American Chipmaker AMD Appoints Ava Hahn as General Counsel to Lead Legal Team

American Chipmaker AMD Appoints Ava Hahn as General Counsel to Lead Legal Team

Ava Hahn has been appointed as the new General Counsel of US semiconductor giant Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), replacing Harry Wolin who is retiring from the company after serving for almost 25 years.

Hahn, who was previously the chief legal officer overseeing global legal and government affairs at US semiconductor peer Lam Research, has joined AMD as the new general counsel and corporate secretary. In her new role, Hahn will be responsible for overseeing the company’s worldwide legal and corporate governance matters, ethics and compliance programs, and public affairs, similar to her previous role at Lam Research. AMD, based in Santa Clara, California, is a leading developer of processors for computers, laptops, and gaming consoles such as the Sony Playstore and Microsoft Xbox.

“I am excited to welcome Ava to AMD. Her extensive experience leading legal functions for multiple technology companies will be an invaluable asset as we enter our next phase of growth,” Lisa Su, AMD’s chair and CEO, said.

Since leaving Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in 2000, where she spent three years as an associate, Hahn has led several in-house teams at tech companies and venture capital firms. Her experience includes serving as the general counsel for legacy circuit maker Genesis Microchip for five years (acquired by ST Microelectronics in 2007) and as the general counsel and vice president for corporate development for legacy telecoms vendor ShoreTel for almost six years (acquired by Mitel in 2017).

At the start of 2020, she joined Lam Research as their legal counsel. Before that, she served as the General Counsel at Aruba Networks (now part of Hewlett Packard Enterprises), Felicis Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and CA Technologies (now part of Broadcom).

Hahn holds a juris doctor degree from Columbia Law School and is a member of the State Bar of California.

Harry Wolin, who became General Counsel in 2003, has left AMD after 24 years. He joined the company in 2000 as Vice President for intellectual property from Motorola, where he was director of legal affairs for its semiconductor products sector.

“I want to thank Harry for the role he has played leading our legal, government relations and public affairs teams during a period of significant growth and transformation,” Lisa Su stated.