Steptoe's Rich Verma could be making the jump from senior counselor to Ambassador to India. He was recently nominated by President Obama.
If Rich is confirmed, he'll become the first Indian-American in this post. It won't be his first job at State, however. Before his past several years at Steptoe, he was the Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs to Hillary Clinton. We snapped this of Rich when he returned to Steptoe in '11. (He was also partner at the firm from '07-'09, and he started there as an associate before becoming Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid's senior national security advisor.)
Rich focuses his Steptoe practice on national security law, international regulatory compliance, and public policy. (He's also senior counsel at the Albright Stonebridge Group, headed by Madeleine Albright.) Here he's holding a memento of his State Department days, a football signed by Dan Rooney, the chairman of the Pittsburgh Steelers (Rich is a big fan) who's also the former Ambassador to Ireland; it was presented to him by Hillary Clinton.
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