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Donald Verrilli, Former Solicitor General, to Join Law Firm
Former Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr., who defended the Obama administration’s positions in major legal issues including the Affordable Care Act and marriage equality before the Supreme Court, is joining the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson. He will open a Washington office for the firm, which is based in Los Angeles.
Mr. Verrilli argued 37 cases before the nation’s highest court in the five years that he was the Obama administration’s top appellate lawyer, the solicitor general. Before taking that job, he was an associate deputy attorney general at the Justice Department and deputy White House counsel, providing legal advice on issues such as national security, economic regulation, domestic policy and the scope of executive and administrative authority. Mr. Verrilli, 59, left the solicitor general’s office in June.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to start this new chapter with Munger, Tolles & Olson,” Mr. Verrilli said. He said he hoped to build on his previous experience in private practice, much of it at the Jenner & Block law firm, in media, content and intellectual property law, as well defense contracting.
Joining Mr. Verrilli to open the office are Michael B. DeSanctis, a veteran litigator and a leading expert in election law and redistricting, and Chad Golder, a former deputy associate attorney general who managed top litigation at the Justice Department.
Munger, Tolles & Olson was founded in Los Angeles in 1962 and offers an array of legal services. It has about 200 lawyers and is ranked 10th in revenue per lawyer, a crucial legal industry measure. In May, the American Lawyer publication reported that the firm had $1.29 million in revenue per lawyer.
Mr. Verrilli said in an interview that building a Washington office “will be a challenge, and certainly more of a challenge than it was 10 years ago,” referring to the changes facing law firms as corporate clients have become more cautious about how they spend their legal budgets.
Mr. Verrilli said he sought to represent and counsel clients in areas where litigation, regulation and public policy intersect to shape markets and industries. His experience and interests, he said, also included patent and technology, content and copyright, health care, energy and telecommunications.
He said he hoped to expand the firm’s Washington office by “recruiting the very best young lawyers in the country,” and not necessarily expanding laterally – although he did not rule out hiring some experienced lawyers.
Ronald L. Olson, a name partner at the firm, said in an interview from Los Angeles that Mr. Verrilli had “tussled with some of the toughest and most complex problems you can imagine.”
He noted, however, that “we’re not looking to create an isolated Washington office but one where we continue our way of working as a team. Part of bringing his exceptional talents to bear on our clients’ problems may also include him advocating at the Supreme Court for our clients.”
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