Acting attorney general announces leadership team, including career public servants

Lyndsay V. Ruotolo

UNION COUNTY, NJ — Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin on Monday, May 2, announced the membership of his executive leadership team, including Lyndsay V. Ruotolo as first assistant attorney general and Shirley Emehelu as executive assistant attorney general.

“We are fortunate to have such a dedicated group of public servants within the Attorney General’s Office, and they are truly the engine that allows us to accomplish our important work. I am thrilled to welcome new members to the senior leadership team who bring with them a wealth of experience as career prosecutors, devoted public servants and talented attorneys,” said Platkin. “It is also important to me that these appointments enhance the diversity of office leadership, so that we can represent the rich diversity of our great state. And I want to specifically thank and acknowledge Jennifer Davenport, Christopher Edwards and Michelle Miller for their leadership and service, and look forward to welcoming the new members of the office. Together, we will continue to serve the people of New Jersey and make their lives safer, fairer, and more secure.”

Ruotolo will assume the duties as first assistant attorney general upon Davenport’s departure. Ruotolo has served as the director of the Division of Criminal Justice since July 2021. Prior to her appointment as director of DCJ, Ruotolo served as acting Union County prosecutor, where she launched the Intelligence-Driven Prosecution Unit to combat violent crime. She also previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, where she worked in the area of violent crime prosecution, and before that as a line assistant prosecutor in Union County. Ruotolo has also worked in the area of commercial litigation at the law firm of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP and clerked for Ellen L. Koblitz, who was the presiding judge of general equity, Bergen County, and then judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division. Ruotolo received her bachelor’s degree from the Tisch School for the Arts at New York University and her Juris Doctor from New York Law School.

Photo Courtesy of Steven Barnes