Arnold & Porter LLP announced today that former Chief of the Civil Division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) Sara Shudofsky has joined the firm as a partner in its New York office. Ms. Shudofsky’s practice will include the handling of internal corporate investigations; False Claims Act matters affecting key industries such as health care and financial services; significant environmental damage claims against companies; and general commercial litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. She joins a number of Arnold & Porter colleagues who are SDNY alumni, including head of the firm’s New York office, Craig Stewart; Marcus Asner, Nancy Milburn, and Peter Zimroth, also in New York; and Baruch Weiss in Washington.

“We are delighted to welcome Sara to our firm. She is a superb litigator who ranks among the most prominent government attorneys in New York,” said Craig Stewart. “Sara has handled all manner of high-profile litigations and civil investigations, and we very much look forward to having her join our New York office.”

During her tenure in the SDNY’s Civil Division, Ms. Shudofsky served in various leadership roles, including Chief of the Civil Rights Unit, Deputy Chief, and Chief Appellate Attorney. She tried many cases and argued numerous appeals across a range of substantive areas and in connection with regulatory challenges, constitutional claims, and issues of statutory interpretation. Ms. Shudofsky was involved in a multitude of high-profile matters, including the government’s review of the Amadou Diallo shooting; the first jury trial in a case brought by the U.S. under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act; and litigation against the New York Yankees in the first case ever brought by the U.S. against a professional sports franchise under the Americans with Disabilities Act. As Chief of the Civil Division since June 2012, Ms. Shudofsky supervised cases in federal district court and on appeal involving financial and healthcare fraud, civil rights, environmental protection, tax, torts, bankruptcy, national security issues, and FOIA claims, among others.

Ms. Shudofsky’s career began as a litigator for an Am Law 100 firm. Before she returned to the government as Chief of the Civil Division, she was a partner at a litigation boutique in New York, where she represented companies and individuals in connection with government investigations and complex civil litigation. Ms. Shudofsky received her J.D. from New York University School of Law. She obtained a B.A. and graduated summa cum laude with Distinction in European History from the University of Pennsylvania.

Arnold & Porter LLP is an international law firm of nearly 750 lawyers with offices in Brussels, Denver, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Washington, DC. The firm, founded in 1946, maintains more than 25 practice areas spanning a broad spectrum of the law, with a primary focus on litigation, transactional matters, and regulatory issues.