Brain drain at top of Apple or NeXT cleanout?

You may be wondering if Apple is facing a brain drain, with three of its top executive officers leaving since March.  Apple confirmed Friday that its senior vice president and primary legal officer (her official title was "General Counsel and Secretary"), Nancy Heinen, left the company, but gave no reason for her departure.  She was the highest ranking female in the Apple organization.

She follows two other top officials who left in March: Avie Tevanian, chief software technology officer, and Jon Rubinstein, senior vice president of the iPod Division. 

The timing of Heinen's departure was a surprise, since it was announced just yesterday that Apple Computer won its lawsuit against Apple Corps.

What do all three have in common? They all joined Apple from NeXT. In fact, the only remaining high-level NeXT exec, other than Steve Jobs of course, is Bertrand Serlet, who is senior vice president of software engineering.  Wonder if he'll soon be following the others?

Apple is not saying much about Heinen's departure other than to confirm it happened.  Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's chief financial officer, will oversee the legal department until Heinen's replacement is named.