Ignacia S. Moreno

Ignacia S. Moreno is the Chief Executive Officer and a founding Principal of The iMoreno Group, PLC, a majority woman-owned and majority minority-owned law firm that offers legal services and strategic counseling on environmental and natural resources, corporate, criminal defense, and immigration matters.  Ms. Moreno is recognized as one of the nation’s leading environmental and natural resources lawyers.  During her over 30 year career, she has served as the top environmental lawyer at the U.S. Department of Justice, been corporate environmental counsel at a Fortune 10 company, and practiced environmental law and litigation at prominent national law firms. 

In 2009, President Obama nominated Ms. Moreno to serve as Assistant Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (Division).  The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed her in a 93 to 0 vote and she served as head of the Division from 2009 to 2013.  During her tenure she managed the budget and operations of a 650-person (430-lawyer) litigation division ranked as one of the top five “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government” in 2010, 2011, and 2012.  Ms. Moreno oversaw a nationwide docket of thousands of civil, criminal, defensive, and appellate cases and policy matters on behalf of numerous executive branch agencies.  She was recognized for her outstanding service in leading the Division’s response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, defending government actions to combat climate change, negotiating historic settlements in tribal trust litigation, and working with government agencies, communities, and industry to consider and integrate environmental justice principles into the resolution of cases and matters handled by the Division.  From 1994 to 2001, Ms. Moreno served as a presidential appointee in the Division during the Clinton Administration where she focused on environmental enforcement policy, litigation, and international enforcement and environmental justice matters.

Before her appointment as Assistant Attorney General, Ms. Moreno was Counsel for the Northeast/Midwest Regions and International, Corporate Environmental Programs, at the General Electric Company.  At GE, she handled a wide range of environmental matters under federal and state laws in connection with sites in a twelve-state region and abroad, and managed complex environmental litigation.  Previously, Ms. Moreno was in private practice at two prominent Washington, D.C. law firms, including as a partner.

In 2016, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe appointed Ms. Moreno to serve a four-year term on the State Air Pollution Control Board and she was elected Chair of the Board in 2019.  In 2018, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam appointed her to serve on the Board of Governors of George Mason University and she was elected to the Executive Committee in 2019 and also served as Vice Chair of the Audit Committee.  Ms. Moreno serves on the Advisory Board of the Yale Center for Environmental Justice, as well as the Advisory Board of the New York University School of Law Institute for Policy Integrity where she serves as Chair of the Environmental Justice & Equity Committee.  She is on the National Board of Directors of the Trust for Public Land where she serves on the Executive Committee and as Chair of the Advocacy Committee.  She has served as President of the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia and as General Counsel of the Hispanic National Bar Association.

Ms. Moreno received the Edmund J. Randolph Award in recognition of outstanding service to the U.S. Department of Justice and the nation in 2013.  She also received the Meritorious Public Service Award and Medal from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security—U.S. Coast Guard for her outstanding service in initiating and conducting litigation in connection with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and protecting human health and the environment.  In 2009 and 1995, Hispanic Business Magazine named Ms. Moreno as one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the United States.  She received the AV Preeminent rating by Martindale-Hubbell in 2016.    

Ms. Moreno received a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University in 1986 and a Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law in 1990.  She was born in Cartagena, Colombia, is a naturalized U.S. citizen, and lives in McLean, Virginia with her family.