Sidley Austin Partner Is Reportedly Obama's Pick to Head Office of Legal Counsel
Sidley Austin partner Virginia Seitz is expected to be tapped to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel after President Obama’s controversial prior nominee withdrew from consideration.
Seitz will reportedly be nominated for the job early next year, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. Seitz has an appellate practice at Sidley’s Washington, D.C., office; she once wrote an amicus brief cited by the U.S. Supreme Court in a decision allowing universities to consider race as a factor in admissions.
Several conservatives contacted by the Wall Street Journal said Seitz’s lack of national security experience could harm her nomination.
Obama’s former nominee was Dawn Johnsen, an Indiana University law professor who was the former legal director of NARAL Pro-Choice America. The last time the Senate confirmed a nominee to head the Office of Legal Counsel was in 2003.