The legal fight between Starbucks and Kraft continues.
Paula Boggs, general counsel and corporate secretary of coffee giant Starbucks, will retire on April 2012, the company says.
But Boggs’ departure does not end the legal brawl between Starbucks and Kraft. According to the Wall Street Journal, Kraft distributed Starbucks bagged coffee to retailers before the coffee house operator decided to cut loose from its 12-year agreement to sell the coffee beans on its own. The fight continues over whether Starbucks owes the confectionery maker $1 billion or more. A hearing is scheduled for spring.
Boggs, pictured left, is expected to join President Obama’s reelection campaign in June. However, the White House is not a new place for Boggs. In 2010 she was appointed by Obama to the White House Council for Community Solutions, which focused on youth education, unemployment and development. This time, Boggs will be volunteering as an advocate for the campaign across the country.
The veteran attorney joined the famous coffee house in 2002 from computer manufacturer Dell. At Starbucks, she led the law & corporate affairs department for almost 10 years, providing advice on a broad range of legal and business issues at the company.
Boggs’ legal career began in 1984 when she served as a US Army officer assigned to the Pentagon. She was then a staff attorney for the White House until 1988, when she became assistant US attorney in the western district of Washington, prosecuting fraud and regulatory crimes before trial and appellate courts.
