Apple has been bolstering its legal team with at least two new major recruiting drives. The iPhone maker's primary hunt is for a Senior Patent Litigation Counsel that would manage major patent issues and outside legal teams. Any new hire would more crucially be "formulating and driving strategy" for Apple's broader patent efforts, although what that meant was left open.
A more conventional Legal Counsel position would be "driving case strategies" on more general subjects that come up frequently. Antitrust, class action, copyright, product liability, and trademark would be some of the more common focuses.
The two new positions would come just as Apple is instituting a new head counsel and at a moment of peak activity for Apple's legal team. Apple has not only been engaged in lawsuits both against and from Android phone makers such as HTC and Samsung but has more recently been doubling up, adding one or more extra cases as new patents or products come under scrutiny. New senior counsel might help it decide how to pursue these cases or whether to pursue them at all.
New hires could also play a defensive role. Those Apple has targeted, Samsung included, have often launched countersuits. It may likewise be keen to avoid the long-term legal trouble it has faced from its approach to earlier cases, such as the large settlement with Nokia. As with other major technology firms, Apple is also a frequent tempting target for patent trolls and may want to help preempt these cases or better tackle them when they appear.
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