Former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch. (Photo: Carmen Natale/ALM)

Loretta Lynch, who served as U.S. attorney general during the last two years of the Obama administration, has moved to Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, the firm announced Tuesday.

Lynch is joining Paul Weiss as a partner in its litigation department, the firm said, where she will represent companies, people and corporate boards of directors in high-stakes cases, regulatory matters and investigations. Before working as attorney general, she was the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

In an interview, Lynch said she will start at Paul Weiss on June 3. She said she will be moving to New York for the role after having spent the past two years in the D.C. area, where she gave speeches and cared for her parents, who are in their 80s and live in North Carolina. She said the firm's strong investigations and regulatory team, its international client base and its “sense of social justice” attracted her, and said she could bridge the gap between prospective clients and the government there.

“I think sometimes both the public sector and the private sector are focused on completing their goals. … Often, it's almost like they're speaking different languages,” Lynch said. “It can be very helpful to have been on both sides of the issue.”

Firm chairman Brad Karp said the firm was “honored” to have Lynch join its partnership.

“There is no lawyer who has served our country with greater distinction or integrity,” he said. “With her extraordinary service at the Department of Justice, both in Washington and New York, Loretta will add even more depth and experience to our market-leading white-collar and regulatory practice.”

Lynch does not come to Paul Weiss from another firm, but occasionally made appearances as a public speaker in recent years. She is listed as a speaker on the website of Keppler Speakers, which mentions that the topics she can address include workplace diversity, female empowerment, student and graduate issues and national security. Asked whether she was open to a return to government, Lynch said, “you never know where life will take you, but right now, I'm really looking forward to joining the outstanding team at Paul Weiss.”

Her hiring comes about four months after another high-profile addition by Paul Weiss. In January, the firm announced that well-known Supreme Court advocate Kannon Shanmugam had joined from Williams & Connolly to launch an appellate practice at Paul Weiss.

The hiring of Lynch, one of the most prominent African American female attorneys in the United States, carries special weight in Big Law and at Paul Weiss in particular. The firm briefly became the poster child for the legal industry's struggle to promote and retain talented women and ethnic minorities last year when it announced a class of 12 new partners, all of whom appeared white and 11 of whom were men, sparking criticism both inside and outside the legal world. Karp said at the time that the firm would “do better.”

Lynch acknowledged that Big Law had problems with diversity. She said it was a “pipeline issue,” ranging from law schools to firm leaders, and she expressed confidence in Paul Weiss' ability to improve.

“It's been a challenge for the legal profession writ large,” she said. “Paul Weiss has met that challenge in many important and significant ways, but I also see it as a place that's not afraid to have the tough conversations.”

Lynch previously worked at Hogan & Hartson, a predecessor firm to Hogan Lovells. Her decision to join Big Law after working as attorney general echoes that of her predecessor, Eric Holder, who left the Justice Department after Lynch was confirmed by the Senate and joined Covington & Burling.