Rudofsky leaves Wal-Mart legal team to be Arkansas’ solicitor general

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced the hiring of Lee Rudofsky as the state’s solicitor general on Thursday. Rudofsky comes to the Attorney General’s Office from Wal-Mart where he has served as an assistant general counsel since 2014.

“I am truly excited to welcome Lee as the State’s first solicitor general,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “Lee brings a wealth of experience and expertise from the public and private sectors, as well as being one of the top litigators in the country.”

Arkansas was one of several states that did not have a solicitor general position, which generally represents a state in federal or multi-state cases. A committee in the 2015 General Assembly reclassified a position to allow for a solicitor general post and established a salary of $120,000.

“I felt the position was needed to assist with the growing number of large multi-state consumer protection cases and the increasing appellate matters at the state and national levels,” Rutledge said.

Rudofsky, a native of New York, is a 2005 graduate of Harvard Law School. He received his Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Public Administration from Cornell University in 2001 and 2002, respectively.

Prior to assuming the role of assistant general counsel for Wal-Mart, Rudofsky spent several years at the Washington, D.C. office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP litigating commercial and constitutional cases.

In 2012, he served as deputy general counsel for Romney for President Inc. He was also deputy general counsel to the Steve Poizner for Governor 2010 campaign.

His clerkships have included the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Office of Counsel to the Governor of Massachusetts and Office of Counsel to the President of the United States during the George W. Bush administration.