Edward Mogilnicki, who served as chief of staff to Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) from 2006 until Kennedy’s death in 2009, has returned to Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr as a partner in the government and regulatory litigation practice. Mogilnicki said he started work at the firm shortly after Labor Day.
Mogilnicki stepped down as a partner at Wilmer, where he had worked for 15 years, in 2006 to become Kennedy’s chief of staff. Mogilnicki said that in that role he was involved in just about every decision Kennedy made as a senator, including on political strategy, legislation and communications. Mogilnicki also served as a senior counselor and strategist for Kennedy during the his work on immigration, education and health care reform.
When Kennedy died in August 2009, Mogilnicki became chief of staff to Sen. Paul Kirk (D-Mass.), who was appointed to fill the vacant Senate seat.
Mogilnicki said his time on the Hill was “bookended” with major legislative efforts. In 2006, Mogilnicki said the focus was on immigration reform, which “consumed a lot of my early time in the senator’s office.” Noting that the immigration reform effort ultimately did not pass, Mogilnicki said he was much more pleased with the success of the health care reform effort.
“It was great to see that we had finally achieved what Sen. Kennedy had worked to accomplish for so long,” Mogilnicki said.
Mogilnicki spent four years in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office as an assistant attorney general, serving from 1987 until 1991.
At Wilmer, Mogilnicki will advise clients on cases that are before the courts and Congress simultaneously. Mogilnicki said that there are a “surprising” number of those types of cases, and his experience as a litigator in private practice as well as his time on the Hill will be a benefit to clients. His practice will also focus on legislative and public policy strategy, congressional investigations, and litigation that involves regulatory or public policy issues.
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