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February 4, 2025

Former U.S. Attorney for CT lands at McCarter & English

Vanessa Roberts Avery

Former U.S. Attorney for Connecticut Vanessa Roberts Avery has returned to law firm McCarter & English’s Hartford office, where she will handle complex civil litigation, government investigations and white-collar defense matters, the firm announced Tuesday.

Avery has experience in the public and private sectors, most recently serving as the state’s top federal prosecutor. 

She was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as U.S. Attorney on Jan. 26, 2022, and the U.S. Senate confirmed her nomination on April 27, 2022. She resigned from the office effective 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 17, before President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20.

Earlier in her career, Avery spent eight years as a litigation associate at McCarter.

“I am excited to return to McCarter and my business litigation roots,” Avery said. “After careful consideration of my options in the public and private sectors, McCarter & English quickly rose to the top.”

Avery said the firm is well-positioned to meet businesses’ increasing needs for legal advice and strategies with local, regional and national implications.

She will help clients across industries in business, criminal and civil litigation, including trial and appellate work. She will also defend clients against government enforcement actions, including False Claims Act investigations.

“We are thrilled to have Vanessa back at the firm,” said Moy Ogilvie, managing partner of the firm’s Hartford office. “We are excited to work with her and to have her as an integral part of our team again.”

Avery made a mark as the first African-American U.S. Attorney for Connecticut. 

In that role, she was known for exercising “broad discretion and decision-making authority in a wide variety of challenging criminal and civil matters,” according to the announcement. She prosecuted cases related to violent crime and narcotics, child exploitation, human trafficking, environmental crimes, financial fraud, public corruption, cybercrime and national security.

She also spearheaded civil rights enforcement and hate crime prevention, while advocating for community engagement as a "precursor to crime prevention and societal prosperity,” the announcement states.

Before being appointed U.S. Attorney, Avery was the associate attorney general and chief of the Division of Enforcement and Public Protection at the state Office of the Attorney General. 

At the federal level, she served five years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Civil Division for the District of Connecticut and two years as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice in the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division in Washington, D.C. 

She began her career at the law firm Cummings & Lockwood.

Avery received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, and her bachelor’s degree from Yale University.

McCarter & English has about 375 attorneys across 12 offices. Its Hartford office is located at CityPlace I.

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