Media and Journalism, Musical Chairs, Politics

Musical Chairs: Lanny Davis and Eileen O'Connor Leave Orrick for McDermott

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Last week we participated in a panel discussion at Georgetown Law that was skillfully moderated by Eileen O’Connor, the Emmy-nominated journalist turned high-powered lawyer. After the talk, we tried to play the “name game” with O’Connor regarding colleagues of hers over at Orrick. But O’Connor seemed strangely uneasy about Orrick, and she quickly changed the subject.
Could this have been why? From Am Law Daily:

Lanny Davis, a longtime Washington, D.C., lawyer who supported Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid and was a fraternity brother of George W. Bush, is taking his unique practice from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe to McDermott, Will & Emery.

Davis, who previously moved to Orrick in 2003 from Patton Boggs, will bring counsel Eileen O’Connor, a former ABC News and CNN reporter, with him.

Beltway dwellers know that Lanny Davis is a big deal. He served as White House Special Counsel during the Clinton Administration, but he has friends on both sides of the aisle. As Bobby Burchfield, cohead of McDermott’s Washington office, told Zach Lowe of Am Law Daily, “Lanny is the only person I know who considers both Hillary Clinton and George W. Bush good friends.”
In addition to practicing law, Davis writes for the Washington Times and for The Hill. In one recent column, he scolded bloggers for inadequate fact-checking. If anything in this post is inaccurate, Mr. Davis, please email us and we’ll fix it ASAP.
Press release after the jump. Good luck to Davis and O’Connor in their new professional home.


MCDERMOTT WILL & EMERY — PRESS RELEASE
Prominent Washington, D.C. Attorneys, Lanny J. Davis and Eileen M. O’Connor, Move to McDermott Will & Emery
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 1, 2009) — McDermott Will & Emery LLP today announced that former White House Special Counsel Lanny J. Davis and veteran journalist Eileen M. O’Connor have joined the Firm’s Regulatory and Government Strategies Practice Group as partner and counsel, respectively. In their roles, Mr. Davis and Ms. O’Connor will continue their prior practice in litigation and related media strategies, in addition to advising clients on crisis management regarding a broad range of public policy and regulatory matters.
Mr. Davis and Ms. O’Connor bring to McDermott a vast array of experience representing some of the largest U.S. and foreign-based multinational companies, using multi-dimensional litigation, political and media strategies to resolve high-stakes and high-profile issues. Prior to joining McDermott, Mr. Davis and Ms. O’Connor were with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.
“We look forward to expanding our practice further with the regulatory and government strategies group at McDermott and appreciate the opportunity for global growth given to us at Orrick for this unique practice at the intersection of politics, the media and the law,” said Mr. Davis and Ms. O’Connor.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Davis served as special counsel to President William J. Clinton from 1996-98, during which time he acted as the President’s chief communicator on investigations. His broad political experience stretches back almost 30 years to his three terms as Maryland’s representative on the Democratic National Committee and has continued, most recently, in 2005-2006 with his service on the five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board at the appointment of President George W. Bush. Mr. Davis has written two books, one a White House memoir concerning his experience at the intersection of the law, politics and the media, with the second a political history about America’s scandal culture.
Steve Ryan, co-head of the Firm’s Government Strategies Practice Group, “Lanny’s world class skills as a legal and political strategist, perfected while he worked at the White House, will add tremendous value to McDermott’s clients.”
Ms. O’Connor spent 24 years at ABC News and at CNN’s Washington, London, Moscow and Tokyo bureaus. She served as CNN’s Moscow bureau chief and White House Correspondent covering wars in Afghanistan, Sarajevo and Chechnya; investigations of President Clinton; Russian organized crime; and Al Qaeda’s role in the September 11th attacks, winning some of journalism’s highest awards, including a Peabody, DuPont-Columbia and Overseas Press Club Awards. As an attorney, she advises the Department of Homeland Security on incident response and is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University School of Law.
“Eileen O’Connor is the perfect legal and political crisis management advisor, an award-winning journalist who is also a skilled legal advisor,” said Jeffrey E. Stone, Chair-Elect of the Management Committee of McDermott Will & Emery.
Since its opening in 1978 with two lawyers, McDermott’s Washington, D.C. office has become a full-service location with more than 240 lawyers practicing in a host of practice areas. Expanding on its initial representation of clients before government agencies, Congressional committees, the executive branch, the legislative branch, and federal and state courts, the Washington, D.C. lawyers now advise clients on the full range of corporate business law, including antitrust, general corporate, employee benefits, energy and derivatives markets, global trade, government regulation, government strategies, health care, intellectual property, tax and trial matters.
McDermott Will & Emery is an international law firm (among the top 20 both in the United States and globally) with more than 1,000 lawyers and 16 worldwide offices.
Lanny Davis Jumps from Orrick to McDermott [Am Law Daily]
Lanny Davis Jumps to McDermott Will & Emery [The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times]
Prominent Washington, D.C. Attorneys, Lanny J. Davis and Eileen M. O’Connor, Move to McDermott Will & Emery [McDermott Will & Emery]
Fact-checking matters — even for columnists and bloggers
 [The Hill]

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