By Zack Needles
Of the Legal Staff
Governor Tom Corbett announced late Wednesday that Stephen S. Aichele has officially stepped down as chief of staff and will be replaced by Republican strategist Leslie Gromis-Baker.
Gromis-Baker is Corbett’s liaison with the federal government in Harrisburg and Washington D.C., as well as the head of Harrisburg-based lobbying firm LG Strategies.
Gromis-Baker previously worked at Pittsburgh-based Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney as a professional in its state government relations practice.
In 2010, Corbett selected Gromis-Baker to be one of the co-directors of his transition team.
A press release by Corbett’s office said Aichele plans to return to private practice, but the release did not specify what his new job will be.
One possibility is that he will return to Saul Ewing, where he had spent his entire 35-year career until Corbett tapped him to serve as the state's general counsel in January 2011.
Corbett elevated Aichele to chief of staff in May 2012.
Aichele served in various leadership roles, including managing partner, during his time at Saul Ewing.
He took over as the firm's chairman in 2006, a role in which he served as the firm's "public ambassador" through participation in community affairs and in the business, civic and political organizations in which the firm participates.
In 2010, Aichele had been asked by the firm to head its project and resource development department.
A spokesperson for Saul Ewing told The Legal on Wednesday that the firm had "no comment about Aichele returning at this time."
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