Antoinette Bush is leaving Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom to become the global head of government affairs for News Corporation. Bush, who is generally considered to be one of the country’s leading female minority attorneys, joins News Corp after working with the company to reach a $134 million settlement related to the high-profile voicemail hacking scandal in Britain.
Bush joined Skadden in 1993, leaving briefly to work for Northpoint Technology before returning to the firm. She is currently the partner-in-charge of Skadden’s communications group. Prior to joining Skadden, she served as a senior counsel to the communications subcommittee of the U.S. Senate’s Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, where she helped author the Cable Television Act of 1992.
In addition to her work in with Skadden and the federal government on communication issues, AM Law reports that Bush and her husband have aligned themselves with the Democratic Party. Her husband Dwight is a leading donor to the party, and is on the board of several financial institutions. Bush’s stepfather is an attorney that served as an adviser to former President Bill Clinton, and her cousin is currently a senior adviser to the White House. Bush and her husband were also major fund raisers for President Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns. With such deep ties to Democratic organizations, it is peculiar that Bush would align herself with the conservative-leaning News Corp.
Beyond the most recent wire-tapping scandal, Skadden has a long work relationship with News Corp, helping the company acquire a minority stake in the YES Network, sell a streaming video company, and buy Dow Jones & Company.