Eric Fletcher is the new general counsel to Gov. Roy Cooper. Fletcher, a news release says, will advise the Office of the Governor on legal affairs. 

Fletcher replaces William McKinney, who served as the governor’s counsel from January 2017 until July 2021.

“Eric’s background and extensive knowledge of North Carolina’s legal landscape make him the right person to help my administration continue building a state that works for everyone,” Cooper said in a statement.

Fletcher, a North Carolina native, most recently was a Partner at the Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard law firm in Raleigh. The practice focused on the intersection of law and public policy, the release says. Fletcher previously clerked for Judge Michael Boudin on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and served as an associate at the WilmerHale law firm. Fletcher earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard University and his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

McKinney returns to his previous firm, Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, as a shareholder, a news release from the firm says. McKinney will be a member of the firm’s State and Local Government, Economic Development, and Litigation practice groups. He’ll work from Greenville.

McKinney was also a key player in the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project. Duke Energy and Dominion Energy last year pulled the plug on the project, which faced multiple legal challenges and permitting delays. Carolina Journal led reporting on Cooper’s ACP saga, which involved a controversial money deal with the pipeline operators. The ACP was a 600-mile pathway that would’ve brought natural gas from fracking fields in West Virginia to power plants in North Carolina and Virginia.