Senate President Steve Sweeney today announced the selection of Michael Critchley to serve as counsel to the Select Committee on Investigation, the bipartisan legislative committee formed to investigate the handling of the sexual assault allegations against a former high-level state official, examine government hiring practices and review the criminal justice system’s practices for responding to allegations of sexual assault and harassment.

A former assistant prosecutor, Critchley has more than 30 years of experience in federal and state courts trying cases on securities fraud, anti-trust violations, official misconduct and other crimes, Senator Sweeney said. He was in the public eye throughout the Bridgegate case as the defense attorney for Bridget Kelly.

“Michael Critchley possesses the experience and the skills needed to guide an effective investigation that gets a full accounting of the sexual assault allegations by Ms. Brennan, the government’s hiring practices and any systemic failures that deny survivors the justice they deserve,” said Sweeney. “Mr. Critchley knows the law, understands government and has a relentless determination to get the truth. This will be a fair and thorough investigation that will produce findings that can be used to prevent the failures that Ms. Brennan endured from happening to other sexual assault survivors.”

The head of his law firm, Critchley, Kinum & DeNoia, LLC, Mr. Critchley served as an Assistant Prosecutor in the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and as Assistant Counsel to Governor Brendan T. Byrne. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, Mr. Critchley received his B.A. and J.D. from Seton Hall University.

The contract with Mr. Critchley and his law firm will pay $350 per hour for partners, $300 hourly for non-partner lawyers and $125 for each hour of work by paralegals, as well as expenses.