Name: Brad Lerman
New title: EVP and general counsel, Starbucks
Previous title: SVP, general counsel and corporate secretary, Medtronic
Lerman has over 30 years of legal and regulatory experience in the public and private sectors, Starbucks said in a press release Wednesday. He will join the coffee chain on April 17. He most recently lead global legal functions, government affairs and the office of ethics and compliance in the U.S., South America, Europe and Asia for Medtronic, a healthcare technology provider. He has also worked at Federal National Mortgage Association and Pfizer and has over two decades in private practice litigation and as an intellectual property attorney advising consumer brands.
“His expertise in both the public and private sectors will strengthen our decision making, protect and advance the business and brand of Starbucks in the markets in which we operate, and further develop our legal and compliance talent,” Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan said in a statement.
Lerman’s appointment comes about a year after previous general counsel Rachel Gonzalez left the position. Since then, the company dissolved the COO role and Rossann Williams, former head of Starbucks North America, left the company. Narasimhan, who was hired in October to become Starbucks’ CEO, took over for interim CEO Howard Schultz in March.
