|
TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram today
announced the appointment of attorney Megan
Lewis of Glen Ridge to the position of Section
Chief in charge of the Division of Law’s
newly-created Affirmative Litigation Section.
Working closely with Division of Law Director
Robert Gilson, the Affirmative Litigation
Section is responsible for initiating legal
action to advance the public good by seeking
damages, injunctive relief, development
of favorable precedent or a change in policies,
practices and actions that run counter to
the public interest. The new unit is also
responsible for pursuing litigation that
enforces the Attorney General’s statutory
and common-law powers to protect the public
and advance legislative mandates.
“By
creating the Affirmative Litigation Section
we have taken an important step on behalf
of all New Jersey citizens,” said
Attorney General Milgram. ”This section
will seek to proactively pursue civil litigation
aimed at righting wrongs and improving the
quality of life throughout our State.”
“This
Affirmative Litigation Section will build
on the strengths of the Division of Law,”
said Director Gilson. “Megan Lewis
has an excellent background in affirmative
litigation and a demonstrated commitment
to public causes. We look forward to working
with her on this important initiative.”
According to Gilson, the Affirmative Litigation
Section will not take on cases or legal
matters from existing Division of Law sections.
Rather, the new section will generate cases
through research and investigation, polling
of state agencies, communicating with public
interest groups, coordinating effort with
its counterparts in other states, and exchanging
information with the National Association
of Attorneys General, as well as other multi-state
organizations.
A magna cum laude graduate of both Harvard
College and New York University School of
Law, Lewis, 34, began her legal career in
1999 as a law clerk to a federal judge in
the Southern District of New York. In 2000,
Lewis became a Skadden Fellow at the New
Haven Legal Assistance Association, where
she represented indigent clients in housing
court, in wage-and-hour disputes, and in
a federal class action concerning the provision
of Medicaid benefits to children. From 2001
to 2003, Lewis was a fellow and staff attorney
at the Urban Justice Center in New York
City, where she represented low-income and
disabled clients in a variety of complex
federal litigation matters involving substandard
wages, involuntary servitude and the provision
of food stamps.
From September 2004 through October 2006,
Lewis was a Gibbons Fellow in Public Interest
and Constitutional Litigation at Gibbons,
P.C., a law firm based in Newark. As a Gibbons
Fellow, Lewis undertook public interest
and constitutional law projects and litigation
on the state and federal level. Lewis served
as counsel on cases involving DNA evidence,
battered women’s syndrome, campaign
finance reform, the First Amendment and
the Freedom of Information Act.
Lewis
is admitted to the bar in New Jersey, New
York, District of New Jersey, Eastern District
of New York, Southern District of New York,
and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
#
# #
|
