James E. Tierney (born April 12, 1947) is an American lawyer, lecturer in law at Harvard Law School, and founding director o
State AG
an educational resource on the office of

state attorney general The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the federal district, or of any of the territories is the chief legal advisor to the state government and the state's chief law enforcement officer. In some states, the attorney genera ...

. He served as

Attorney General of Maine The Maine Attorney General is the chief legal advisor and prosecutor of the State of Maine. The constitutional basis of the office is Article IX, Section 11 of the Maine Constitution, and the holder of the position is chosen biennially by the Maine ...

from 1980 until 1990. At 25, Tierney was elected to the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via p ...

as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

from

Lisbon, Maine Lisbon is a town in Androscoggin County, Maine. The population was 9,711 at the 2020 census. It is included in both the Lewiston- Auburn, Maine metropolitan statistical area and the Lewiston–Auburn, Maine Metropolitan New England city and tow ...

. After eight years in the

Maine Legislature The Maine Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives and the upper house Maine Senate. The Legislature convenes at the State House in Aug ...

, where he was elected Majority Leader at the age of 29, Tierney became the

Maine Attorney General The Maine Attorney General is the chief legal advisor and prosecutor of the State of Maine. The constitutional basis of the office is Article IX, Section 11 of the Maine Constitution, and the holder of the position is chosen biennially by the Maine ...

. He served in that capacity for ten years during which time he was active on a wide variety of state and national issues. In 1986 Tierney ran as the Democratic Nominee against John R. Mckernan in Maine's Gubernatorial Election. Tierney lost by over 40,000 votes. After leaving office of Attorney General in 1990, he began a career as a consultant to attorneys general. In December 1992 he was named as special attorney general to investigate misconduct allegations on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Tierney has been characterized by state attorneys general and the media as "America's 51st Attorney General." From 2000 to 2016, Tierney was the Director of th
National State Attorneys General Program
at

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

."Columbia Law School Faculty Directory: James Tierney"
/ref> In 2006, Columbia students recognized him as the Public Interest Law Professor of the Year. Since 2016, he has been a lecturer in law at Harvard Law School where he teaches on the role of state attorneys general while directing the Harvard Attorney General clinic. He has written extensively on a wide range of topics, such as the often volatile relationship between state AGs and their governors. Tierney is quoted widely on the operations of the office of state attorney general. He is a frequent speaker at meetings of the

National Association of Attorneys General The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of state and territory attorneys general in the United States. NAAG is governed by member attorneys general, with a president and executive committee se ...

(NAAG). Tierney has been a regular commentator on

Court TV Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former cable television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cove ...

(TruTV) since its founding in 1991. In that capacity, he has commented on a wide range of trials from the celebrated cases of the early 1990s to the recent military tribunals in Guantanamo Bay. Tierney may be best known as one of the key strategists in th
state cases against the tobacco industry
in reclaiming Medicaid payments paid out for tobacco-related disease. Tierney also has advised officials in Eastern Europe's emerging democracies, has supervised national elections in Bulgaria, Cameroon, Croatia and Albania, and was special counsel in the investigation of alleged corruption within the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Tierney, a graduate of the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

School of Law, married author and fellow Maine native

Elizabeth Strout Elizabeth Strout (born January 6, 1956) is an American novelist and author. She is widely known for her works in literary fiction and her descriptive characterization. She was born and raised in Portland, Maine, and her experiences in her youth s ...

in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tierney, James E. 1947 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Maine House of Representatives Maine Attorneys General University of Maine School of Law alumni People from Lisbon, Maine Majority leaders of the Maine House of Representatives Wasserstein Fellows