They’ve Got Next: Five Fresh Faces to Know in State Attorneys General Practices

Welcome to a new installment of “They’ve Got Next,” our series spotlighting talented young lawyers.

In this edition, we place our focus on an accomplished group of young lawyers in state attorneys general practices who have played key roles in high-stakes litigation and other matters, working alongside or opposite from lawyers in state attorneys general offices around the country.

These young lawyers—Ryan Bottegal of Cozen O’Connor, Michelle Kallen of Jenner & Block, Jay Jones of Hogan Lovells, Angelina Whitfield of Dentons, and Peter Ketcham-Colwill of Cohen Milstein—have all tackled challenges along the way and have come out on top.

Take Peter Ketcham-Colwill of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, for instance.

He’s worked alongside lawyers from the Indiana Attorney General’s office in lawsuits against the opioid industry and the founders of Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin.

Indiana, like other states, sought to hold opioid industry stakeholders accountable for the rise in addiction to pain medicine that contributed to a national overdose crisis. In the litigation, Indiana claimed producers and distributors ignored addiction issues and profited from the opioid epidemic. The state has received more than half a billion dollars in compensation for its recovery funds through settlements, Bloomberg Law’s Alex Ebert reports.

Jay Jones of Hogan Lovells, previously worked with former D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine on litigation against ghost gun manufacturer and distributor, Polymer80, Inc. which led to a permanent injunction and $4 million in fines in August 2022 against the company. Washington, D.C.’s first-of-its kind case created a template for other state attorneys general to crack down on the advertising and selling of untraceable guns to consumers, Ebert reports.

And Angelina Whitfield, of Dentons, an alumna of the Illinois attorney general’s office, was assigned to the antitrust bureau there. There, she handled litigation for alleged product hopping against pharmaceutical company Indivior Inc. over Suboxone, a prescription drug used to manage symptoms of opioid addiction. She also handled litigation against more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies for alleged price fixing of generic drugs, reports Bloomberg Law’s Holly Barker.

Check out all the stories of “They’ve Got Next: Five Fresh Faces to Know in State Attorneys General Practices” by clicking on the lawyers’ names below.

Ryan Bottegal of Cozen O’ Connor

Michelle Kallen of Jenner & Block

Jay Jones of Hogan Lovells

Angelina Whitfield of Dentons

Peter Ketcham-Colwill of Cohen Milstein