Anastasia Kelly, the former top in-house lawyer for American International Group Inc. who resigned Dec. 30 over compensation issues, has joined DLA Piper's Washington office, the firm announced today.

Kelly joins DLA Piper as of counsel. "She has a well earned reputation as the go-to counsel for companies in difficult circumstances and she will be a tremendous asset for our clients as they navigate this volatile market and these challenging times," DLA Piper Global Chairman Francis Burch said in a statement.

Frank "Rusty" Conner, the managing partner of DLA Piper's Washington office, said via e-mail that Kelly has worked at DLA Piper before. Kelly was not immediately available for comment. She joined AIG in 2006, and was named a vice chairman of the company in January 2009, after the insurance giant received a public bailout during the financial crisis. Before going to AIG, she was an executive vice president and general counsel of MCI/WorldCom, another company that faced the aftermath of an accounting scandal. She was a partner at the firm then known as Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering.
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