John Edwards Starts New Law Firm

John Edwards Announces Next Move

Former Democratic senator and 2004 vice-presidential nominee John Edwards announced Tuesday that he had formed a new law firm with a former partner, David Kirby, and his daughter Cate.

The firm, Edwards Kirby, will focus on public interest cases involving "social, economic and individual injustices" and have offices in Raleigh, N.C., and Washington.

“It is a privilege to practice again, and we want to take on cases that, through litigation, change social inequalities in favor of the greater good,” Edwards said in a statement. “In building Edwards Kirby, we sought a team that has championed the causes of economic and social equality in court and in hundreds of communities across the country.”

The announcement is Edwards' first major move since a campaign finance case against him ended in a mistrial on May 2012. The case centered around whether Edwards used campaign funds to hide his then-pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter, during his failed 2008 presidential run.

Edwards had a relationship with Hunter, a campaign videographer, and ultimately fathered a child with her while his wife, Elizabeth Edwards, was dying of cancer. Hunter lives in Charlotte with her daughter, Frances Quinn, who is now five years old.

Prior to being elected to the Senate in 1999, Edwards worked as a trial lawyer, winning several multimillion dollar verdicts for his clients.

He responded with a flat "no" Monday when asked by the Charlotte Observer if he ever envisioned running for office again.

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