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Former Attorney General Ashcroft Expands Law Firm
The American Lawyer
April 24, 2009
With so many law firms shedding lawyers or falling apart, the launch of a new firm is worth noting. And when that law firm is started by former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and a cadre of top Bush-era U.S. Attorneys -- well, that's news.
The Litigation Daily caught up with Ashcroft on Thursday to ask what prompted him to form the new firm, an outgrowth of his consulting business and its legal arm, The Ashcroft Law Firm. He told us that the firm will represent mainly individuals and organizations facing government investigations and regulatory enforcement actions. "We believe there's an increasing need for firms that specialize in integrity enforcement and that have as their focus the acceleration of matters to their resolution," Ashcroft said. He declined to name any clients or matters that his firm will be working on.
The former attorney general maintained that his goal is not to start a political law firm. "There's no litmus test," he said.
Ashcroft has tapped four former U.S. Attorneys for the firm: Catherine Hanaway of Missouri's Eastern District; John Ratcliffe of the Eastern District of Texas; Michael Sullivan, former U.S Attorney for Massachusetts and former acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and John Sutton of the Western District of Texas. They will preside over offices in St. Louis, Dallas, Boston and Austin. The firm will be known as Ashcroft Hanaway in Missouri, Ashcroft Sutton Ratcliffe in Texas and Ashcroft Sullivan in Boston.
Since leaving government service, Ashcroft has been running a security and regulatory consulting business, the Ashcroft Group. That business drew scrutiny last year after the Justice Department awarded it a no-bid contract to monitor a criminal settlement with a medical supply company.
Should Bush appointees and others be forwarding their resumes? Ashcroft told us that many already had, but for now the firm is likely to work with lawyers from other firms rather than add new partners.
This article first appeared on The Am Law Litigation Daily blog on AmericanLawyer.com.
