Boeing's top lawyer to depart by end of year

There's another departure from Boeing coming: This time it's the lawyer who has been handling the company's legal risks over the 737 Max.

Boeing says J. Michael Luttig will retire Dec. 31.

Luttig was Boeing's top lawyer, but last May former CEO Dennis Muilenburg made him a senior advisor and put him in charge of every legal issue about the Max.

On Luttig's watch, Boeing came under intense criticism for failing to take responsibility for the crashes. Damaging internal documents continue to surface, as well as testimony before Congress.

This month a whistleblower said he tried to warn Muilenburg about production problems on the Max before the crashes. But Muilenburg sent the issue to the legal team.

Boeing praised Luttig and said his retirement was "long considered".

Muilenburg resigned as chief executive officer earlier this week.

Boeing said that board chairman David L. Calhoun will take over as president and CEO, and Lawrence W. Kellner will become chairman. Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith will serve as interim CEO in the transition, Boeing said.

Boeing has been struggling to get regulators' approval to get the 737 MAX back in the air since it was grounded in March in the wake of two fatal crashes that killed 346 people.

A key software system has been blamed in the crashes, and Boeing has worked on a fix, but the Federal Aviation Administration has yet to approve it.