RIM's top lawyer joins parade of resignations

The top lawyer at Research In Motion Ltd has resigned and will soon leave the struggling BlackBerry maker, RIM said on Monday.

She joins a parade of long-time company executives to depart since Thorsten Heins took over as CEO earlier this year.

The loss of Chief Legal Officer Karima Bawa - who litigated numerous patent disputes and helped write many of RIM's commercial deals - follows the resignation of RIM's head of global sales, Patrick Spence, last week.

RIM said Bawa was in discussion with RIM about her intention to retire for some time, and planned to stay on to support the hiring and transition of a replacement.