Beth Neitzel, who most recently served as Senior Counselor to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has joined Foley Hoag LLP as a partner. Her practice will focus on government-related counseling, enforcement, and litigation. Drawing on extensive prior experience with the White House and executive branch agencies, Neitzel will provide strategic counseling and crisis management for Foley Hoag clients dealing with complex rulemakings, adjudications, and enforcement actions. She will also manage litigation matters arising from such actions.
 
During her time with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Neitzel served as a key advisor to Secretary Mayorkas, leading Department-wide efforts on a wide range of critical issues. Her responsibilities included advising on congressional oversight, child sexual exploitation and abuse, human trafficking and forced labor, privacy, civil rights and civil liberties, and labor matters.

"We welcome Beth to our premier litigation team," said Jim Bucking, Managing Partner. "Her expertise at the highest levels of government and her insights into policies and regulations will help us address the needs of our clients in today’s fast changing regulatory environment and legal market.”

From 2016 to 2017, Neitzel served as a law clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court.  Previously, she also served as a law clerk for Judge David S. Tatel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Judge Diana Gribbon Motz on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Neitzel will leverage this experience to further strengthen Foley Hoag’s appellate practice, expanding its work in the federal and state courts of appeals.

"I am thrilled to be joining Foley Hoag’s litigation team and look forward to contributing to the Firm’s clients, government-related practice areas, and the Boston community,” said Neitzel. “The firm's culture and commitment to pro bono work and community engagement were significant factors in my decision to join Foley Hoag over other Boston-based firms."

Prior to joining the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Neitzel was with Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, where she was a member of its Government and Regulatory Litigation and Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation practice groups. She earned her law degree from Stanford University Law School, where she served as a senior editor of the Stanford Law Review and as a member of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic. Before her legal career, Neitzel was a graduate student in political science at the University of California, Berkeley, following her completion of a B.A. in political science from Macalester College.