MADISON -- Former Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager (D) and her ex-deputy, Dan Bach, seem to come as a package deal in Madison.

Lautenschlager and Bach, the former one-two combination at the attorney general's office in the capital, were both recently hired by top Madison law firm Lawton & Cates. They will specialize in civil litigation cases.

Lautenschlager, 51 and Bach, 48, spent four years together as attorney general and deputy attorney general from 2003 to 2007. Previously Lautenschlager was U.S. Attorney based in Madison from 1993 to 2002 while Bach was an assistant U.S. Attorney from 1986 to 2000.

During her term as attorney general, Lautenschlager built a reputation for judicial activism through anti-corporate lawsuits. Her more notorious actions include filing "public nuisance" suits against cranberry growers and utility companies.

Mid-way through her term as attorney general, Lautenschlager was ticketed for drunken driving after running her state-provided car into a ditch. She subsequently lost a Democratic primary vote last year.

Both new hires will also work on political and election law while Lautenschlager will do some political consulting work for the firm's clients. However, Lautenschlager has said she will not do any lobbying work, according to blog site FreeRepublic.

Lautenschlager and Bach will focus on litigation in environmental, labor and consumer-related cases but will also handle some criminal-defense cases as well as political work, according to a Lawton & Cates statement.

Their new responsibilities at Lawton & Cates will allow them to pursue "the kind of work we've done in the public sector on behalf of consumers, working people, and the environment," Lautenschlager said.

After Lautenschlager lost the fall primary to fellow-Democrat Kathleen Falk, Wisconsin business groups campaigned strongly against Falk as a Lautenschlager-style activist.

Republican candidate J.B. Van Hollen later beat Falk for attorney general in last November's general election.