9-24-2024 8:20pm

Attorney General Platkin Announces Updated Leadership Team

Donnella Tilery Editor

TRENTON – Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today announced updates to his executive leadership team in the Department of Law and Public Safety, including naming Angela Cai as Executive Assistant Attorney General, Daniela Nogueira as Chief Counsel, and Miae Park as Interim Chief of Staff.

“Since being appointed as Attorney General in February 2022, I have worked with some of the most talented attorneys and dedicated public servants that I have ever known. Together, we have accomplished much to make New Jersey a safer place – but there is also more work to be done. That’s why I’m excited to announce promotional appointments to existing members of my staff, and welcome new members of the team. Together, they bring a host of experience as tested litigators, thought leaders, and policy experts to our office,” said Attorney General Platkin. “The establishment of my new team, however, comes bittersweet as two of my longtime staffers, Shirley Emehelu and Jonathan Garelick, depart for other opportunities. I want to thank them for their leadership, service, and dedication to the Department and people of New Jersey. Looking forward, I am excited about all of the work we will do together to bolster public safety, strengthen communities, and stand up for our residents.”

Executive Assistant Attorney General Shirley Emehelu has announced her departure from the Office at the end of September. Emehelu has served as the third-ranking official since May 2022 and since that time she has coordinated the work of the Department’s civil litigation and regulatory units through the Division of Law, Division of Consumer Affairs, and Division on Civil Rights. In that role, Emehelu has supervised significant litigation that has made a difference in the lives of New Jersey residents, including historic settlements on environmental justice matters, enforcement of the State’s Fair Chance in Housing Act, and pursuit of scammers and fraudsters using consumer protection laws.

Angela Cai will be appointed as the Executive Assistant Attorney General upon Emehelu’s departure. Cai has served as the Deputy Solicitor General since 2021, where she has litigated a wide variety of complex cases on behalf of the State, including defending the State’s laws in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bruen. Prior to joining the Office, Cai was an associate at Wilkinson Stekloff LLP in New York and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in Washington, D.C. She clerked for Judge Michael A. Chagares of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Judge Katherine B. Forrest of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Cai graduated from Princeton University and Yale Law School.

Chief of Staff Jonathan Garelick is departing the Office to join the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, where he will serve as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney. There, Garelick will continue this Office’s strong partnership with federal law enforcement counterparts as part of our collective strategy to suppress violence and prevent crime in and around the City of Trenton and across our state. Garelick has served as Chief of Staff since July 2020, and prior to that as Acting Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff, and Special Assistant to the Attorney General. He joined the Department as a Deputy Attorney General in March 2012. He will begin his new role at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in October.

Daniela Nogueira will be the Attorney General’s next Chief Counsel. Nogueira, serving as Senior Counsel since May 2022, has been the Office’s point person on matters involving consumer protection, reproductive rights, and social media accountability. She joined the Office from the World Bank, where she advised data teams using machine learning to address biases and inefficiencies in legal systems around the world. She previously worked in the New York Attorney General’s Office overseeing complex civil litigation, including matters involving immigration and COVID-19. Nogueira clerked for the Honorable Analisa N. Torres for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and Honorable Richard A. Paez for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She received her A.B. from Harvard University and J.D. from Yale Law School.

Miae Park will be appointed as Interim Chief of Staff. Park joined the Office in November 2022 and has overseen work in the Division of Administration, and the Divisions of Alcoholic Beverage Control and Highway Traffic Safety. She previously served as the Fiscal/Administrative Director of the ELC COVID-19 Response Activities at the New Jersey Department of Health, managing over $1.8 billion in federal COVID funds. Prior to DOH, she served under various capacities as a Regulatory Officer at the New Jersey Department of Human Services, where, among other things, she drafted policies affecting the State’s 21 county welfare agencies. Miae received her B.A. from the College of William and Mary and her J.D. from Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

Nicholas Kormann will be appointed as Deputy First Assistant Attorney General. Kormann, currently the Director of Investigations of Fatal Police Encounters, with the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, is a seasoned trial attorney and longtime public servant. Prior to joining OPIA, Kormann served for over a decade in the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender, first as an Assistant Deputy Public Defender and then as First Assistant Deputy Public Defender in the Union Region. He clerked for the Honorable Ronald D. Wigler in the New Jersey Superior Court (Essex County) and worked as an Associate Attorney at Day Pitney, LLP. Kormann received his J.D. from Rutgers Law School in Newark and his B.A. from Rutgers College.

Hannah Butler will serve as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations. Butler, a member of the Attorney General’s staff since May 2022, will have responsibility for executing priority initiatives, organizing special events, and coordinating the important work of the Communications and Community Engagement Offices. She most recently served as Senior Programming Manager for the office, and prior to joining the Department of Law and Public Safety, served as the Community Outreach Manager for the Union County Prosecutor’s Office. She received her B.S. in public affairs from the Indiana University O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

Alessandra Baldini will be appointed as Senior Counsel to the Attorney General. Baldini has been with the Department since 2021 and in public service since 2015. She currently is a Deputy Bureau Chief with the Police Training Commission, where she works to develop and implement police licensing and also prosecutes fatal police encounters. Prior to that, she was a Deputy Attorney General in the Division of Gaming Enforcement, focusing on casino licensure issues. Before joining the Department, she was a Deputy County Counsel for Middlesex County. Baldini earned her law degree from Syracuse University College of Law and holds a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s degree in Spanish Literature, both from Binghamton University.

Benjamin Notterman will join the Office as Senior Counsel to the Attorney General. Notterman departs from ZMO Law PLLC as an Associate representing civil rights plaintiffs and criminal defendants in state and federal court. He previously served as a research fellow at the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at New York University. Notterman clerked for the Honorable William J. Martini in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and worked as an associate at Jones Day. He received his J.D. from New York University School of Law and B.A. from Cornell University.

Jordan Shub will be appointed as Advisor to the Attorney General. Shub joins the Office after serving as a Special Advisor for Public Engagement in the Office of Public Affairs in the U.S. Department of Justice. Prior to that role, she was a Special Assistant to the U.S. Deputy Attorney General. She received her B.A. from Tulane University.

Other senior members of the Attorney General’s leadership team will remain in the Office.

Lyndsay V, Ruotolo, First Assistant Attorney General.
Jeremy Feigenbaum, Solicitor General
B. Stephan Finkel, Director of Legislative Affairs
Lora Fong, Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer
Sharon Lauchaire, Communications Director
Yolanda Melville, Senior Counsel to the Attorney General and Director of Community Engagement
Tiffany Wilson, Senior Counsel and Director of the Office of Alternative and Community Responses
Michael Zuckerman, Deputy Solicitor General
Zoe Magid, Senior Advisor to the Attorney General
Melanie Armstrong, Senior Counsel to the Attorney General
Christina Brandt-Young, Senior Counsel to the Attorney General
Daniel Hafetz, Senior Counsel to the Attorney General
Melina Meneguin Layerenza, Senior Counsel to the Attorney General
Marihug Cedeño Peña, Senior Counsel to the Attorney General
Sara Quigley, Senior Counsel to the Attorney General\
Sarah Rizk, Counsel to the Attorney General
Whitney Lewis, Deputy Director of Communications
Michael Symons, Deputy Director of Communications and Press Secretary
Raymond Royster, Deputy Director of Community Engagement