Biglaw

The Ex-Skadden Associate Jailed As Part Of The Mueller Probe Can't Be A Lawyer Anymore

Pleading guilty to a felony can have consequences.

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Alex van der Zwaan (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Last year, Alex van der Zwaan, a former associate at the London office of Skadden Arps, pleaded guilty to charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. He’d worked on the controversial report written by the firm justifying the prosecution of former Russian-aligned Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s political rivals, and was indicted for lying to investigators in the Russia probe about his communications with former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates. He served 30 days in jail and was fined $20,000. Though that wasn’t the end of his punishment.

His lawyers already acknowledged that van der Zwaan’s career as a lawyer was functionally over when he pleaded guilty to a felony saying his “professional life has been destroyed” as part of their sentencing memo in the case. And now comes the final nail in his career as an attorney.

As reported by Law.com, van der Zwaan’s law license was taken away by the U.K.’s Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT), and he was ordered to pay costs totaling $3,878. The outcome was part of an agreed upon deal, and van der Zwaan has accepted responsibility for his actions:

An SDT document published Thursday said: “The respondent accepts full responsibility, admits that he is solely responsible for his conduct, and is remorseful and has demonstrated a high degree of insight.”

Van der Zwaan had been an associate at Skadden for 10 years before he got caught up in the Mueller probe and was fired from the Biglaw giant in 2017.

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headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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