On January 3, Virginia Attorney General-elect Jason Miyares announced key members of his leadership team, including the chief deputy, solicitor general, deputy attorneys general, and other senior staff members.
These members will be sworn in on January 15, and will then head the Virginia Office of Attorney General’s five legal divisions: Solicitor General Division, Government Operations and Transactions Division, Health, Education and Social Services Division, Criminal Justice and Public Safety Division, and Civil Litigation Division. The office also includes an Executive and Administration Division.
Attorney General-elect Jason Miyares’ new leadership team includes:
C.H. “Chuck” Slemp, Virginia Chief Deputy Attorney General
A native of Wise County, Slemp previously served as the commonwealth’s attorney for Wise County and the City of Norton in 2015, and re-elected in 2019. Slemp’s prior experience also includes acting as a special assistant and scheduler to former Virginia Attorneys General Jerry W. Kilgore, Judith Jagdmann, and Robert McDonnell. Slemp also has praticed wills and estates administration, criminal, domestic relations, and local government law.
Slemp is a member of the Commonwealth’s Attorney Services Council and the Virginia State Bar Criminal Section Board of Governors. He also co-chairs the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Criminal Justice Conference and serves on the Virginia Special Advisory Commission on Mandated Health Insurance Benefits. Additionally, Slemp is an adjunct professor at UVA-Wise, Mary Baldwin University, and Regent University School of Law. He was selected as a member of the board of directors for Norton Community Hospital.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Virginia’s College at Wise. He holds a master’s degree from Regent University School of Government in law and public policy and a juris doctor from Regent University School of Law. He completed post graduate study at Oxford University Hertford College in the United Kingdom.
Andrew Ferguson, Solicitor General
Ferguson most recently served as chief counsel to U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell from 2019 to 2021. He helped Leader McConnell by serving as his chief legal advisor and judicial confirmation strategist, including on the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Previously, Ferguson acted the senior special counsel to then-Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley during the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh, and as chief counsel for nominations and the constitution to then-Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham.
Ferguson earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia, where he served an articles editor for the Virginia Law Review. After law school, he clerked for D.C. Circuit Judge Karen L. Henderson and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He also has prior experience in private practice.
Steven Popps, Deputy Attorney General Civil Division
Popps previously was a partner at a private law firm, representing businesses and executives in high-stakes disputes during government investigations, fiduciary litigation, and receivership actions and negotiations. Popps also has experience advising on political law issues, including the Federal Election Campaign Act and the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
Prior to private practice, Popps clerked for U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson of the Eastern District of Virginia. Ferguson earned his undergraduate and law degrees from William & Mary, where he served as the lead articles editor of the William and Mary Law Review.
Popps currently serves on the Bar Association of the City of Richmond’s Finance Committee and on the William & Mary Law School Alumni Association Board’s Nominating Committee.
Coke Morgan Stewart, Deputy Attorney General Health, Education, and Social Services Division
Stewart recently served as a principal lecturer at Regent University School of Law. Since 2011, Stewart has worked at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), serving in a number of important roles with her most recent role as under secretary of commerce for intellectual property and deputy director.
At the USPTO, Stewart advised the Department of Justice Civil Appellate Staff and the Office of the Solicitor General on various patent, trademark, and copyright cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Stewart also has defended the agency’s regulations and procedures in many administrative law cases in federal court. Before joining the USPTO, Stewart was in private practice for 14 years.
Stewart graduated from Duke University and the University of Virginia School of Law, where she served as executive editor of the Virginia Tax Review and editor-in-chief of the Virginia Law Weekly. After law school, Stewart clerked on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, DC for Justice James T. Turner.
Monique Miles, Deputy Attorney General Government Operations and Transactions Division
Before her appointment as deputy attorney general, Monique Miles was the founding attorney in a private practice law firm, where she advised individuals and businesses on matters involving employment agreements, employment discrimination and retaliation, wage and hour compliance, sexual harassment, business torts, breach of contract, and third-party investigations. She also litigated employment cases in state and federal courts in Virginia and the District of Columbia. She also worked at a nonprofit law firm focusing on immigration-related issues.
Miles earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and her juris doctor from Regent University School of Law.
Nicole Wittman, Deputy Attorney General Criminal Division
Nicole Wittmann is a former Loudoun County prosecutor. Wittmann served in the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office since 2005. Previously, she served in the Arlington County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and the Sarasota State’s Attorney’s Office in Florida.
In the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, she became chief deputy commonwealth’s attorney in 2012 after first serving as the head of the Victim–Witness Office and then as the deputy commonwealth’s attorney leading the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Unit.
Whitmann received her undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College and her law degree from Michigan State University College of Law.
Stephanie Hamlett, Special Counsel to the Attorney General
Stephanie Hamlett is a third-term executive director of the Virginia Resources Authority, most recently appointed by Governor Ralph Northam.
Hamlett previously served in various positions at the Virginia Office of the Attorney General, including chief of opinions. Additionally, Hamlett acted as a senior assistant attorney general in the Education Section from 2012 through 2014. Hamlett was also counsel to state agencies from 2002 to early 2010, including the Virginia Retirement System, the Virginia Port Authority, the Virginia College Savings Plan, the Virginia Public School Authority, the Virginia Public Building Authority, and the Virginia Economic Development Authority.
Previously, Hamlett served as staff counsel in the Virginia General Assembly to the House Finance Committee and the House Appropriations Committee. Hamlett also has private practice experience in public finance.
Hamlett received her law degree from the University of Richmond and holds a masters of tax law from William & Mary.