Governor Chris Christie Political party Unaffiliated | Preceded by Robert Lougy (Acting) Party Independent politician | |
 | ||
Education Seton Hall University, Lehigh University | ||
Text to 9 1 1 event speaker 2 christopher porrino attorney general of new jersey
Christopher S. "Chris" Porrino is an American lawyer who became Acting New Jersey Attorney General in June 2016 and was confirmed by the New Jersey Senate for the position the following month.
Contents
Background
Born in Teaneck, New Jersey, Porrino grew up in Fort Lee and Englewood Cliffs.
Porrino graduated from Lehigh University in 1989 and received his law degree from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1992. He is admitted to the bars of the State of New Jersey, the State of New York, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. He served as a law clerk to then-Magistrate Judge Freda L. Wolfson, U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey.
From 2004 until 2012, Porrino was a partner and vice-chair of Lowenstein Sandler's litigation department, where he focused on criminal and civil trial practice. During his tenure he represented clients in matters involving securities, banking, insurance, tax, antitrust, real estate and the environment, among others.
Currently, Porrino has been a resident of Summit, New Jersey since 1997 and is married to his wife Christina. They have two children.
Christie administration
Porrino began working for the state in February 2012 as director of the Division of Law in the Attorney General's Office. In December 2013, Chief Legal Counsel for Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie announced that Porrino would be replacing Charles McKenna. Porrino was set to start January 13, 2014, but was called to Drumthwacket, the governor’s mansion in Princeton, with other senior staff seven days earlier, the day the Fort Lee lane closure scandal controversy erupted. He served on the Bi-state Special Panel on the Future of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, created in the wake of the controversy to recommend changes for overhauling the agency. In was involved in the state's controversial settlement with Exxon Corporation.
In June 2016 he was nominated by Christie to be New Jersey Attorney General to succeed acting Attorney General Robert Lougy. Porrino served as Acting Attorney General until confirmed by the Senate in July 2016