The Tesla Motors world headquarters. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com

A top securities lawyer has left Tesla Inc. for a general counsel role at startup Sonder.

The departure of Philip Rothenberg, who was a vice president of legal at the Palo Alto, California-based company, comes as Tesla faces increased scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Last month, the SEC sued Tesla's founder and chief executive officer Elon Musk in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for tweets claiming he had secured funding  to take Tesla private at $420 per share. Tesla settled the suit for $40 million and the agreement that Musk step down as chairman.

In a statement emailed to Corporate Counsel, Rothenberg said he left for Sonder because he always wanted to be a general counsel, an opportunity the San Francisco-based hospitality company gave him, and not because of hard feelings toward Tesla. He started his new role on Nov. 5.

“After almost seven and a half years at Tesla, I had an opportunity to become general counsel at a new company, which is something I always wanted to do. It's been a privilege to watch firsthand as Tesla grew from a niche automaker to having one of the top-selling vehicles in the U.S., achieve amazing international growth and expand into game-changing areas like solar and storage,” Rothenberg said.

“I'll always be a supporter and believer in the company, its leadership, and its mission. I worked with Tesla to ensure a smooth transition of my responsibilities,” he continued.

He joined the automotive company in May 2011 as an associate general counsel, according to his LinkedIn profile. In 2014, he was promoted to deputy general counsel and became VP of legal in 2017.

Prior to joining Tesla, Rothenberg spent more than three years as an attorney-adviser for the SEC. He has also worked as an associate at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, focusing on securities and M&A transactions and as an associate at Sullivan and Cromwell, where he worked on the New York Stock Exchange and on a SEC listing of a Japanese company. Rothenberg earned his J.D. at Georgetown.

Rothenberg told Corporate Counsel that he's excited for the next chapter of his in-house career.

“I'm incredibly excited for the opportunity to join Sonder as general counsel and help build the future of hospitality around the world. I'm a passionate lover of travel and technology, and I'm more excited than ever to put my talents to work for another dynamic and innovative company,” he said.