Former Gov. Dick Thornburgh officially retires from K&L Gates

Former U.S. Attorney General and Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh has officially retired, according to K&L Gates, the global law firm where he began his career.

K&L Gates “wishes its longtime partner … well in his retirement,” the firm said in a news release.

Thornburgh, 86, began his legal career as an associate with K&L Gates in 1959, and he worked in the firm’s Pittsburgh, Washington and Boston offices.

He left the firm in 1969 to serve as a U.S. attorney and, later, as assistant attorney general in charge of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

From 1979 through 1987, Thornburgh was governor and presided over the state’s response to the Three Mile Island nuclear accident.

Thornburgh served as U.S. attorney general under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. In that post, he played a leading role in the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

He also was under secretary general of the United Nations.

Thornburgh returned to K&L Gates in 1994, remaining with the firm until his retirement.

“Dick has made many outstanding contributions to our firm and clients; we thank him for those as well as his remarkable work as a public servant,” James Segerdahl, K&L Gates’ global managing partner, said in a news release. “It has been a great and humbling honor to be associated with Dick.”