Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s is now represented by a high-powered criminal defense lawyer who worked as a prosecutor for both the Bush and Obama administrations.
Rita Glavin was identified Friday as representing the embattled governor after the latest staffer came forward to accuse him of sexual harassment.
Glavin, 49, was until days ago a partner with the Manhattan firm of Seward & Kissel. Her bio is no longer listed on the firm’s website, and state records show she formed her own firm, Glavin PLLC, on Thursday.
James Cofer, a Seward & Kissel partner, confirmed Glavin was at the new firm, but would not say if she left because she was representing Cuomo.
Cuomo’s office directed inquiries about Glavin’s representation, including who was paying for it, to Glavin, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Glavin, a Fordham Law School grad, was a prosecutor in the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York and, in 2008, was second-in-command at the US Department of Justice Criminal Division under President George W. Bush. Obama named her to oversee the Criminal Division’s transition after he took office in 2009.
As recently as March 11, Glavin was listed in court records as repping Jason Servis, a trainer accused in an international horse doping scandal. Servis trained Maximum Security, the horse disqualified as the 2019 Kentucky Derby winner.
In 2019, Glavin was named by a federal judge as special prosecutor in a case involving Steven Donziger, an environmental lawyer who helped win a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron in Ecuador, and was later accused of criminal contempt.
Seward & Kissel’s involvement in the case led law school students last month to say they would boycott working for the firm because its representation of Chevron in other matters was a conflict of interest.