about 600 attorneys in more than 30 countries. Company officials could not be reached for further comment.

Patrick Gelsinger, a manager in Intel's digital enterprise group, also opted to leave the Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker. Gelsinger is now chief operating officer at the Hopkinton, Massachusetts-based EMC Corporation. “We thank Pat and Bruce for many years of service to Intel and wish them well in their future endeavors," Intel CEO Paul Otellini said in a press release.

Sewell became Intel's general counsel in November 2004, replacing F. Thomas Dunlap, who retired after 30 years with the company. One of Sewell's biggest challenges was fighting charges by various government agencies that Intel violated antitrust laws.

This past spring, the company lost a major legal battle. The European Commission slapped Intel with a record-breaking $1.5 billion fine in May for offering illegal rebates to computer makers that used fewer or no chips from its main competitor, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD brought the initial complaint against Intel in Europe in 2001. Intel has said it is appealing the decision.

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After the ruling, Sewell insisted that Intel had never paid to prevent AMD products from reaching the European market. "At no point has there ever been any kind of naked payment by Intel," Sewell told The New York Times. "The issue is whether the rebates we offered were conditional, and our position very definitely is that they were not."

Sewell was a familiar face at Intel even before he began overseeing its legal department. He joined the semiconductor manufacturer in 1995 as a senior attorney, counseling various business groups on matters such as antitrust compliance, licensing, and intellectual property. In 2001, he was promoted to deputy general counsel and managed Intel's litigation portfolio. He also handled corporate transactions, including M&A activities.

Before going in-house at Intel, Sewell worked on high-profile litigation for other technology giants as a partner at Phoenix-based Brown & Bain, which merged with Seattle-based Perkins Coie in 2004. While there, he handled copyright disputes between Apple Inc., his future employer, and Microsoft Corporation.

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