Manisha Sheth/photo by Carmen Natale

Manisha Sheth, who left private practice to lead the economic justice division of the state attorney general's office more than two years ago, has said she will return to Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan as a partner in March.

The move is a homecoming of sorts for Sheth, who was previously a partner with the firm from 2011 until her appointment to the state attorney general's office in 2016.

Since then, she's overseen some of the state's biggest lawsuits over the past three years, including the recent record-breaking $174.2 million settlement with Charter Communications over allegations that the cable and internet company misrepresented internet speeds to its customers.

That's just a fraction of the $1.4 billion in recoveries the economic justice division brought in over the past year. A lot of those cases started under Sheth, who said it was the time for her to transition out of her role leading the division.

“I think it was a natural transition point with the new attorney general coming in,” Sheth said. “Most of the work that I had done had come to a resolution one way or another.”

Sheth has agreed to co-chair of the government and regulatory litigation practice at Quinn Emanuel, where she'll handle many of the same kinds of cases she focused on during her previous stint at the firm. She primarily worked on securities, health care, antitrust, and structured finance litigation at the time.

Sheth said she hopes to expand the attorney general practice of the firm, which is used by attorneys general in other states to handle investigations and prepare litigation.

“I hope to expand the plaintiff-side state AG practice, so basically pitching state AGs across the country because New York doesn't hire too many outside counsel for their investigations,” Sheth said. “So, if there's a complex investigation or a trial, I'd love to be pitching the state AG on developing those cases and investigations.”

Her work in the New York Attorney General's Office will enhance her perspective in those cases. Sheth oversaw the division that handled some of the largest civil settlements between companies and the state in recent history.

She led the team that negotiated a $35 million settlement with FedEx Ground one week before trial over allegations that the company was involved in shipping illegal, untaxed cigarettes. She also oversaw a $42 million settlement with Bank of America Merrill Lynch over claims of fraud related to the company's electronic trading practices.

Then there's the settlement with Charter, which was among the division's largest settlements under Sheth's oversight. It was also among the division's most well-known case resolutions from the past year. Sheth said that's the kind of work that made the job especially gratifying.

“Those kinds of cases, I think, were really rewarding because it obviously affects the one entity or company we're looking at, but we're making change on an industrywide level and we're reforming overall business practices,” Sheth said. “I thought that was very rewarding and improved the economic well-being of consumers and investors.”

She's also overseen litigation that remains unresolved, at least for the time being. Her division, for example, is in charge of the lawsuit against Exxon Mobil, which the state has accused of misleading investors about its trading practices related to climate change regulations. That litigation is scheduled to go to trial later this year.

Sheth, a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, also spent five years as a federal prosecutor in the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia. Before that, she was an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell. She said that even though her work as a federal prosecutor was important, the accomplishments she made leading the economic justice division topped that experience.

“I think it was a dream job. I loved being a criminal prosecutor with the federal government when I was at the U.S. Attorney's Office,” Sheth said. “This, I have to say I liked even more than being a federal criminal prosecutor because I felt like we could actually make meaningful change in how business was conducted. It was on the civil side, and those cases tend to be a bit more complex and a bit more nuanced.”

Her last day at the state attorney general's office was at the start of January, but she is taking some time off before she returns to Quinn Emanuel in March.

During that time, she'll be reaching new heights—literally. She departs Thursday for a trip to Patagonia, where she'll be undergoing a mountaineering course that's expected to last more than a month.

“It's very cool. I'm excited,” Sheth said.

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