State Attorneys General

Ashley Taylor (00:05):

The State Attorney General is at the hub of every legal issue in the state. Most people don’t realize that the State Attorney General not only has an enforcement function, but with respect to every state agency, they provide advice to that state agency. So regardless of your legal issue in a state, all roads ultimately lead back to the State Attorney General’s office.

Lauren Fincher (00:28):

At Troutman Pepper Locke, the differentiator there is that we have honed experience through many, many years of our attorneys working both consistently and regularly in the state AG space. And the way that materializes is through our deep bench of attorneys.

Clay Friedman (00:45):

We have roughly a dozen attorneys who come straight out of Attorney General’s offices at all different times in the timetable. I’ve been out for 30 years, and we have other people who are on the team who have been out of the AG’s office for 30 days. Our value really comes into two or three different areas. It’s experience, it’s knowledge of the people, and it’s knowledge of the issues. There are other firms out there who can touch on different areas or firms that may be as strong as we are in knowing who the different players are in a different state AG office, from the attorney general down to the line assistant in consumer protection. And there are other firms that may know the substantive areas, not nearly as good as we do. We bring the two together. So we have the ability to tackle problems – both from a personnel side as well as a substantive side. And that’s what really makes us unique.

Ashley Taylor (01:38):

Any law firm can do the legal research and identify the “relevant statute.” But because we deal with state AGs every day, we understand how the state office is interpreting a statute, what priorities they’re placing on it, are they devoting resources to it? Those are the critical questions that a client wants to have the answers to so they can make thoughtful business decisions.

Lauren Fincher (01:59):

Our clients will have access not only to the venue experts who are regularly in front of the state attorneys general offices, but also experts in the specific industry and issues that the client is facing.

Ashley Taylor (02:13):

Insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies would be at the top of the list. From a subject matter area, AI is an issue that is cutting across industries. States are in the process of considering regulations. They are also applying very traditional consumer protection statutes to AI programs and companies using AI for purposes of making decisions, whether it’s a credit score, whether it’s whether or not you can rent an apartment. So you see this intersection of technology and traditional consumer protection where we operate very effectively.

Lauren Fincher (02:45):

In addition to the specific state AG issue, we are also able to help clients identify what are the impacts down the line of this particular AG inquiry, whether that be from other state attorneys general, other regulators, identifying potential for imminent private litigation, how to address business impacts, and also attend to compliance issues that are inherent in the state AG investigations.

Ashley Taylor (03:13):

Our legal advice is in the context oftentimes of understanding a regulator’s priorities, understanding the political environment. We give that best advice.

Clay Friedman (03:23):

We have the substantive expertise, both as it relates to the issues that the attorney general’s office is dealing with, as well as the procedure. We know it like the back of our hands. Quite frankly, there’s no other law firm that can touch us.

Narrator (00:01):

When dealing with uniquely powerful regulators like State Attorneys General, you need equally unique experience, know-how, and skill. You need Troutman Pepper Locke’s State Attorneys General Practice.

Ashley Taylor (00:14):

I’m Ashley Taylor. I co-lead our State Attorney General’s team here at Troutman Pepper. And, we focus on representing clients that have drawn the attention of a state attorney general, usually by way of a subpoena or a civil investigative demand or some type of enforcement action and/or related litigation. Before I served in the office of the Virginia Attorney General, I was in private practice. And in private practice, I focused primarily on commercial litigation. So I joined the Virginia Attorney General’s office for several years where I learned the regulatory side of the practice. And when I decided to return to private practice and I looked for a firm, I looked for a firm that I thought would value both commercial litigation experience and expertise and with a working knowledge of regulatory enforcement matters.

(01:02):

And that was a unique combination at the time that very few firms focused on or even appreciated, and Troutman did. Well, state AGs are unique. They’re an often overlooked constitutional office across the country, but they’re a unique combination of politics, policy, and the practice of law. You have to work in the practice for a number of years to truly understand what the state AGs mean when they make certain statements, why issues are important to them, how cases function, the consistency of approaches that state AGs take across the country, the similarities, the differences, all of that comes through experience. So you need to be dedicated to learning the craft and learning the practice. You can’t simply hand someone like you can in federal court litigation the federal rules of civil procedure and tell someone, “Go read the rule that will tell you what to do.” In this practice, the rules are not written down, but there are rules.

(01:58):

And the state AGs abide by those rules and they expect you to understand those rules in the context of handling a case. To be effective in this practice, you must have a working relationship with state AGs. And what does a working relationship entails? It entails having a reputation of being a problem solver, understanding from the state’s perspective why they’re advancing a case, proposing solutions that make sense, understanding when the state AGs have to engage in litigation for a variety of reasons, whether it’s advancement of a public policy or a promise that they have made in the public domain that they would be aggressive in a particular area. But you have to have a relationship with an AG, and that’s something you can only develop over time. What we have done here is we have brought in young associates, cultivated those relationships from early on, so they develop those same strong problem solving reputations across the country.

(02:51):

And you can’t have a national practice without depth. That’s been the key. Developing the depth, developing the reputation, and allowing everyone to develop their own way of handling problems and addressing clients’ concerns. It’s an important part of the practice to maintain relationships with state AGs. We do so in a number of ways. Primarily, we do so by positioning ourselves as thought leaders, whether it’s a cutting edge CLE, whether it’s a podcast, or whether it’s through the ABA, which has a subcommittee that I co-founded with others on State Attorney General’s activity. We find ways to really discuss issues of importance to State AGs in a way that they want to participate in that conversation. The practice of State AGs is what we call a venue expertise. So within the State Attorney General’s office, you will have consumer protection issues, antitrust issues, administrative law issues, all of which are handled by the State Attorney General.

(03:47):

So our practice is not industry specific, it’s venue specific. AGs come at cases in a particular way with a particular perspective and a particular expectation, and we understand all aspects of that. Historically, when clients were, um, contacted by a state AG or sued by State AG, they would often simply turn to a law firm that had handled civil litigation for them in the past. Clients, however, now more sophisticated, they are asking for expertise in state AG matters. And when clients ask that question, our practice and the law firm of Troutman Pepper Locke, we rise immediately to the top. And but what are they looking for? They’re looking for information and understanding. Anyone can tell you that an AG was elected on X date, sworn in on January of that following date, and they hired 12 people in their office. That’s information. But our law firm is different and our state AG practice is different in that we can take the information and explain the importance and impact of that information to a client’s actual legal issue.

(05:00):

What we handle every day are classic, very traditional legal issues, but every legal issue arises against a political backdrop. Understanding the political backdrop, understanding the context is what clients are looking for. So our practice has a, a skillset that is an underutilized skillset for lawyers, and it’s what makes us most effective in resolving cases. We listen very carefully to what the government is saying, particularly state AGs. Most lawyers don’t listen carefully, so they understand what’s motivating the government agency to take an action, what they’re really focused on. And getting to the heart of that and understanding the policy that’s driving their enforcement action, if you can understand the policy that the state attorney general is trying to advance, it can help you craft a creative solution that appeals to both your client and to the government. But it starts with listening. You have to listen very carefully to what they’re actually saying and not simply hearing what you hear in everyday cases.

(06:08):

And that’s what makes our practice unique.

Narrator (00:02):

When dealing with uniquely powerful regulators like State Attorneys General, you need equally unique experience, know-how, and skill. You need Troutman Pepper Locke’s State Attorneys General Practice.

Clayton Friedman (00:15):

I’m Clayton Friedman. I’m a lawyer. I’ve been a lawyer since 1984, all in one very narrow slice of consumer protection and, and attorney general type practice. And I graduated from law school in St. Louis University and immediately went to the Missouri Attorney General’s office and very quickly became a, the director of multi-state litigation for the Missouri Attorney General’s office. After that, I spent a year at the National Association of Attorneys General, which is the national trade association for the Attorneys General. And then I went into private practice. I am the co-leader of the State Attorney General practice. I have been at a lot of large law firms, very sophisticated, well-respected law firms, but they didn’t have necessarily a practice dedicated to Attorneys General.

(01:03):

I was at practice or the team that I brought with me, three, four, five people. Troutman Pepper Locke, it’s much more dynamic. The practice has probably 25 to 30 people in it. I’m no longer an island. I’m actually part of a very comprehensive team. And it was interesting. It was more than just the puzzle pieces matching up. It was more than one plus one equal, equaling two. It was more like one plus one equals five. It made us that much stronger because I would say across the board, whether you’re talking about doing the investigative side of our practice, or you talk about the government relations side of our practice, I’d like to think we’re probably stronger than anyone else in the, in, in, in the space of our competitors. Being involved in, in litigation in a federal or state court with a private defendant or private plaintiff who’s on the other side of you is completely different than when you’re involved in a matter dealing with the state attorney’s general.

(02:04):

The rules are completely different. The personalities are completely different. The environment’s completely different. So the benefit of Troutman is we know, we know that space. We have many people who used to work for the government. I’m one of those. And, and Troutman Pepper Locke has, you know, a whole handful of attorneys that have governmental experience specific to the attorney general. The other thing I think that distinguishes us from other law firms, our peer firms, is in an attorney general practice, it’s not just defending companies or involved in investigations, but at times you wanna have a liaison relationship with the attorneys general. It might be that you wanna know the attorneys general and, and you want them to know your client because if they have a problem with your client, maybe next time they’ll deal with it a little bit differently. It won’t just be a lawsuit out the door or blindsiding with a subpoena.

(02:59):

They may reach out to you and say, “We need to meet to talk about a matter.” It’s not gonna necessarily make the matter go away, but it’s gonna change its characteristics. So a lot of companies who are high profile companies, they wanna be before the attorneys general and they want us to help them build those relationships. We understand the areas of law that the attorney general’s practicing. We understand their procedures as well, but we also cover knowing who the key players are. And so if you’re involved in an AG investigation, it certainly is beneficial to know the attorney general of that state. And there’s a lot of firms who know the attorneys general. And it certainly helps to know the senior management of a state. Typically, those same firms that know the attorney’s general tend to know the senior management. And Troutman Pepper Locke is no different than those firms.

(03:51):

But we also have a deep bench with the staff. And that’s what I think really distinguishes Troutman Pepper Locke from our competitors, is that when we’re involved with a matter, chances are we already know the head of consumer protection of that state, and chances are we’ve involved, we are, we have dealt with the particular team of assistant attorney generals that are involved in a matter before. And I think that’s a true dividing point between us and our competition. First of all, we have a pretty deep bench in our firm of people who came out of the attorney general’s office. I did. I came out of the state of Missouri. My co-lead, Ashley, came out of the Virginia Attorney General’s office. So that heightens our knowledge, both of the procedures and substantively, but it also means that we know the people. We’ve dealt with them, in my case, for nearly 40 years.

(04:43):

In Ashley’s case, probably close to 25 or 30 years. And when you look at the competitors in our space, they don’t have that same type of deep bench. And I think that is a true separator for Troutman Pepper Locke from its competition.

Narrator (00:01):

When dealing with uniquely powerful regulators like State Attorneys General, you need equally unique experience, know-how, and skill. You need Troutman Pepper Locke’s State Attorneys General Practice.

Stephen Piepgrass (00:14):

My name’s Stephen Piepgrass. I’m a partner at, at Troutman, but also the practice group leader for the Regulatory, Investigations, Strategy, and Enforcement group, RISE. The State Attorney General team is a part of the broader RISE practice group, but we also have practitioners with expertise in other regulatory areas. All of the large federal agencies are covered from the FTC to the SEC, to the CFPB and others, as well as other state regulatory, um, agencies. But our, our significant focus, really the crown jewel of the practice, is the State Attorney General team. State Attorneys General are unique and they do require a specialized practice because they’re different from other regulators. In many ways, when you come, when you talk about state regulatory agencies, every agency touches the State Attorney General because the State Attorneys General have assistant AGs and deputy AGs who are assigned as basically counsel to each state agency.

(01:17):

They’ve also been growing in influence. As we have seen over the 20 years that our practice has been in place, state AGs have been taking on more and more of national prominence, running multi-state investigations, working together in collaborative ways to impose their regulatory will on the country. And so having an AG practice like ours that has a 20-year history, I think is, is unique in many ways as well. And it’s important when you’re a company that is facing a state AG investigation to identify a firm that has the kind of history and depth and deep bench that our, that ours does. One of the things that I think sets us apart from other law firms is that our state AG practice is placed within a broader regulatory group. And when an AG investigation comes in, it often corresponds to other investigations brought by other agencies, federal or state agencies, and sometimes also involves parallel class action cases.

(02:30):

By placing the state AG team within that RISE practice group, we’re able to draw a much larger talent pool and we can actually handle all of those matters for our clients, not just the major multi-state, but the federal investigations, the congressional inquiries, the class action litigation that comes along with it, and we can create a unified strategy for our client that really allows them to get the best result possible.

Narrator (00:02):

When dealing with uniquely powerful regulators like State Attorneys General, you need equally unique experience, know-how, and skill. You need Troutman Pepper Locke’s State Attorneys General Practice.

Michael Yaghi (00:14):

My name’s Michael Yaghi, and I’m a partner in Troutman Pepper Locke’s State AG’s Practice Group, and I’m also the practice group’s business development partner. It’s important for us to maintain state AG relationships, not just with state AGs and their senior leadership teams, but also with their staff lawyers. One, the relationship building is always beneficial to clients, right? When you could pick up the phone and talk to someone in a state AG office about an issue that’s facing your client, that goes a million miles, right? It takes their interests right to the AG with the ability to hopefully resolve concerns and issues. But also, having the relationships with frontline lawyers at state AGs, um, offices is important because state AGs don’t necessarily stay in office, right?

(01:07):

There’s elections, new AGs come into office. There’s a lot of turnover, not just at the state AG level, but with senior leadership teams. However, a lot of the frontline lawyers that are prosecuting single and multi-state matters, they don’t change. They’ve been there for decades in many state AG offices. So it’s important to maintain relationships with everyone in the office, not just the senior leadership team or the AG himself or herself. We’re not just government affairs or government relations lawyers, right? We don’t just maintain relationships with the states. We actually do the work, um, from start to finish. And through our work over the many decades that we’ve been in this space, we’ve developed a lot of great relationships with lawyers prosecuting these matters on behalf of their states. You’re really building a rapport and a relationship with the state and trying to come to a common ground to address the issues and concerns they’re raising, but also maintaining a strong defense for your clients to make sure where you resolve any open issues, it’s something that your client can live with.

(02:19):

Troutman Pepper Locke State AG team, I believe, is second to none in one major area. Most companies look for firms that focus on relationships, and we have the relationships with the state AGs, their senior leadership team and their frontline, um, prosecuting attorneys. What companies need to understand is that we are the bet the company defense state AG team. We handle massive multi-state investigations from start to finish, and we will navigate to a place where clients can be very happy with, better than a garden variety litigator trying to play in this space or competitors who have the relationships but don’t have the actual defense experience to handle single state or massive multi-state investigations. And I think that’s where we’re separated from our competition, is that we do have that decades of experience defending companies in this space exclusively.

Narrator (00:01):

When dealing with uniquely powerful regulators like State Attorneys General, you need equally unique experience, know-how, and skill. You need Troutman Pepper Locke’s State Attorneys General Practice.

Stephanie Kozol (00:13):

I’m Stephanie Kozel. I am the Senior Government Relations Manager in the State Attorneys General Practice. And my role primarily is to be a resource between our attorneys, our team members, our clients, and the State Attorneys General offices. I believe it’s important to have this government relations role in this specific practice so that we can have someone who is dedicated to be able to communicate directly with the State AG offices. It’s important to have someone that the State AG offices knows that they can call upon directly and be able to be linked in with all of our team members. And so with someone like me, they know that I will be at all of the events, I will be at the meetings. It’s important to have someone that can be the dedicated point person, if you will, to be able to be that communicator between the offices and to be able to go back and forth when needed or direct to the right people in order to get the things done.

I think the most important thing as we come to the State Attorneys General Practice is to be part of a team. I joined Troutman Pepper Locke because of the wonderful team members that are here. And to be able to build upon each other’s strengths, our different backgrounds, our different political beliefs, our different communication styles, all of our strengths that we bring to the table help us to effectively advocate on behalf of our clients. It’s wonderful to be able to lean upon each other and to be able to utilize each other’s differences in order to move forward and to help our clients as we work for them.

Narrator (00:01):

When dealing with uniquely powerful regulators like State Attorneys General, you need equally unique experience, know-how, and skill. You need Troutman Pepper Locke’s State Attorneys General Practice.

Chris Carlson (00:14):

My name’s Chris Carlson. I am an associate that sits in Richmond in our State AG practice. Troutman Pepper Locke’s State AG practice has dedicated itself to ensuring a deep talent pool. And they ensure a deep talent pool, not only horizontally, in terms of diverse experiences which are unparalleled, but also vertically: having individuals in our practice that served as deputies and senior staff members, but also individuals like myself that served in the consumer protection units and state AG offices.

Namrata Kang (00:50):

I’m Namrata King. I am a second-year associate in the Regulatory, Investigations, Strategy, and Enforcement group. We ensure that the talent pool stays in top shape for our clients by focusing on diversity — diversity of varied backgrounds, experiences, gender, religion, race, sexuality. By having a lot of diversity when staffing matters in projects, we ensure that we are providing a diverse thought to our clients. And at this time, we have clients that not only want diversity, but expect there to be diversity when staffing. Going in front of a state AG’s office and bringing a diverse pool to the table, it helps build those relationships.