Prosecutor Recommended Over Foley Partners for Mass. US Atty
A prosecutor who grew up in Spanish Harlem is being recommended for the job of U.S. attorney in Massachusetts.
Carmen Ortiz would be the first woman and the first Hispanic to hold the job in the state if she is nominated and confirmed, according to the Boston Globe and the Patriot Ledger’s Wicked Local Milton blog. U.S. Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry recommended Ortiz over two other finalists, both Foley Hoag partners who are well known in the Boston legal establishment, according to the Globe.
Ortiz told the Globe her father worked in the garment industry, drove a cab, and then opened a gift shop. Her mother sold Avon products. She has been a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s office for the last 12 years, and currently works in the economic crimes unit. She previously worked as a prosecutor in Middlesex County.
The other two finalists were Foley Hoag partners Michael Keating, a commercial litigator who is a former president of the Boston Bar Association, and Martin Murphy, a former prosecutor.
President Obama nominated his first six picks for U.S. attorney positions Friday, including top prosecutor spots in New York and New Jersey, the National Law Journal reports. They are: Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York, Tristram Coffin for Vermont, Jenny Durkan for the Western District of Washington, Paul Fishman for New Jersey, John Kacavas for New Hampshire and Joyce Vance for the Northern District of Alabama.
