President Joe Biden's pick to serve as general counsel for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is a Cortland native. 

The White House announced that Anjali Chaturvedi has been nominated by Biden. Chaturvedi, a first-generation American, was born in the central New York city. 

A graduate of Cornell University and Georgetown University Law School, Chaturvedi has an extensive resume. She was a clerk for D.C. Superior Court Judge Gregory Mize and a federal prosecutor in the D.C. and Northern District of California U.S. Attorney's offices. Her stint as a prosecutor included serving as chief of the organized crime strike force and deputy chief of the felony trial section. 

According to the White House, she had a detail as counsel to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

Chaturvedi later entered private practice. She was a partner at Nixon Peabody, a D.C.-based law firm, assistant general counsel at British Petroleum and assistant general counsel and director of investigations for Northrop Grumman Corporation. 

Earlier this year, Chaturvedi joined the U.S. Department of Justice as deputy assistant attorney general in the criminal division. 

Outside of her governmental roles, she was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and Hastings College of Law, teaching trial advocacy and criminal procedure. She is also a certified yoga teacher and leadership coach. 

If confirmed, Chaturvedi would lead the Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of General Counsel. The role of the office, according to its website, is to "identify and meet the legal needs of (the department)." The primary objective of the office is to "ensure the just and faithful execution of the laws, regulations and policies that the secretary has responsibility for administering, and by so doing enable the department to accomplish its mission of service to our nation's veterans." 

The nomination was one of 13 announced by the White House on Wednesday. The U.S. Senate must confirm the nominees. 

Politics reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.