Chief Counsel Parimal Garg’s coming departure from the Murphy administration — he announced Monday that he’s leaving on Nov. 15 to become a partner at Lowenstein Sandler — is a big get for one of the state’s great law firms.
No one knows this better than Gov. Phil Murphy, who is sad to see the departure of someone who has been with him since his first campaign but also thrilled to see him land at such a prestigious spot.
“He’s a world-class top talent for sure,” Murphy told ROI-NJ. “He’s provided outstanding legal leadership, both as the deputy to now attorney general Matt Platkin and for the past four years as chief counsel.
“He’s a huge talent and we’ll miss him dearly. It’s not surprising that he landed in such a great place; he’s got great life chapters in front of him.”
Garg’s resume — which includes a law degree from Harvard and a clerkship for N.J. Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner — obviously has been strong for years.
And while he could have used that background to land at a big firm years ago, Garg said he values his time in the public sector, feeling it provided legal lessons he could not have otherwise achieved.
“I think the most important thing I learned is just good client management,” he told ROI-NJ. “In the governor’s office, I have one client — and I always have to think about his interests and how issues impact him in multiple ways. That translates to the private sector.”
Few firms know that better than Lowenstein Sandler.
Chris Porrino, the chair of the firm’s litigation department and the public leader of the firm, served as both chief counsel to former Gov. Chris Christie and as attorney general of the state.
Porrino is one of many former public sector leaders that are at the firm — or who have served at the firm, including Platkin, the current attorney general for the state, and Matt Boxer, the state’s comptroller and director of New Jersey’s Authorities Unit.
It’s one of the reasons why the firm regularly interacts with the governor’s office on so many legal matters.
“I’ve had the chance to work with Lowenstein on a number of issues,” Garg said. “Their reputation is obvious to everyone, but I’ve seen firsthand the excellence of their work and the quality of their lawyers.
“For me, it seems like a great place to learn from the great people who are there and help contribute to their status as the place to go whenever you’re dealing with government issue, have a crisis to manage or the need to hold an investigation to figure out what happened.”
Porrino is eager to have Garg join the team.
“Parimal was enormously successful as Gov. Murphy’s chief counsel because of his brilliance, his impeccable integrity, and his work ethic,” he said. “His in-depth government experience further bolsters our firm’s ability to serve our clients in all aspects of litigation and complex bipartisan problem-solving.”
Boxer, the firm’s white collar defense chair who also has experience as a federal prosecutor in the state’s U.S. Attorney’s Office, agreed.
“Parimal’s impressive record of public service and his dedication to serving all communities regardless of party — will be highly valuable to our clients doing business in this state, region, and beyond,” he said.
Here’s more of ROI-NJ’s interview with Garg:
ROI-NJ: You talked about client management, which is an interesting way of describing serving a governor — but certainly accurate. Give us a few more thoughts on that?
Parimal Garg: If there’s a particular issue that we’re handling, whether it’s civil litigation, whether it’s a piece of legislation, whether it’s an executive order, you’re always thinking through, ‘What is the goal here? What is the best legal tool to achieve that goal?’
You have to keep in mind all of the different dimensions through which action might be needed. There’s the legal avenue: If this is challenged in court, will it hold up? There’s the policy avenue: Is this action going to be consistent with the administration’s policy agenda? There’s the political dimension: How does it bolster or hurt the governor’s public standing and his political capital?
When you look at clients in the private sector, especially any type of large corporate client, they’re always going to be thinking about issues across multiple dimensions as well.
ROI-NJ: How so?
PG: If you’re a big corporation and you have an issue that results in a lot of bad press in a news cycle, you might be right on the legal merits, but maybe litigating it to the end is not in the best interest of the company. You have to keep public relations in mind because that affects how stockholders view the company and the company’s standing in its sector.
And corporations have goals, too. They have certain policies that they might want to pursue. They have certain values that they want to uphold. So, you always have to be mindful of the legal advice and guidance that you’re giving them, and to what extent it’s consistent with their values and with their interests.
ROI: Public service isn’t for everyone in the legal profession. You chose to go that route when a lot of other paths that were open to you — paths that certainly would have been more financially lucrative. Talk about the decision?
PG: I don’t think there’s anything more meaningful and rewarding than doing public service and being able to hopefully make the lives of 9.3 million residents better on a day-to-day basis. I don’t think there’s anything that quite matches up to that.
ROI: How did it help you become a better attorney — now and in the future?
PG: I think your value in the private sector is immeasurably enhanced by spending time in the public sector because you have a greater ability to understand, ‘This is how a state government or a governor’s office or an attorney general’s office will view this issue.’ You know the competing pressures that they’re trying to balance. You can see the area where they might be open to settling this type of matter. You’ll know this is an area where they’re going to experience a lot of public or political pressure to keep fighting.
I think understanding the dynamics that decision-makers inside government are dealing with is just incredibly invaluable to anyone who’s counseling private sector clients who are dealing with any issues involving state government, federal government, prosecutors or any type of investigation.
If you don’t have that experience or that perspective, you’re not going to be able to give your clients good advice.
ROI: As you said, Lowenstein Sandler seemingly has more attorneys with this type of background than anyone else in the state or region. Talk about how you’ve experienced that first-hand — and how that familiarity might help you hit the ground running from Day One.
PG: Lowenstein has so many attorneys who I’ve worked very closely with in the past and during this administration. Chris Porrino and I have worked together on a number of matters. He’s the chair of our criminal sentencing and disposition commission. I worked with Matt Boxer in the Department of Justice’s investigation into the state’s veteran’s homes and the Edna Mahan correctional facility. Alex Shalom is someone who has worked very closely with this administration on a number of criminal justice reform initiatives.
There’s a lot of history there and a lot of incredible talent. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to join the firm.