Mayor Eric Adams has chosen Lisa Zornberg, an attorney and former federal prosecutor, as his new top lawyer, he announced Wednesday.
Zornberg will replace Brendan McGuire as chief counsel in City Hall once McGuire departs in August. The chief counsel serves as the top lawyer for both the administration and Adams himself, and also oversees nearly a dozen offices including the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services, the Conflicts of Interest Board and the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings.
The portfolio she takes over from McGuire includes the ongoing migrant crisis—which sparked a legal battle over the city’s request to weaken its right-to-shelter mandate—and the potential federal takeover of the Rikers Island jail complex.