Cozen O'Connor picked up the State Attorneys General Practice from Dickstein Shapiro this week. The group of 10 started on Tuesday. It's co-chaired by Bernie Nash (left) and Lori Kalani (second from right), here with JB Kelly and Milton Marquis. With Cozen O'Connor's 23 offices, the move brings a national footprint that complements the national practice, Lori told us yesterday afternoon; the firm also has a strong public strategies practice, which will work with the State AG practice, as many of the investigations they work on have policy implications.
Hot areas in the State AG space include disruptive technologies, financial institutions and financial services, food, marijuana and cigarettes (particularly newer methods like e-cigarettes and vapes). Other members of the State AG Practice include partners Maria Colsey Heard, Ann-Marie Luciano and Chris Allen; associate Bryan Mosca; senior adviser Chris Tampio; and AG policy coordinator Emily Lundahl. Recently, Blake Rutherford (above), the former chief of staff to the Arkansas and Pennsylvania Attorneys General, also joined the firm.
Lori has been a pioneer of state AG work. After working on some state AG issues while she was DISH Network senior corporate counsel and director of government affairs, she thought it could be beneficial to schedule meetings with AGs and their staff. Over 18 months, Lori flew around the country and met all 50 state Attorneys General. It was a first for many of the AGs, who would remark that nobody had taken the time to come to their state and meet their staff. "It really made a difference," Lori says. When she left DISH, she started her own State AG practice at Orrick, which she merged with Bernie's practice at Dickstein in 2012.
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