Jennifer G. Newstead is a prominent American lawyer who most recently served as Chief Legal Officer at Meta (formerly Facebook), overseeing global legal matters and corporate governance from 2019 until late 2025.[1][2][4] In December 2025, she joined Apple as its new General Counsel, succeeding Kate Adams in a significant executive transition amid ongoing regulatory scrutiny in tech.[6][7] Newstead graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1991 with an A.B. in Government and earned her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1994, where she was Managing Editor of the Yale Law Journal.[1][2][3] She clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and later taught as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center.[1][2][4] Her career spans high-level government and private sector roles. From 2018 to 2019, she was Senate-confirmed Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State, managing domestic and international legal issues for U.S. foreign policy.[1][2][3] Earlier, she served as General Counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice—where she contributed to drafting the USA PATRIOT Act—and Associate White House Counsel.[1][2][3][5] She spent 12 years (2006-2018) as a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, specializing in litigation, regulatory, and cross-border matters for tech, media, and financial clients.[1][2][3] Newstead's expertise in navigating complex global regulations positions her as a key figure in Big Tech leadership, particularly as Apple faces antitrust challenges and AI governance issues.[6][7] She currently serves on the National Constitution Center's Board of Trustees.[1]