Paul W. Connell, the former Deputy Attorney General and Senior Counsel for the Wisconsin Department of Justice, joins Reed Smith as a partner, and Aaron R. Lancaster, former counsel at Baker Hostetler, joins as counsel. Both are resident in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office, and Connell will also spend time in the Chicago office.
“As a former Deputy Attorney General, Paul developed a network of relationships with state attorneys general nationwide, and he has a deep understanding of the risks and challenges that companies face when they find themselves in the crosshairs of complex investigations, compliance and regulatory matters brought by AGs,” said Washington, D.C.-based partner Divonne Smoyer, who heads the firm’s State Attorneys General team. “As AGs move more aggressively into investigating businesses across a vast array of industry sectors, Paul’s combined experience as a former AUSA [Assistant United States Attorney] and in state government is an extreme value add for Reed Smith’s clients.”
In his role as Deputy AG, Connell served as principal advisor to Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel and directed day-to-day operations at the Wisconsin Department of Justice, including directing and managing litigation for, and supervising, some 110 assistant attorneys general and all cases led by the Office of the Solicitor General.
“There are few law firms, and even fewer lawyers, who focus on the state AG practice, and this is a clear differentiator for Reed Smith, which makes it a perfect fit for my return to private practice,” said Connell. “I look forward to working with Divonne, Aaron, and the rest of the AG team to proactively address issues important to our clients and help them address issues when AGs initiate investigations or litigation against individual companies or entire industries.”
Connell will also leverage and incorporate his experience in data privacy and information security regulation and investigations, an area of expanding concern for state AGs and corporations at every scale.
“Clients are pushing the boundaries of innovation regarding technology and data gathering and utilization, focusing on product development and supply chain management, and transforming their businesses. With uncertainty in the legal environment, particularly at the state level, clients cannot be only reactive, where they need assistance in investigations and litigations that involve data privacy and data security issues, but need insights on where the law is developing, and how it impacts the business decisions the clients are making,” said Anthony Diana, Co-chair of the firm’s IP, Tech & Data Group. “With the addition of Paul and Aaron, Reed Smith is even better positioned to guide our clients into the future.”
Prior to joining the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Connell was an award-winning AUSA for the U.S. Department of Justice in Madison for 12 years. Before that, he was an associate in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering and a law clerk for Chief U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
Aaron Lancaster is certified as an Information Privacy Professional by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). He represents clients in investigations and litigation brought by AGs involving various consumer protection and other matters, as well as advising clients on state and federal data privacy laws, breach response notification, investigations following a breach, and legal compliance and loss mitigation following data breaches.
“The Washington office has seen exponential growth over the past year. We have added two dozen lawyers, including six partners,” said A. Scott Bolden, managing partner of the firm’s D.C. office. “We’ve added star power partners and bench strength in a variety of areas including life sciences, regulatory, privacy, among others, and we are glad to be adding Paul and Aaron to our growing ranks.”
Reed Smith’s state Attorneys General team also includes Washington, D.C.-based partner Todd S. Kim, who recently served as the nation’s first Solicitor General for the District of Columbia. In this role, Kim led teams that filed hundreds of briefs and presented hundreds of oral arguments in a diverse range of high-profile matters of national importance. Reed Smith’s growing State AG team also includes lawyers who have practiced in New York, Illinois, and California, among the states with the most active Attorneys General. The AG team also works closely with the firm’s antitrust & competition team in the Global Regulatory Enforcement Group, which regularly represents clients in civil and criminal investigations by the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, the FTC, and AGs.
About Reed Smith
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