NEWS RELEASE
CONTACT: Patrick C. Lynch at (401) 274-3311
patrick@patricklynchgroup.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 7, 2011
FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL PATRICK C. LYNCH
ANNOUNCES EXPANSION OF HIS LAW FIRM
Patrick Lynch Law Firm adds Three Former Prosecutors collectively
with over 50 years of Legal Experience in Civil and Criminal Law.
Former Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch (2003-2011) announced today that he is expanding his law firm: Patrick Lynch Law Firm (www.patricklynchlawfirm.com), by adding three experienced state prosecutors to its roster. Former Assistant Attorney General Pamela Chin, Assistant Attorney General Matthew S. Dawson, and Special Assistant Attorney General Maria F. Deaton have joined Lynch’s firm and will concentrate on the practices of general litigation and criminal defense law.
In January of this year, after concluding his second term as Attorney General for the State of Rhode Island, Lynch opened two firms: the Patrick Lynch Group and the Patrick Lynch Law Firm.
The Patrick Lynch Group (www.patricklynchgroup.com) is a consulting firm that Lynch established with Jefferson B. Guimond, previously Lynch’s Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs from 2007 to 2011 and, before that, the director of legislative and governmental affairs to former Lieutenant Governor Charles Fogarty from 2003 to 2006. Over the past eight months, Lynch and Guimond (bios of both are attached) have focused on building the government and public affairs side of the Rhode Island-based consulting practice, which is located at One Park Row, Providence. The consulting firm advises trade associations and corporations on their regulatory responsibility with a focus on government affairs, public affairs, and business development. A particular area of focus natural to Lynch and Guimond is in matters involving attorneys general, especially as Lynch served in many leadership positions for the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), including a term as President in 2008.
Lynch, however, had also been eying an expansion of the law practice since he opened the firm. “This was always part of the plan — to be able to offer as many different services as possible to as wide a range of clients as possible,” he said. “We’re on target with our goals on the strategic consulting side of the business and now is the right time to grow our litigation practice. I couldn’t be more pleased than to be able to add three such high-caliber, high-integrity attorneys as Pam, Matt, and Maria to our team. Collectively, they have nearly 50 years of legal experience, in criminal and civil law, and, just as important, each has an excellent reputation in the Rhode Island Bar. I look forward to the exceptional work they’ll do for our clients.”
Ms. Chin served in the Department of Attorney General from 1998 until recently, prosecuting practically every kind of case, from misdemeanor offenses to violent felonies. She also advanced through the managerial ranks, ultimately heading the District Court and Narcotics and Organized Crime Units. Earlier in her legal career, she gained valuable experience working for the Rhode Island Family Law Center and as an associate for the firm of Updegrove and Gontarz.
Mr. Dawson’s service as the Criminal Division’s Deputy Chief, a position he held from 2005 until early 2011, capped a 21-year career at the Department of Attorney General for the East Providence native. As the second-in-command of the department’s largest division, numbering more than 60 attorneys, Dawson directly supervised all of the specialized prosecution units, including Appellate, District Court, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Elder Abuse, Extraditions, Intake, Juvenile, Medicaid Fraud, Narcotics and Organized Crime, Probation Violations, and the White Collar Crime Unit. As well, he maintained a full and diverse felony caseload.
Ms. Deaton brings a broad range of legal and managerial experience to the Patrick Lynch Law Firm, having served as a solo practitioner, and managing partner of her own law firm, early in her career, and having specialized in prosecuting gun cases during most of her five-plus years’ service at the Department of Attorney General. For the past three and one-half years, she was the office’s designated firearms prosecutor, in which capacity she served as the departmental liaison with the US Attorney’s Office for the
District of Rhode Island and screened all gun cases in Rhode Island to determine which judicial jurisdiction, state or federal, would be the most appropriate venue in which to prosecute. Previously, Ms.
Deaton also served as a prosecutor in the Cape Cod and the Islands District Attorney’s Office, where she tried more than 100 cases before juries.
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Bios attached. Patrick Lynch available for interviews upon request. Contact Patrick Lynch through Kimberley Campagna at (401) 274-3311 or e-mail at kim@patricklynchgroup.com.
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