WilmerHale is pleased to announce that Paul Connell has joined the firm as a partner and co-chair of its industry leading State Attorneys General Practice.
Connell is the former Chief Deputy Attorney General at the Wisconsin Department of Justice and is well known in state attorneys general circles and by leading corporations who face issues with those state officials. He is also a former federal prosecutor with extensive courtroom and appellate experience. Ranked by Chambers & Partners and known to his clients as a tireless advocate and a master strategist in cases involving state attorneys general, he will be based in the firm’s Washington office.
At WilmerHale, Connell joins a practice with a well-earned reputation for navigating some of the world’s largest companies through their most difficult investigation and litigation challenges from state law enforcement authorities. Connell will co-chair the practice with Brian Mahanna, a New York based partner who formerly served as Chief of Staff and Deputy Attorney General of New York. Their co-chair leadership of WilmerHale’s state attorneys general practice will provide bipartisan leadership to enhance the firm’s ability to help clients navigating investigations, litigation and other challenges from state attorneys general of both parties.
Such challenges have only increased in number and complexity in recent years as state attorneys general have grown more assertive in confronting corporations across a variety of issues, depending on the state, including antitrust and ESG. The firm’s broad and deep bench of lawyers have engaged with attorneys general on some of the highest-stakes matters including winning a resounding trial victory for T-Mobile against 14 attorneys general that sought to block its merger with Sprint, successfully representing Comcast in a consumer protection lawsuit brought by the Washington attorney general, and counseling and representing Intuit in reaching a 50-state settlement with state attorneys general concerning its marketing of its free products. The firm has also represented other leading companies in high-profile state AG investigations or litigation.
The growth of the firm’s state attorney’s general practice is also part of the firm’s strategic plan to expand its government-facing practices. Those practices have been core to the firm’s business and brand for decades.
For Connell, he is returning to the firm where he began his private practice as an associate not long after completing law school.
“Paul brings to our firm an extraordinary depth of experience and knowledge from both private practice and government service, especially as a former chief deputy attorney general, that will serve our clients exceptionally well,” said Co-Managing Partner Robert Novick. “We could not be happier to have an alumnus with his exceptional skillset return.”
“I rejoined WilmerHale for several reasons, not the least of which were the firm’s truly elite brand and its focus on many industries relevant to my practice and AG enforcement such as big data, privacy, energy and natural resources, healthcare, and technology, all of which are ripe areas for increased AG enforcement,” Connell said. “Another factor was WilmerHale’s impressive roster of attorneys, including lawyers who are among the nation’s most influential and strategic. It is a great team to be part of again.”
After leaving public service, Connell was a partner at two international law firms. From 2015 to 2019, he was Chief Deputy Attorney General and Senior Counsel at the Wisconsin Department of Justice where he led the office under Attorney General Brad D. Schimel. From 2003 to 2015, he was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Wisconsin which was preceded by three years as a WilmerHale associate from 2000 to 2003. He was a law clerk for Chief Judge J.P. Stadtmueller of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin from 1998 to 2000.
Connell received his JD, magna cum laude, from Marquette University Law School in 1998 and his BA, cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin – Parkside.