A top Justice Department lawyer was named Friday to the agency’s third highest post, filling a prominent slot soon to be vacated by outgoing Associate Attorney General Tony West.



Stuart Delery, who has personally argued some of the agency’s most complex cases and played a crucial role in its defense of same-sex marriage, will serve as acting associate attorney general, the Justice Department said.





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To make the title permanent, President Obama would have to nominate Delery to the position.Calling him a “lawyer’s lawyer,” Attorney General Eric Holder lauded Delery’s work on many of the weightiest matters before the agency.“Stuart has helped to strengthen our nation's security, to protect public health and safety, and to achieve justice in cases of financial fraud and recover billions of dollars for taxpayers,” Holder said.Delery currently serves as assistant attorney general for the Civil Division. In that capacity, he helped lead the governmentwide implementation of the Supreme Court’s historic decision in United States v. Windsor, which ended the ban on federal benefits for gay couples. He personally argued the case as it wound its way to the high court.

West announced his departure from the agency earlier this week.