Tesla rival Lucid Group has hired Matt Everitt as general counsel, ending its search for a new legal chief six months after previous GC Jonathan Butler stepped down from the role.

Everitt joins from Mercedes-Benz USA, where he has spent the past decade as GC. At Lucid, he will be responsible for overseeing all of the group’s legal affairs and provide strategic legal guidance to support the company’s growth. Newark, California-based Lucid makes luxury electric vehicles, such as the Lucid Air.

Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO of the Lucid Group, said: “[Everitt’s] impressive legal background, deep understanding of the automotive landscape, and strategic mindset make him the ideal choice to lead our legal department as we accelerate growth in the coming years.”

Everitt took up the role at Mercedes having previously worked for its parent company Daimler as a senior counsel in Germany, assisting its GC with the car-maker’s FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) compliance programme following its settlement with US authorities for anti-bribery violations. 

Prior to that assignment, Everitt was an assistant US attorney at the US Department of Justice for the Middle District of Tennessee. He also spent close to five years as an associate at White & Case in Washington.

He said: “I am excited to join such an inspiring company. Lucid’s products set an incredibly high bar for automotive companies, and I’m energised to join at a time when the company is poised to expand further.”

Former GC Jonathan Butler quit the role in July last year after just over three years at the company. He wrote on LinkedIn at the time that the decision to move on was a difficult one, but that he planned to “catch up on some much needed family time and rest”.

Butler had previously worked for Elon Musk at Tesla for just over eight years, four-and-a-half of them as deputy GC. Before his in-house career, Butler spent more than eight years at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, working his way up to senior associate. During that time he spent a year on secondment with Airbus in France. He has yet to announce a new role.