Considerations of conflict of interest have arisen in the wake of an environmental cleanup operation managed by an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lawyer, whose husband’s law firm, WilmerHale, represented the company involved in the incident. EPA Deputy General Counsel Natalia Sorgente presided over efforts to address the aftermath of a derailed freight train in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2024. The operator of the train was Norfolk Southern, a client of WilmerHale, where Sorgente’s husband, Joel Millar, serves as special counsel based in D.C. Despite concerns raised over potential conflicts of interest, the agency’s ethics office allowed Sorgente to remain in charge of the case. Read more at the Washington Times.
In other legal news, Fox Rothschild has augmented its presence in Florida, establishing a third office in Sarasota with the recruitment of a transactions team from Blalock Walters. Robert Stroud, formerly a part of the transactions team, will head the office and serve as the new chair of Fox’s health care transactions practice group. Details of the move can be found at the Global Legal Post.
In efforts to foster prosecutorial discretion and independence, the criminal justice section of the American Bar Association (ABA) has inaugurated the Prosecutorial Independence Task Force. Previous U.S. attorneys general Alberto Gonzalez and Loretta Lynch are among the advisors on hand to assist the task force. This development follows the ABA’s recent resolution urging state and local officials to respect the autonomy and judgment inherent in prosecutorial roles. Learn more about this task force from the ABA.
Glance through the full list of lateral moves, promotions, and appointments in the legal world, as detailed in the original article over at Bloomberg Law.