Insights and Analysis

Inside State AG: An interview with James Tierney — Part 1

A Matter of Law podcast series

02 April 2026

Thirty-one attorney general seats are on the ballot in 2026—the most in a single cycle in recent history. For companies operating across state lines, this level of leadership turnover is not an abstraction. It shapes who holds subpoena power, who decides which industries face scrutiny, and who is sitting across the table when a multistate investigation reaches a critical juncture.

In this two-part series of A Matter of Law, partner and State AG practice co-heads, Karl Racine and Jason Downs, sit down with Professor James Tierney, former Maine AG, Harvard Law lecturer, and the foremost academic authority on the attorney general institution, to help companies understand what this election cycle means for enforcement risk. Together, they share insights on:

Why multistate investigations generally survive leadership transitions — and when they don't
How AG offices have grown in size, sophistication, and national coordination capacity over the last decade
The unwritten rules of AG engagement that experienced practitioners know — and that most corporate legal teams don't
Why companies that wait until they are under investigation to engage an AG office have already lost significant ground
What a proactive AG relations strategy looks like in practice, and why it belongs in every company's risk management framework

🎧 Listen to Part 1 of the conversation here.