Jonathan Chang, general counsel of Tesla/Courtesy photo

Tesla drove off with a new general counsel on Wednesday, promoting its vice-president of legal, Jonathan Chang, to the top lawyer role to replace a litigator who only held the position for two months.

Chang joined Palo Alto-based Tesla as senior counsel in 2011. He's worked his way up the legal department, most recently managing Tesla's corporate securities, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, compliance, and sales and distribution functions in the US and Europe. He'll now lead Tesla's global legal and policy teams and report to chief executive officer Elon Musk.

Those who have worked with Chang said they were not surprised by his appointment.

"I always thought that he was the right candidate to be the next GC," said Phuong Phillips, the general counsel of Zynga.

Phillips reported to Chang when she was Tesla's associate general counsel in 2017. The two also worked together during Tesla's acquisition of Phillips' former employer, SolarCity.

She said Chang managed most of the legal department during her time at Tesla. He was the one person who "touched a little bit of everything", she said. A Tesla representative confirmed Chang "has managed most parts of the legal organisation during his tenure".

"A lot of people would have told you that they felt Jonathan was the leader of the group," Phillips said. "He is a very kind soul and he cares a lot about his employees. I think that's why people looked up to him so much and turned to him for advice … He was so good at making people feel stable and comfortable in their role and always trying to find ways to help them grow as individuals."

Phil Rothenberg, the general counsel of Sonder who worked with Chang at Tesla for seven years, said he was excited for his former colleague. Rothenberg called him a "proven leader" at Tesla, noting Chang's key role in Tesla acquiring SolarCity and paying off a loan from the Department of Energy several years early. He and Chang co-led Tesla's legal team during a previous GC replacement search, he said.

"Jonathan is not only smart and well qualified, he's been in the legal department since April 2011, coming up on eight years, and has worked with almost every different executive at the company," Rothenberg said. "He's been there, he's seen it and he's succeeded. So I think it's a great choice." 

Tesla consultants emphasised Chang's passion for the company's mission and involvement in all aspects of its legal matters.

Bea González, a partner at consulting firm Capital Results who has handled multi-state public affairs and legislative matters for Tesla for seven years, described Chang as strategic, positive, sincere and well versed in state and federal laws.

"He's so knowledgeable about the culture and the people at Tesla," González said. "I think he's kind of a perfect fit. He's been there for a long time, he knows all the aspects of the business."

She and Chang have worked closely on state legislative issues in Virginia, where González is based. A Tesla representative said Chang led Tesla's efforts to make cars available in more US states by challenging state laws that prevent car manufacturers from directly selling or distributing cars.

Jason Tai, the principal at Tai Ginsberg & Associates and another Tesla consultant, also mentioned Chang's involvement in state-level issues and federal, real estate and M&A issues.

"He's really just everywhere," Tai said. "I don't know how he gets any sleep, frankly."

Tai added Chang's appointment as GC is "a natural evolution" for a Tesla in-house lawyer "who is much beloved, who people really respect".

It's also an appointment that could bring stability to the company's legal team, Rothenberg said. Chang replaces Dane Butswinkas as GC, a litigation lawyer who joined Tesla just two months ago from DC's Williams & Connolly. Butswinkas now plans to resume practising at the firm. Tesla declined to comment on why Butswinkas was hired in December to run its legal department over Chang.

The legal leadership shakeup comes not long after Tesla settled charges with the US Securities and Exchange Commission over controversial tweets from Musk.

"Not only is he well qualified, he brings stability. I think it will be a sigh of relief for people in the know, such as people in the legal department at Tesla and others in management at Tesla," Rothenberg said. "Because he is a known entity and you're not sure what you're going to get from the outside."

Before joining Tesla, Chang held a general counsel role at Lithium Technologies in Emeryville, California, according to his LinkedIn profile. He started his legal career as a corporate attorney at Latham & Watkins after earning a law degree from the University of Southern California.

Chang did not immediately respond to a request for comment.