Wilmington – Attorney General Beau Biden announced today that he has appointed two veteran Department of Justice attorneys to the positions of Chief Deputy Attorney General and State Solicitor.
Biden named Ian McConnel, who currently serves as State Solicitor, to the position of Chief Deputy Attorney General. The Chief Deputy Attorney General has supervisory responsibility over the Criminal, Civil, Family, and Fraud and Consumer Protection Divisions and maintains an appellate responsibility in certain Freedom of Information Act disputes. McConnel, who has served as State Solicitor since earlier this year, previously led the Attorney General’s Fraud and Consumer Protection Division, where he directed Delaware’s response to the foreclosure crisis, including sitting on the Executive Committee of the 50-state investigation of mortgage servicing violations, establishing Delaware’s mandatory foreclosure mediation program, and leading the Attorney General’s investigation of the national private electronic mortgage registry known as MERS. Prior to heading that Division, McConnel directed the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit, where he established and led the department’s Mortgage Fraud Task Force and spearheaded successful legislative efforts to strengthen Delaware’s consumer protection laws.
Before joining the Department of Justice in 2008, McConnel practiced law at the Wilmington firm of Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell. He has also worked as an investment adviser and licensed stock broker for a private mutual fund company, and served as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps. McConnel serves on the Delaware State Bar Ethics Committee and Nominating Committee for the Executive Committee.
Biden also named Deputy Attorney General Allison Reardon to succeed McConnel as State Solicitor. As the head of the Department’s Civil Division, the State Solicitor oversees several key functions of the office, including evaluating Freedom of Information Act requests, providing legal representation to hundreds of State boards and commissions, and reviewing and drafting complex transactional agreements. Reardon has served the Department of Justice for 20 years in a variety of positions in the Civil Division. Most recently, since 2007 she has led the Administrative Law and Education Group which provides advice and counsel to the Division of Professional Regulation and its many boards and commissions, the Department of Education, and the Public Service Commission. Allison previously led the Government Services Unit and over several years has supervised deputies with a wide range of responsibilities in the Division.
“Ian and Allison are proven leaders who bring valuable experience and dedication to their new posts,” Biden said. “I will rely on them both, along with the rest of my capable leadership team, attorneys, and staff, to build upon our efforts to make our State safer and stronger by preventing crime and enforcing the law.”
McConnel and Reardon will immediately transition into their new responsibilities. McConnel succeeds Superior Court Judge Charles Butler, who served as Chief Deputy Attorney General from 2010 until his confirmation to a seat on the Court earlier this month.
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