Cerence appoints former Lenovo attorney as general counsel

Burlington, Massachusetts-based Cerence has recruited Jennifer Salinas as its new senior vice president and general counsel, effective April 4. She will report to CEO Stefan Ortmanns.

Salinas most recently was general counsel of the infrastructure solutions group and global head of litigation at Lenovo. Her experience includes advising management and boards on matters including corporate governance, commercial and strategic transactions, M&A, litigation, intellectual property, labor and employment and regulatory and compliance matters.

During her time with Lenovo, she was responsible for joint ventures, M&A opportunities and due diligence, strategic partnerships, brand protection, contract negotiations, compliance, insurance recoveries and securities law disclosure documents.

Salinas also has 20 years of experience – 10 as a partner – in private practice. According to her LinkedIn profile, this includes time with law firms Troutman Sanders and Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton. In these roles, she advised clients on matters such as pre-IPO due diligence, SEC disclosures and securities litigation.

Salinas succeeds Leanne Fitzgerald, former general counsel and corporate secretary at Cerence, who according to an SEC filing resigned to ‘pursue another opportunity’. The filing states that Fitzgerald advised the company that her decision did not involve any disagreement with Cerence and she agreed to assist with an orderly transition of her responsibilities.

Ortmanns says in a statement: ‘Jennifer is an incredibly talented attorney and a charismatic, dynamic leader who joins Cerence with great experience and achievements, both professionally and personally. She is an excellent, key addition to my leadership team as we work hard to scale the business, drive a high-performance culture and achieve greater results for the company and our stakeholders.’