NJ Division of Consumer Affairs director Paul Rodríguez to join Biden-Harris Administration

Governor Phil Murphy  announced that Paul R. Rodríguez, Director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, will be departing from his role and joining the Biden-Harris Administration. Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has named Kaitlin Caruso as Acting Director of the Division effective immediately.

Rodríguez, who has led the State’s consumer protection agency since June 2018, will immediately begin serving as Deputy General Counsel to the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS promotes the health and well-being of all Americans, fostering advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services. The agency plays a critical role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been a focus of Rodríguez’s work in New Jersey over the last year.

Before being appointed to lead the Division of Consumer Affairs in 2018, Rodríguez served as Acting Counsel to the Mayor of New York City, as a projects specialist for U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, and as an associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York City. The New Jersey Senate unanimously confirmed Rodríguez as Director of the Division last year.

Kaitlin Caruso joined the Division in 2018 as Deputy Director for Policy and Strategic Planning. While serving in that capacity, Caruso also served for a period as Acting Deputy Director for the Office of Consumer Protection. Immediately prior to joining the Division, Caruso chaired the Strategic Advocacy Committee at the New York City Law Department. She also previously worked in that Department’s Legal Counsel Division, for the New York City Council, in the Office of the Counsel to the Mayor of New York City and as an Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Fraud Bureau of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.