Attorney General Sam Olens has announced the following personnel appointments for the Department of Law:

  • Nels Peterson, currently Counsel for Legal Policy, has been named Solicitor General, effective July 1, 2012. The office joins the majority of state Attorneys General offices with a Solicitor General by creating this new position. As Solicitor General, Mr. Peterson will collaborate with Department of Law attorneys on significant litigation and oversee appeals.
  • Also effective July 1, 2012, the Attorney General has appointed Wright Banks to replace Ray Lerer as Deputy Attorney General and Director of the Commercial Transactions and Litigation Division. Mr. Lerer is retiring after more than 32 years of distinguished service to the Department of Law. Mr. Banks joined the Department of Law in August, 1993, and has held his current position, Senior Assistant Attorney General and Section Leader of the Banking and Finance Section, since March, 2007.
  • Bo Fears has been promoted to replace Wright Banks as Senior Assistant Attorney General and Section Leader of the Banking and Finance Section. Mr. Fears is currently an Assistant Attorney General in the Banking and Finance Section. He joined the Department in Law in September, 1997.
  • Finally, Britt Grant, currently an attorney at Kirkland & Ellis in Washington, D.C., and a former law clerk to Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, has been appointed Counsel for Legal Policy. Ms. Grant will join the Department of Law on August 1, 2012.

“Each of these individuals is excellently suited for their new assignments,” said Olens. “Their skill and expertise will be a valuable asset to the Law Department as we strive to provide the State of Georgia with the highest quality of legal representation.”