Top Twitter lawyer quits micro-blogging site ahead of IPO

Twitter's general counsel Alex MacGillivray has quit his job as top lawyer at the micro-blogging site.

He will continue to advise the company, which is widely expected to float on Wall Street next year.

Vijaya Gadde, who most recently managed Twitter's corporate and international legal business and previously worked at Juniper Networks, will replace MacGillivray.

Before joining Twitter in 2009, MacGillivray served as Google's deputy general counsel for six years.

He said in a blog post explaining his decision to quit his post at Twitter that he was dialling back his "day-to-day involvement" at the firm.

I’ll continue to support the company and its great people by staying on as an advisor for the legal, trust & safety, corporate development and public policy teams. I continue to care deeply about Twitter, the folks who work at Twitter and our tremendous users, so I’ll remain close to all three.

He now plans to spend some time with friends and family, just "goofing off a bit." ®