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A former member of President Joe Biden’s cabinet has joined Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP as a partner.
Taft, which has eight Midwest offices—including one in Indianapolis—announced that Marcia Fudge will join the firm as a partner and its firm-wide chair of public policy.
Fudge served as the 18th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
With a background as a U.S. representative in Ohio’s 11th Congressional District and decades in public service, Fudge said she began thinking about going into private practice and decided Taft was a natural fit.
She said she had, over the years, built relationships with many people in government, including public officials from Indiana.
It was while in Congress that Fudge worked closely with Lacy Johnson, partner-in-charge of Taft’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of Biden’s Export Council.
Johnson is a well-known Indiana lawyer who served as 7th District chairman of the Indiana State Democratic Party and is a past president of the Indianapolis Airport Authority.
Johnson said Indiana has a lot of brownfield sites, an area where Fudge’s experience with HUD will have a positive impact for Taft.
He also noted that Indiana is a heavy agricultural state, an area where Taft has a strong legal footprint in the state. “She is well known in that space,” Johnson said of Fudge.
At Taft, Fudge will be based about 75% of the time in Taft’s Cleveland office and the remainder in Washington, D.C.
“I just decided it was time to come home,” Fudge told Indiana Lawyer.
According to the firm, Fudge will dedicate a portion of her time to the firm’s ongoing efforts to combat the harmful effects of so-called “forever” chemicals.
Fudge said as the former mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, she saw first hand the hazardous environmental effects of water runoff and the disproportionate impact it had on people of color and lower-income communities.
She noted that Taft has a big presence in Ohio, which was also a factor in her decision to join the firm.
Fudge earned her bachelor’s degree in business from The Ohio State University and her law degree from the Cleveland State University Cleveland-Marshall School of Law.
“I am personally very proud and excited for Taft with this announcement. Bringing someone of Secretary Fudge’s stature and caliber is highly strategic for Taft,” Taft Chairman and Managing Partner Robert Hicks in written remarks. “She is a tremendous leader with an astute vision, impeccable integrity, and a deep passion for serving our nation’s communities. Taft is very fortunate that she has selected this as her professional home. Secretary Fudge’s service-oriented leadership and vast experience will have an extremely positive impact on our clients and the communities we serve.”
Fudge began her career in public service in the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Prosecutor’s Office and having served as the first woman and first African American elected mayor of Warrensville Heights.
From 2008 until 2021, Fudge served as the U.S. Representative for the 11th Congressional District of Ohio.
She is also a former national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., one of the nation’s largest African American sororities, and a past chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
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