Peter J. Kiernan, who is of counsel at Schiff Hardin, was the governor’s principal lawyer from 2008 to 2010, one of the most turbulent periods for state government in recent memory.
Kiernan says he was a close advisor and “sometime confidante” for David Paterson, the lieutenant governor who became governor after Eliot Spitzer resigned in a prostitution scandal. Kiernan served as counsel in an administration that faced a credit crunch and recession that drove state revenues down and political maneuvering in the Senateincluding a ‘coup’ in which several Democrats joined Republicans to take controlthat well nigh paralyzed the work of government.
