Former New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, who served as Chris Christie's second-in-command for eight years and last year lost a bid to succeed him, has joined Connell Foley as a partner and practice group chairwoman.

She already has a profile on the Roseland-based firm's website, but her official start date is May 1, according to a firm announcement Thursday. She will be based in the firm's Jersey City office.

Guadagno, a state and federal prosecutor before joining Christie as running mate in two successful elections, was both the secretary of state and New Jersey's first lieutenant governor, meant to serve as governor when he was out of state.

She ran as the Republican candidate in New Jersey's 2017 gubernatorial election, but was defeated by current Gov. Phil Murphy.

Guadagno said in a statement that joining Connell Foley was “an easy decision.”

“After eight years of public service as New Jersey's lieutenant governor, I am eager to return to practicing law at one of the region's most dynamic firms with an extraordinary group of dedicated and experienced professionals,” she added.

Also in a statement, the firm's managing partner, Philip McGovern Jr., called Guadagno an “excellent” acquisition.

“Kim is a person of exceptional substance and character. Her breadth of knowledge and experience … combined with her passionate advocacy for businesses make her an invaluable member of our firm,” McGovern said. “Moreover, her years and results achieved as a federal and state prosecutor speak volumes about her legal ability.”

Guadagno joins four Connell Foley practice groups: corporate and business law, white-collar criminal defense, commercial litigation, and corporate compliance and internal investigations.

The firm said Guadagno's practice will consist of advising clients on civil, criminal and regulatory matters, as well as policy issues at all levels of government.

Guadagno said: ”I know that my years of experience at the state and federal levels, along with my deep involvement in the business community, will empower clients and contribute to Connell Foley's continued growth.”

In a telephone interview, Guadagno said she did not let her practice skills lapse during her years in office.

She pointed to the case of former Olympic track star Carl Lewis, a Willingboro native who had wanted to run for the state Senate. Guadagno said she wrote the briefs to federal courts that showed that Lewis, while actually claiming to be a Willingboro resident, had previously voted twice while living in California.

As secretary of state, Guadagno was known for being active, if not always outspoken, in dealing with the business community, such as through the Partnership for Action.

Profiles of Guadagno also paint her as not an inherently political person, though she would find success winning elections before facing off with Murphy.

Guadagno spent five years in the U.S. Attorney's Office, serving as deputy chief of the Corruption Unit, leaving in 1998. She then served for two years as deputy director of the Division of Criminal Justice under Attorneys General Peter Verniero and John Farmer Jr. In 2000, she became a town commissioner in Monmouth Beach, and was elected Monmouth County sheriff in 2007.

Guadagno is married to Michael Guadagno, who retired from the Appellate Division bench last year on turning 70.

Before her election, Guadagno gained a degree of notoriety as the head of high-profile criminal cases. As an assistant U.S. attorney, Guadagno was the lead prosecutor in the fraud trials of Essex County Executive Thomas D'Alessio, who was convicted of money laundering and accepting a $59,000 bribe from a Florida garbage-hauling company seeking a license in New Jersey, and former Somerset County Prosecutor Nicholas Bissell, who was convicted of fraud and corruption in 1996. She was twice honored by the U.S. Justice Department for her work, according to Connell Foley.

Shortly before leaving the U.S. Attorney's Office in 1998, Guadagno had a run-in with a federal judge for having posted secret grand jury testimony on the office's website in connection with the criminal case of J. David Smith, the national sales manager of GTECH Holding Corp., a lottery and gaming company. U.S. District Judge Nicholas Politan ruled that she and other prosecutors violated rules prohibiting extrajudicial release of confidential information and governing the disclosure of presentencing reports. The office posted an apology as directed but denied any wrongdoing.

In the Attorney General's Office, she supervised the state portion of the joint FBI and state police investigation of David Smith, the Aberdeen man who created the “Melissa” computer virus, and oversaw the prosecution of John Natale for fraud in connection with the collapse of $50 million in hedge fund accounts he controlled. He pleaded guilty in 2000.

Guadagno is a graduate of American University's Washington College of Law and Ursinus College. She clerked for Judges Henry F. Werker and Kevin T. Duffy in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. After that, she was in private practice and worked as a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn.