Adrian Zuckerman testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his confirmation hearing to become ambassador to Romania on Thursday. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Seyfarth Shaw partner Adrian Zuckerman pledged to fight corruption in Romania in a confirmation hearing Thursday on his nomination to be the next U.S. ambassador to Romania.

Zuckerman, a New York-based equity partner in the firm's real estate department, testified alongside a panel of three other nominees at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.

Last year, ALM reported that Zuckerman's nomination could face questions related to sexual harassment claims made against him by a legal secretary in 2008, when he was a partner at Lowenstein Sandler. Those claims, which both Zuckerman and Lowenstein denied in court papers at the time, were settled on confidential terms within a year and did not come up in Thursday's hearing.

In his opening statement at the hearing, Zuckerman grew emotional when discussing his family's journey to the United States. Zuckerman said he was born in Bucharest, Romania, immigrated to America as a child, and said his late parents' “proudest day” was when they became Americans.

He told the committee he wanted to reciprocate the gifts America has provided him and his family by advancing U.S. interests in Romania.

“Romania needs to continue to fight against corruption, create a more investment friendly business climate, and invest in infrastructure, health and education and strength in public administration,” Zuckerman testified. “If confirmed, I would offer continued support for Romania's noteworthy anti-corruption efforts. Fighting corruption and support[ing] judicial independence are vital to Romania's long-term prosperity and security.”

Zuckerman added that the perils of an aggressive Russia were “substantial” to Romania and ought not be underestimated, and that America needed to be proactive.

Zuckerman's nomination did not attract as much pointed questioning as that of his fellow nominees. The committee's senators questioned the nominees in five minute rounds. Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey, complained that five-minute rounds were insufficient to question all four nominees at a time, but largely trained his fire on Andrew Bremberg, nominee to be the representative to the Office of the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, asking about his work as a domestic policy adviser in President Donald Trump's White House.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee did not immediately respond to questions about whether the settled harassment claims against Zuckerman have entered into the committee's consideration of his nomination. Zuckerman and Seyfarth Shaw also had no immediate comment.

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