The Biglaw Attorneys On Trump's DOJ Transition Team

Biglaw attorneys will play a key role in this jacked-up circle of life.

United States JusticeThe bleak reality of a Trump administration has begun to take hold. Amid the leftist teeth gnashing are some serious questions, like who will be forced to navigate the transition of the Department of Justice from under the leadership of the first African-American woman, Loretta Lynch, to a man once dinged as a federal judge for being too racist.

Biglaw attorneys will play a key role in this jacked-up circle of life. Partners (and one associate) from five Biglaw firms are on the DOJ transition team and have been called into service to midwife the Trump Department of Justice.

The lucky(?) firms with this honor: McGuireWoods; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; Morrison & Foerster; Kirkland & Ellis; and Jones Day. As the National Law Journal reports:

The Trump camp continues to draw DOJ transition officials from the nation’s largest law firms. The newest members are McGuireWoods partner J. Patrick Rowan, the former head of the National Security Division; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius partner Ronald Tenpas, the former head of the Environment and Natural Resources Division; and Morrison & Foerster partner Jessie Liu, who served as a top official in the National Security and Civil Rights divisions.

The first five members of the DOJ team were announced on Friday, a list that included Kirkland & Ellis partner Brian Benczkowski, who previously worked for Trump’s U.S. attorney general pick Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, on the Senate Judiciary Committee; Jones Day partner Gregory Katsas, the former head of the Civil Division; and Jones Day associate James Burnham.

There’s a lot of experience on this team, which is a comfort — cold though it may be — to those worried about potential disruptions to the day-to-day operations of the Department, supercharged after the Trump team seemed flatfooted on the transition, not contacting the DOJ until nine days after the election.

For those of us who follow the intricacies of Biglaw, it’s a look into the people who make up the monolith. And just might make for some interesting summer associate callback interview questions.

Trump Picks Three More Big Law Attorneys for DOJ Transition Team [The National Law Journal]

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Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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