Jerry Clements, the current managing partner, said the firm is not concerned about possible political fallout from Miers' work at the White House or as a Supreme Court nominee when conservatives questioned her credentials.

Clements said that was viewed as "nothing more than politics."

The firm also hopes the 48-year-old Prince George's County resident will raise its profile in political Washington.

"As the issuance of Congressional subpoenas continues to surge, Michael will also play a lead role in providing counsel to elected officials and executives brought before Congress," the statement said.

Steele is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University and Georgetown University Law Center. He was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in June 1992 but let his law license expire during his four-year term as lieutenant governor. He renewed March 1, paying a $375 fee, according to the Pennsylvania's Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court.

Steele, a former head of the Maryland Republican Party, has not practiced law in more than a decade. He worked for six years after law school in the Washington office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. He told The (Baltimore) Sun in 2002 that he left the firm when he realized he would not make partner.

Dorsey & Whitney is headquartered in Minneapolis, and has offices in other cities, including Des Moines, where Vilsack will work. He had a law practice in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where Vilsack was mayor and a state senator before becoming governor.

"I extend my sincere gratitude to Chuck Rosenberg who stepped in to serve the Department admirably during a challenging transitional period," said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. "I am very pleased that Kevin has agreed to serve as my Chief of Staff. He is an outstanding lawyer and as U.S. Attorney in Connecticut demonstrated that he is a strong manager and leader."

Mr. O'Connor was appointed by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Connecticut's 48th U.S. Attorney in 2002. In January 2006, Mr. O'Connor also began serving in the Department's headquarters as the Associate Deputy Attorney General to oversee violent crime and gang-related policy initiatives for the Department.

Prior to his appointment as U.S. Attorney, Mr. O'Connor was a partner in the law firm of Day, Berry & Howard in Hartford, Conn. Mr. O'Connor also served as Corporation Counsel for the Town of West Hartford, Conn. from 1999 to 2001.

From 1995 to 1997, Mr. O'Connor served as Staff Attorney and Senior Counsel in the Division of Enforcement of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. From 1993 to 1995, Mr. O'Connor was a litigation associate with the law firm of Cahill Gordon & Reindel in New York City. From 1992 to 1993, Mr. O'Connor served as a law clerk to the Honorable William H. Timbers of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.

He is a 1992 graduate, with high honors, from the University of Connecticut School of Law and a 1989 graduate, with honors, from the University of Notre Dame.

Mr. O'Connor will remain the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut. After four to six months, he and the Attorney General will determine whether he continues to hold both positions.

Orwig says he began looking for a job with a private firm prior to the controversy involving the Department of Justice and eight U.S. Attorneys who claim they were removed for political reasons.

He says the move to a private firm is the best decision for his family.

"I have two children in college with a third soon to join them," Orwig told KFDM News in a telephone conversation Friday afternoon. "A move to private practice was inevitable."

Orwig officially took office as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas on January 13, 2002.

The law firm of Phillips Lytle LLP, a full service law firm with statewide coverage has named Karen A. DiNardo as partner effective immediately.

Ms. DiNardo focuses in the areas of real estate transactions and financing including acquisitions, dispositions, development, secured lending and leasing for commercial, industrial, residential, mobile home and retail projects. She attended Albany Law School of Union University and received her B.S., magna cum laude, from Niagara University. Ms. DiNardo is a member of the American and Monroe County Bar Associations and serves as membership committee co-chair of the Real Property Section of the New York State Bar Association. A resident of Webster, she is also a member of the Women's Council of Realtors.

Phillips Lytle is a full-service law firm with seven offices across New York State in Rochester, Albany, Buffalo, Chautauqua, Garden City and New York City. With the farthest geographic reach of any law firm in the state of New York, they are well equipped to meet the needs of their clients.

Ending a stormy tenure, Ryan left the U.S. attorney's job last month after he was fired in December by his bosses in the Justice Department. Ryan was one of eight U.S. attorneys whose firing has prompted a political firestorm over accusations that the Bush administration axed federal prosecutors for political reasons.

However, Justice Department documents released as part of a congressional inquiry show that Ryan was let go as a result of ongoing concerns about his flawed leadership and sagging morale in the office, even as it investigated some of the most important cases in the country. Those included the Balco steroids probe and the widening investigations of backdating stock options in Silicon Valley.

Career Justice Department official Scott Schools is serving as interim U.S. attorney while California Republicans search for Ryan's replacement. The leading candidates for the job include former San Francisco U.S. attorney Joe Russoniello, former federal prosecutors Dave Anderson, Patrick Robbins and Mike Shepard, and current prosecutors Tim Crudo and Mark Krotoski, according to lawyers familiar with the screening process.