New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer Executive Legal Staff

Michele Hirshman - 1st Deputy

• Former Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief Public Corruption Unit, Southern District of New York, Criminal Division.
• Veteran prosecutor responsible for major convictions in the areas of racketeering, corruption, and narcotics.
• Rutgers College, Summa Cum Laude/Yale Law School, Law Review

Preeta Bansal - Solicitor General

• White House Special Counsel, Counsel to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.
• U.S. Supreme Court law clerk for Justice John Paul Stevens.
• Harvard-Radcliffe College/Harvard Law School, Magna Cum Laude, Law Review

David Nocenti - Counsel

• Former Counsel to the Queens Borough President.
• Former First Assistant Counsel to Governor Mario Cuomo. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of New York, Civil Division.
• Princeton University/Columbia Law School, Law Review

Richard Rifkin - Deputy Attorney General, State Counsel Division

• Former Executive Director, New York State Ethics Commission.
• Former First Assistant Attorney General; supervised state litigation.
• Washington and Jefferson College, Phi Beta Kappa/Yale Law School, Law Review

Dieter Snell - Deputy Attorney General, Public Advocacy Division

• Former Assistant U.S. Attorney, Deputy Chief Appellate Attorney, Southern District of New York, Criminal Division.
• Veteran criminal prosecutor in the areas of terrorism, securities, bank and computer fraud.
• Yale College,Summa Cum Laude/Yale Law School, Law Review.

Debra Cohn - Deputy Attorney General, Criminal Division

• Former Special Counsel to Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.
• Former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
• Harvard-Radcliffe College, Magna Cum Laude/New York University of Law, Law Review

Jose Maldonado - Deputy Attorney General, Director Medicaid Fraud Control Unit

• Former Commissioner of the New York City Gambling Control Commission, NYC Dept. of Consumer Affairs and NYC Department of Juvenile Justice.
• Chief Assistant DA, Office of Special Narcotics.
• Columbia College/New York University School of Law.

Beth Golden - Deputy Attorney General for Special Projects

• Former Assistant US Attorney, Criminal Fraud Section, Minneapolis, Minn.
• Associate Independent Counsel to Robert Fiske in Washington phase of Whitewater investigation.
• Harvard University, Magna Cum Laude/University of Chicago Law School, Law Review

Peter Pope - Special Counsel

• Former Vice President and Inspector General, New York City School Construction Authority.
• Former Deputy Chief, Labor Racketeering Unit, District Attorney, New York County.
• Harvard College, Cum Laude/Yale Law School, Law Review

Carl Mayer - Special Counsel

• Former attorney with Milberg, Weiss, Bershad, Hynes and Lerach.
• Former professor of law at Hofstra Law School; clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Caleb Wright.
• Princeton University/University of Chicago and Harvard Law Schools.

Lila E. Kirton - Assistant Attorney General in charge of Recruitment and Coordinator of
                           Legal Hiring

• Former Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Prosecutions and Consumer Frauds Bureaus.
• Former Assistant District Attorney, Queens County DA's office.
• State University of New York at Stony Brook/New York Law School.

Dan Feldman - Assistant Deputy Attorney General for Policy and Program Development

• 18-year veteran of the New York State Assembly.
• Widely regarded as an expert in criminal justice issues. Authored more than 100 major laws, including Megan's Law and Organized Crime Control Act.
• Columbia College/Harvard Law School.

Natalie Gomez-Velez - Assistant Deputy for Public Advocacy

• Former attorney Brennan Center for Justice at NY University School of Law.
• Former instructor at New York University School of Law and staff attorney for American Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Freedom Program.
• Hunter College of City University of NY,Summa Cum Laude/NY University School of Law.

Terrel Brown - Assistant Deputy Attorney General for Public Advocacy

• Former Deputy Bureau Chief, Civil Rights Bureau.
• Former Assistant AG, Litigation Bureau, representing NY state agencies and officials in federal civil rights cases, Medicaid litigation and professional discipline cases.
• Pace University/University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Chris Prather- Assistant Deputy Attorney General, Criminal Division

• Former First Assistant Inspector General and Counsel, NYC School Construction Authority
• Former Assistant D.A. Manhattan District Attorney's Office, Investigations Division, Rackets Bureau
• University of North Carolina/UNC Law School

Pat Martinelli - Assistant Deputy Attorney General, State Counsel Division

• Former legislative counsel, Women's Bar Association, State of New York.
• Deputy First Assistant Attorney General under Attorneys General Robert Abrams and Oliver Koppel. Enforcement Counsel to the NY Board of Elections and Legislative Coordinator of the NY State Assembly.
• State University of New York at Albany/NYU Law School.

Sue Watson - Assistant Deputy Attorney General, State Counsel

• Former Deputy Bureau Chief, Litigation Bureau
• Defended cases related to public health policy, handled first amendment cases including state challenge to the Son of Sam Law. Law clerk to Justice Anthony Vollack, Colorado Supreme Court.
• State University of New York at Albany/New York University.

Jennifer K. Brown - Director of Unit for Reproductive Rights

• Former Assistant U.S. Attorney, Southern District of NY.
• Former fellow, American Civil Liberties Union's Reproductive Freedom Project. Litigation of cases challenging state restrictions on access to abortion services.
• Antioch College/Yale Law School, Law Review

Mary Ellen Burns - Bureau Chief, Telecommunications and Energy

• Former Deputy Bureau Chief, Mass Media Bureau, FCC, Washington, D.C.
• Former Division Chief, Consumer Protection and Competition Division, FCC, and former Chief Assistant Attorney General, New York.
• Harvard-Radcliffe College, Cum Laude/New York University Law School.

Andrew Celli, Jr. - Bureau Chief, Civil Rights

• Former civil rights attorney, Emery, Celli, Brinckerhoff & Abady in NY.
• Law clerk to Judge Charles Sifton, U.S. District Court, Eastern District.
• Hobart College,New York University of Law, Cum Laude, Law Review

Mark Peters - Deputy Civil Rights Bureau, Chief for Legislation

• Former Senior Staff Attorney, Children's Rights, Inc.
• Former Assistant Attorney General, Litigation Bureau.
• Brown University/University of Michigan Law School, Magna Cum Laude, Law Review

Janet Cohn - Bureau Chief, Criminal Prosecutions Bureau

• Former Deputy Chief of the Rackets Bureau, N.Y. County District Attorney's office. Total of eleven years as Assistant District Attorney.
• Clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Rya Zobel, District of Mass. Practiced at Patterson, Belknap, Webb and Tyler, NYC.
• University of Pennsylvania, Summa Cum Laude/Yale Law School.

Jennifer Jones Austin - Deputy Civil Rights Bureau Chief for Legislative Policy and
                                        Public Education

• Former Associate General Counsel of Intergovernmental Affairs, Administration for Children's Services of NYC.
• Directed review of legislation and regulatory proposals to allow the agency to serve children in the most effective manner.
• Rutgers College/Fordham University School of Law, Law Review

Eric Dinallo - Bureau Chief, Investor Protection

• Former principal securities fraud prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
• Prosecuted repeat felons and cases involving trading, white collar and street crime.
• Vassar College/Duke University School of Public Policy/NY University School of Law, Law Review.

Harry First - Bureau Chief, Antitrust

• Professor of law at the NY University School of Law and Counsel to Loeb & Loeb in NYC.
• International reputation in the field of antitrust law, trade regulation and competition. Author of numerous articles and books on antitrust themes. Former Fullbright Research Fellow in Tokyo.
• University of Pennsylvania/University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Caitlin Halligan - Bureau Chief, Internet

• Former Associate, Howard, Smith & Levin in New York.
• Former law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
• Princeton University, Cum Laude/Georgetown University Law School, Magna Cum Laude, Law Review

James Henly - Bureau Chief, Litigation

• Former attorney, New York City Corporation Counsel's Office.
• Clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Robert W. Sweet; Litigation associate with Debevoise & Plimpton.
• Stanford University/Yale Law School.

Pamela Jarvis - Bureau Chief, Health Care

• Former Vice President and General Counsel, NYLCare Health Plans, Inc.
• Former Chief Legal Officer for national health and employee benefits company and former partner at Fried, Frank.
• Barnard College, Cum Laude/Boston University School of Law, Cum Laude.

Bill Josephson - Bureau Chief, Charities

• Leading expert on tax exempt organizations and widely regarded for his work in representing public and private foundations.
• A pioneer in the development of the Peace Corps and other federal programs such as Head Start, Jobs Corps and Community Action. Former partner at Fried, Frank.
• University of Chicago/Oxford University/Columbia University School of Law.

Peter Lehner - Bureau Chief- Environmental Protection

• Former Senior Attorney for Natural Resources Defense Council in NYC.
• Also headed Environmental Prosecution for the NYC Law Dept.; worked on water pollution, toxic discharge and oil spill clean-up cases.
• Harvard College, Cum Laude/Columbia University Law School, Law Review.