The electric vehicle maker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) appears to have difficulty retaining its attorneys. Since its general counsel resigned in 2019, the company has lost a number of attorneys for various reasons.
In the most recent case, however, as reported by Bloomberg Law, the company denies the story.
A month ago, according to Bloomberg Law, David Searle, the former chief of Tesla’s legal department, left the company. The report cites three individuals with knowledge of his departure. He was in charge of an internal investigation of the company’s purchase orders. In 2021, he began working for the electric car company to manage its compliance department. His title was an interim chief legal officer and corporate secretary. Searle formerly served as vice president, top ethics and compliance officer, and federal prosecutor at Walmart from 2008 and 2012.
According to Bloomberg sources, Searle has been replaced by Dinna Eskin, who formerly served as the company’s deputy general counsel. In 2017, Eskin began working for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) as the senior lawyer, commercial.
Tesla Denies Lawyer’s Departure
However, in response to the Bloomberg news, Tesla tweeted: “This Bloomberg article is false. David Searle has not left Tesla.” The corporation provided no additional information. It operates without a public affairs office.
An Internal Probe
Omead Afshar, who reports directly to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, was the subject of an internal probe undertaken by Searle. According to the story, Afshar is the project director for Musk, dealing with supply chain challenges to secure construction supplies.
Bloomberg claimed that some Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) employees were terminated due to an inquiry into the difficulty of ordering a glass.
Since the departure of Jonathan Chang, who served as general counsel from 2011 to 2019, the corporation has employed three additional attorneys. Chang began working with SambaNova Systems, a provider of artificial intelligence, in 2019.
Searle succeeded William Berry as vice president of legal affairs. Berry now serves as the general counsel for Verkada Inc.
Additionally, Tesla has engaged Derek Windham as senior director and assistant general counsel for corporate and securities. Previously, he worked as an expert in corporate governance for Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.
After working as an attorney in the oil and gas business, Michael Munro was hired by Tesla as its new head of compliance.
Musk’s Trial in October
In October, a key trial will be held on Musk’s attempt to withdraw his $43 billion bid to acquire Twitter(NYSE:TWTR).
After stating that Twitter (NYSE:TWTR), the social media site, lied about the number of spam-bot accounts on the platform, he backed out of the deal.
The civil trial between the parties will begin on October 17 and conclude on October 21. Elon Musk tweeted in May that Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) intended to establish a dedicated litigation department where we actively launch and execute lawsuits. The team will report directly to me, he added.
Featured Image: Megapixl @VanderWolfImages
