Government

Barbara Underwood To Remain Interim NYAG, Meaning September's Primary Should Be Off The Chain

In a rare move, the New York State Legislature chose the most qualified person for a job.

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Barbara Underwood

The New York State Legislature will retain acting New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood as interim New York Attorney General until this November’s election.

Underwood was the New York Solicitor General, and automatically became acting NYAG when Eric Schneiderman resigned for turning out to be an unreliable asshole.

Underwood’s permanent elevation surprised me, as I thought the Legislature would pick somebody who could hold onto the office in November. Instead, they went the other way. Underwood has said she will not seek election to the office in November. “I’m not a politician,” she said.

So instead of elevating a candidate who could run with the imprimatur of incumbency who might scare off Republican challengers, the Democratic State Legislature went with someone who won’t be involved in the political game at all, making the upcoming September primary and November general election kind of wide open.

But aside from the politics of it, it seems Underwood got the job because she is extremely well-qualified to hold the position. That’s not the New York State I know and love, but it’s an interesting choice. Her experience is airtight:

A native of Evansville, Indiana, and a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, Underwood launched her early career with two distinguished clerkships, with Chief Judge David L. Bazelon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court.

She’s served in the offices of three different district attorneys in the city—former DAs Elizabeth Holtzman and Robert Morgenthau, and Queens DA Richard Brown—before joining the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s Office in the mid-1990s.

Underwood became first principal deputy solicitor general of the United States in 1998, and, beginning in 2001, acting solicitor general. She was the first woman to operate in that position. In 2007, she was named New York’s solicitor general by then-Attorney General Cuomo, where she has remained since.

Over the years, Underwood has argued some 20 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court; taught at a number of law schools, including Yale, New York University School of Law, and Brooklyn Law School; and served as chairwoman of the New York City Bar Association’s executive committee.

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New York City Public Advocate Letitia James has already declared that she’s running for the job. Fordham Law professor and former New York Gubernatorial candidate Zephyr Teachout is thinking about running. Many people want former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara to get into the race. And that’s just on the Democratic side. The Republicans weren’t even really going to challenge Schneiderman, but now they will field somebody and try to keep the NYAG office white and male.

And who knows, Underwood says she’s not interested in running, but being extremely qualified and doing a good job over the next months might be enough of a “campaign” during these interesting times.

Underwood Set to Be Chosen as Interim Attorney General [New York Law Journal]

Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

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