About Vincent Ward

Vincent specializes in complex litigation and class actions involving government entities, insurance companies, and financial institutions. He also represents clients in administrative proceedings, including security clearance suspensions, professional licensure revocations, and debarments. Prior to joining the firm, Vincent held high level positions in both federal and state government. Most recently he served as Senior Counselor to Solicitor Hilary Tompkins at the United States Department of Interior, where he counseled the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Solicitor, and other high-level officials on issues pertaining to civil litigation (oil and gas, Indian gaming, false claims/whistleblower claims, employment, and tort claims), procurement, federal ethics requirements, congressional inquiries, and FOIA. The Solicitor assigned him to work on the Department’s most important issues, including the Gulf Oil Spill response, Cobell Class Action lawsuit, and the Secretary’s Renewable Energy Fast-Track Program.

Vincent also served as Chief and Deputy Chief Counsel to the former Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson. In this capacity, Vincent advised the Governor, Chief of Staff, and other senior officials in the administration on legal and policy issues, including rule-making and administrative procedures, procurement, IPRA and Open Meetings, constitutional authority and statutory interpretation, judicial and exempt/political appointments, and civil litigation (employment and tort claims). He also supervised the general counsels in more than 20 state executive agencies.

From 2001 to 2004, Vincent served on active duty in the United States Navy, Judge Advocate General Corps, where he prosecuted felony-level criminal offenses, including the mishandling of classified materials, murder, sexual assault, and drug distribution. He also represented the Navy in administrative separation proceedings and conducted internal investigations for senior military commanders.

Vincent graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2001, where he was awarded the Sutin Award for Excellence in Advocacy and the Helen S. Carter Prize for Outstanding Legal Writing. Vincent holds a B.A. in Political Science, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of New Mexico. The State Bar of New Mexico recognized Vincent as the Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year in 2008. The New Mexico Business Weekly named Vincent as a Top 40 under 40 honoree in 2012.