Paul P. Josephson – State Attorneys General Blog

February 10, 2026February 10, 2026 by Jim Hearon

New Leadership in New Jersey: Acting Attorney General Davenport Announces Her Team

By James Hearon, Paul Josephson and Eric Boden

With the inauguration of New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill on January 20, 2026, her nominee to serve as Attorney General, Jennifer Davenport, assumed the office of Acting Attorney General of New Jersey. New Jersey is one of only seven states with an appointed AG. New Jersey’s AG has wide-ranging criminal, civil, regulatory, and law enforcement powers.

As New Jersey’s chief law enforcement officer, the Attorney General oversees over 42,000 state and local law enforcement officers and the 8,000 employees of the Department of Law and Public Safety. The Department’s responsibilities touch upon nearly every aspect of life in New Jersey. Its sweeping responsibilities include investigating and prosecuting crimes, representing state interests in court, and enforcing strong consumer protection and civil rights statutes.

Davenport’s confirmation has proceeded smoothly so far; she cleared Senate committee on February 2, 2026 and Senate confirmation is expected shortly.

Davenport has announced an impressive leadership team poised to carry out her many duties.

She named Katherine Calle to serve as First Assistant Attorney General. A former federal prosecutor and Harvard Law School graduate, Ms. Calle previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, where she held senior leadership roles, including Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, and supervised the Camden and Trenton Branch Offices.

AG Davenport named Eliza Lehner to serve as her Chief Counsel. Ms. Lehner clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan before entering private practice at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.

Ms. Lehner will replace Sundeep Iyer, who will transition from Chief Counsel under the outgoing administration to AG Davenport’s Executive Assistant Attorney General.

Davenport also appointed Martha Nye and Nicholas Kormann as Deputy First Assistant Attorneys General. Ms. Nye spent more than seven years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, most recently in the role of Attorney-in-Charge of the Trenton Branch Office, and previously as an Assistant Prosecutor at the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

Mr. Kormann’s background includes private practice at Day Pitney, followed by over a decade in the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender in Union County, first as an Assistant Deputy Public Defender and then as First Assistant Public Defender. He also served as Director of Investigations of Fatal Police Encounters with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability.

AG Davenport named James Haggerty her Chief of Staff. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Haggerty served as the New Jersey Attorney General’s Deputy Executive Director of the Office of Policing Strategy and Innovation, and as Chief of Staff to the Officer in Charge of the Paterson Police Department.

Davenport has retained highly regarded Solicitor General Jeremy Feigenbaum in that role. Mr. Feigenbaum spearheaded many of New Jersey’s legal battles against the Trump Administration and received high marks and national acclaim for his U.S. Supreme Court argument defending birthright citizenship on behalf of several states.

These leadership appointments come at a pivotal moment, as AG Davenport has already initiated several high-profile legal actions. On February 3, 2026, 2026, AG Davenport joined a multistate antitrust lawsuit against global pharmaceutical companies, Novartis and Sandoz, alleging price-fixing of generic prescription drugs. The following day, her office joined the New York Attorney General in suing the federal government over the suspension of funding for the Gateway Hudson Tunnel Project.

Looking ahead, additional legal clashes with the Trump Administration—particularly over ICE operations in New Jersey—appear likely. Governor Sherrill has also been very critical of ICE’s current operations and plans to create a portal where people can upload videos of ICE operations in the state. During her confirmation hearings, Davenport testified that she would prosecute any ICE agents who violate state laws.

The Acting Attorney General has announced her priorities include protecting communities from gun violence; combating human trafficking; protecting the physical and mental health of children, including from threats online; promoting a robust affordability agenda; and protecting New Jersey residents from attacks on their pocketbooks and their rights coming out of Washington, DC.

The Duane Morris State Attorneys General group has deep experience with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office and Acting AG Davenport’s team. We will periodically post on important developments and initiatives as they arise.

December 10, 2025December 10, 2025 by Paul P. Josephson

Update: NJ Watchdog Reform Legislation Shelved; Office of Inspector General Floated

In a fairly remarkable turn of events, New Jersey Senate President Nicholas Scutari announced yesterday that he is pulling his proposed legislation, S. 4924, to transfer investigative and subpoena powers of the State Comptroller to the State Commission of Investigation. Instead, he intends to pursue legislation to re-establish an Inspector General in the next legislative session in 2026.

This move follows intense criticism at and after a marathon lame duck legislative hearing last week. Criticism centered on the substance of the proposal and the process by which it was considered, including the treatment of witnesses at the legislative hearing.

This development is expected to allow for more fulsome and considered discussion among stakeholders about how best to re-organize New Jersey’s government watchdog functions. It is sure to give Governor-Elect Mikie Sherrill control of the issue as she transitions into office on January 20.

Stay tuned for further developments on this and the Governor-Elect’s plans more generally for the State’s Department of Law and Public Safety post-transition. Like New Jersey’s Governor, New Jersey’s Attorney General possesses some of the broadest powers in the nation, with wide-ranging responsibility for State Police, licensing boards and many other government functions well beyond prosecuting crimes and advising state agencies. We will continue to provide updates on what her nominees and priorities mean for companies doing business in New Jersey.

December 2, 2025December 2, 2025 by Paul P. Josephson

NJ Watchdog Reform Legislation Moves to Full Senate; AG Defends Record at Extraordinary Senate Hearing

Addressing legislation proposed by the Senate President to reform New Jersey’s watchdog agencies at a New Jersey Senate hearing on December 1, New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin defended his record, and that of the State Comptroller, against pointed criticism from state senators.

The Senate President’s bill calls for the transfer and reform of current oversight efforts in the interest of efficiency among three current watchdog agencies – the AG, the Office of State Comptroller, and the State Commission of Investigation (SCI), a quasi-independent investigative agency in the legislative branch led by a board of four part-time political appointees.

The hearing was a rare open display of sharp disagreements. The AG and State Comptroller both characterized the bill as targeting them for publicizing and prosecuting incidents of waste, fraud and abuse involving powerful public officials.

At the close of public comments largely opposed to the proposed changes, the committee chair contended the legislation was proposed because of legislators’ concerns about AG Platkin’s management of his office.

New Jersey’s AG exercises a broad scope of authority, being responsible for state criminal prosecutions (including the power to supersede and take charge of county prosecutor offices), civil representation of most state agencies, as well as control of the State Police, the Division of Consumer Affairs, the Division of Civil Rights, and dozens of boards that regulate professions and industries.

The bill would move investigative powers from the State Comptroller to the SCI—and would provide the SCI more explicit authority to investigate the AG and county prosecutors, and grant the SCI wiretap authority. The bill would also allow legislative leaders to select the SCI chair, currently appointed by the Governor, and increase the salaries of SCI commissioners.

The AG noted significant separation of powers concerns raised by granting the SCI (a legislative commission) authority over criminal prosecutions and to conduct wiretaps. New Jersey’s Constitution provides that “[n]o person or persons belonging to or constituting one branch shall exercise any of the powers properly belonging to either of the others, except as expressly provided in this Constitution.”

New Jersey’s Constitution, adopted in 1947, established a strong governor who appoints virtually all statewide officials, including the AG, all 21 county prosecutors, and all state court judges. New Jersey is among only 7 states that do not elect their AG: Alaska, Hawaii, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Wyoming (Governor); Tennessee (Supreme Court), and Maine (Legislature). New Jersey’s Constitution also grants the AG and county prosecutors a broad degree of independence, insulating the AG from removal except by way of impeachment.

Also unlike many other states, county prosecutors and the State Comptroller are not elected. They too are appointed by the Governor with Senate advice and consent. However, the Senate has declined to vote on the Governor’s nominee for State Comptroller, who nevertheless has aggressively pursued waste, fraud and abuse in state and local government despite his acting status.

Introduced on Thanksgiving Eve, the proposed legislation was the subject of a Senate committee hearing the following Monday. The move during New Jersey’s lame duck legislative session sparked criticism from numerous governance groups who packed the hearing room with opponents of the bill.

The bill was approved unanimously, though Democrat John McKeon and Republican Michael Testa expressed reservations they hope to address before a full Senate vote.

Whether the proposed reform will pass before the end of the lame duck session on January 20 remains to be seen. No Assembly analogue has yet been introduced in the lame duck session following New Jersey’s off-year election. Democratic Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill and outgoing Governor Phil Murphy have taken no position on the proposal to date. We will report on developments and implications as matters progress.

New Jersey’s unique system of law enforcement, regulatory oversight and watchdog agencies can present challenges for business and individuals who do business with or in the state. Duane Morris attorneys have served in these offices and have decades of experience advising our clients with matters before each of these offices.