Trump Adds Philly Lawyer to White House Legal Team

Photo via Cozen O’Connor

A Philadelphia lawyer will advise President Donald Trump as an associate White House counsel. 

James D. Schultz, a former Cozen O’Connor partner who served as Pennsylvania’s top lawyer under Governor Tom Corbett, began work in the White House on Monday. He joins a small group of lawyers who will guide the president on legal issues that span all federal agencies.

“Serving in the Office of White House Counsel is an extremely prestigious honor,” Cozen O’Connor CEO Michael J. Heller said in a statement released Monday. “We are very proud of Jim and his appointment to serve in that office. Jim has had a distinguished record of achievement in both the public and private sectors.”

Schultz advised Corbett from July 2012 to November 2014. In 2016, he advised Trump’s legal team during the Republican National Convention, working under Don McGahn, a reportedly dogged lawyer from Atlantic City who began serving as Trump’s White House Counsel on Inauguration Day. Since the RNC, Schultz has advised the Trump transition team on government ethics issues.

Schultz graduated from Temple University with a bachelor’s degree in 1995 and from Widener University School of Law in 1998. He has previously worked as a campaign strategist and adviser for Republican U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan, who served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania between 2001 and 2008.

In an interview with the Inquirer, Meehan said Schultz could potentially use his White House position to benefit Philadelphia. He called Schultz “a bulldog. He’ll get on an issue, stay on it, and accomplish it.”

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