Terryl L. Brown, former counsel to the Attorney General and Chief Ethics Officer in the New York State Attorney General’s Office, has joined the Harris Beach law firm as a partner in the Government Compliance and Investigations Practice Group with a major focus on working with clients of the firm’s Energy Industry Team. In this capacity, she defends organizations and their executives on matters relating to corporate and government compliance, government investigations, consumer fraud, and criminal charges. Ms. Brown brings nearly 20 years of experience in New York State government, having served in the New York State Attorney General’s Office, the New York Power Authority, and the New York State Governor’s Office. With this experience, she counsels state government and municipal officials on matters relating to operational procedures, ethics, and regulations. In addition to advising energy and government clients and given her vast industry and managerial experience, she also works with clients in numerous industries on their regulatory and compliance matters, including health care, financial institutions and capital markets, telecommunications and media, and consumer products and services.
Harris Beach CEO James A. Spitz, Jr. said: “The addition of Terryl to our firm adds another layer of sophisticated depth to our government compliance and investigations practice. Her experience complements an attorney team that is highly credentialed with strong prosecutorial and ethics backgrounds. In today’s regulated environment, Terryl’s experience will provide additional value to clients in both the public and private sectors. We are proud that she selected Harris Beach in making her decision to return to private practice.”
Ms. Brown said: “My career in New York State government began when I joined the Attorney General’s Office as a line assistant. I have had the privilege of serving three Attorneys General – Dennis Vacco, Eliot Spitzer and Eric Schneiderman – each of whom provided me with amazing growth opportunities. I worked in three of the five major legal divisions of the office. In addition to serving as a line attorney, I served as a deputy bureau chief, an assistant deputy attorney general, acting deputy attorney general and finally, counsel to the attorney general and chief ethics office. I also served two New York Governors – Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson – as first assistant counsel, and acting counsel to the governor. I am now embarking on the next stage of my career with the attorneys at Harris Beach, and will use my experience to advise clients on regulatory matters and corporate and government compliance issues. Harris Beach will afford me exciting new opportunities to advance my practice of law. I have known and respected many of the lawyers at Harris Beach for a number of years and it will be my pleasure to practice law with them.”
As counsel to the attorney general and chief ethics officer in the New York State Attorney General’s Office, Ms. Brown provided legal advice and counsel to the attorney general, executive staff, and other members of the attorney general’s office. Prior to her service with the attorney general’s office, Ms. Brown served as executive vice president and general counsel at the New York Power Authority, where she provided legal advice and counsel to the board of trustees, president and CEO, senior executive staff, and the authority’s business units. She oversaw the Office of Ethics and Compliance and the Corporate Secretary’s Office. Ms. Brown also served as first assistant counsel to the governor and then as acting counsel to the governor in the New York State Governor’s Office, where she managed and supervised the assistant counsels to the governor, the Legislative Secretary’s Office, and the Judicial Screening Office.
Ms. Brown started her career with the state as assistant attorney general in the Litigation Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office, and later as deputy bureau chief in the Civil Rights Bureau, and as assistant deputy attorney general and later as acting deputy attorney general in the Division of Public Advocacy. Upon graduation from law school, Ms. Brown entered private practice with law firms in Pittsburgh and New York City. She holds a JD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh Joseph Katz Graduate School of Business, and a BA from Pace University.
Ms. Brown has been a member of the National Association of Attorneys General (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Working Group and Disaster Preparedness Working Group), the American Public Power Association, the Energy Bar Association (Northeast Chapter), the New York State Bar Association (House of Delegates, Committee on Attorneys in Public Service and co-chair of the Ethics Subcommittee, Committee on Professional Ethics, Committee on Court Restructuring, Corporate Counsel Section), the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (Professional Ethics Committee, Energy Law Committee, Committee on the Judiciary and its Vice Chair, Special Committee on Election Law), the North American Securities Administrators Association, and the National Association of State Charity Officials. Ms. Brown served as chair of the New York Urban League, Manhattan Advisory Board and as a board member of the North Brooklyn YMCA.
Ms. Brown has participated in several advanced energy industry, international and managerial training programs.
