State Sen. John Gordner, third from right, speaks during a Senate committee hearing Wednesday in Harrisburg on whether Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane's temporary, indefinite suspension of her law license justifies removing her from office.

HARRISBURG — Senior lawyers under Attorney General Kathleen Kane testified Wednesday that she has not inserted herself in legal decisions since her law license was suspended, but they are concerned her status could expose the office to attacks on the legality of its actions.

Kane’s top deputy and the heads of her civil, criminal and public protection divisions described for a Senate committee the procedures they developed to cope with what First Deputy Bruce Beemer described as an unprecedented situation.

In most cases, legal decisions Kane previously made about such matters as whether to file charges or settle cases have fallen to Beemer.

They said the office’s legal standing has been challenged in one case and threatened in another, and they are bracing for similar attacks on their authority while Kane, facing criminal charges herself, remains without a valid license to practice law.

The worst-case scenario, Beemer said, is that a defendant accused of a violent crime could be released after persuading a judge that Kane’s status means charges filed by her office are not valid.

Beemer said he and the other top lawyers in the office feel they are on sound legal footing, but the legal issues may have to be litigated, a time consuming process with uncertain results.

“We are going to have to deal with creative defense attorneys (and) a vast array of judges,” he told the Special Committee on Senate Address. He called it an “enormous challenge” and said he was extremely concerned about the impact.

“All we can do is operate with the hand we’ve been dealt, so to speak,” Beemer said.

The committee, scheduled to report its findings next week, could recommend that the Senate remove the first-term Democrat from office.

The state Supreme Court put her law license on temporary, indefinite suspension last month as she fights perjury and other charges for allegedly leaking secret grand jury material to a reporter and lying about it.

Kane has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and questioned the constitutional authority of the committee.

The four deputies developed an Oct. 22 memo that listed a range of duties Kane could not perform, and sent it to her just as the suspension took effect. She has not explicitly endorsed the protocols but neither has she violated them, Beemer said.

Lawyers under suspension can only engage in legal activities if under the supervision of a fully licensed lawyer, and the deputies said they’re not aware of her establishing such an overseer.