NASHVILLE - Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery on Wednesday announced he has named Memphis attorney Jonathan Skrmetti as his new chief deputy.
Skrmetti, a partner with the Memphis-based Butler Snow law and lobbying firm and a former assistant U.S. attorney for the West District of Tennessee, will join the state Attorney General's Office in January.
Herbert Slatery speaks in the Tennessee Supreme Court chamber in Nashville on Sept. 15, 2014. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig)Slatery said in a news release that Skrmetti's "extensive experience in both complex civil disputes and high-profile criminal matters during his public service makes him a great fit for our leadership team."
Moreover, Slatery noted, Skrmetti's "expertise as a federal prosecutor and subject matter expert in Cyberlaw and data security will be especially valuable to this office and the people of Tennessee."
As a federal prosecutor, Skrmetti investigated and prosecuted civil rights crimes and white-collar offenses.
He is adjunct professor at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.
Prior to his time in Memphis, Skrmetti served as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice and a special assistant in the United States Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C. He clerked for the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals assisting the Honorable Steven M. Colloton.
Skrmetti graduated from Harvard Law School where he was the editor-in-chief of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. He also earned degrees from George Washington University and the University of Oxford.
He and his wife, Alisha, have two children.
The chief deputy post had previously been held by Nashville attorney Paul Ney who left the state office earlier this year after being appointed by President Donald Trump as general counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow on Twitter @AndySher1.