Summary: Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler will join BuckleySandler in Washington upon completion of his term.
Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced Tuesday that he will join a private Washington firm when he leaves office, the Baltimore Sun reports. Gansler has served as the attorney general for eight years, and his term will end on January 12.
Gansler, 52, will join BuckleySandler as a partner, where he will work in the cybersecurity and privacy practice. He will also work in civil litigation.
Gansler, a Democrat, ran for governor, but lost to Lieutenant Governor Anthony G. Brown in June’s primary. Brown then lost to Republican Larry Hogan in the general election earlier this month.
State Senator Brian E. Frosh, a Democrat from Montgomery County, will take over as attorney general.
Gansler stated that after losing the primary, he started looking for “Plan B,” and was welcomed by the private sector: “Sixty, seventy law firms reached out to me.” However, it was BuckleySandler, a five-year-old firm, that won Gansler over. “They have established themselves as one of the premier firms in the country as far as representing the financial services industry,” he explained.
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The firm has roughly 160 attorneys and offices in London, Chicago, Washington, New York, and Los Angeles. It is especially known for its work representing the Navajo Nation against the United States government in a suit that ended in a $554 million settlement for federal mismanagement of the tribe’s assets.
In addition, BuckleySandler has a substantial practice before the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Gansler noted that this practice corresponds with his experience as attorney general in consumer protection cases. “I’ll be representing companies with issues that need to be resolved,” he said. He also stated that his experience from the side of the attorney general will help his clients when determining how to proceed in a case. Gansler also plans to do some pro bono work.
Gansler previously worked as a Montgomery County state’s attorney, and as a federal prosecutor in Washington. During his tenure as attorney general, Gansler actively sought to recover funds for victims of mortgage fraud, and was known as a stern enforcer of environmental laws. In 2010, he also ruled that Maryland must recognize same-sex marriages that were performed in other states. He was the first statewide elected official in the state to publicly support same-sex marriage, which was legalized in 2012.
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This month, Gansler filed a brief, advocating for four remaining inmates on death row in the state. Gansler argued that the four should be resentenced to life without parole, since Maryland has abolished capital punishment.
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Many predict that Gansler will run for governor in 2018. Gansler said that he is not ruling out a future in public office, but that as of now, he is not making political plans. “It seems premature to be talking about the next governor’s race when this governor [Hogan] hasn’t been sworn in yet. Let’s see what happens with the Hogan administration.”
Todd Eberly, a political scientist at St. Mary’s College, opined that Gansler may resurface, though he lost by 27 points in the primary. “I don’t think there’s any reason to believe Doug Gansler’s political life has ended,” he said.
Photo credit: douggansler.com