Mark Filip is a partner in Kirkland’s Chicago and Washington, D.C., offices. Mark leads the Firm’s government enforcement defense and internal investigations group, and he serves as one of 15 members of the Firm’s worldwide management committee.
Mark has deep experience in both private practice and in government service. In private practice, he leads internal investigations for a wide array of boards and companies, which involve numerous industries, settings, and countries around the world. Mark also represents, for example, several multi-national healthcare companies in government investigations concerning their core products, and he led the government investigations defense of BP following the Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico tragedy. Mark also helped defend General Motors in its recent criminal proceedings in the Southern District of New York. His clients include some of the largest financial institutions in the world, as well as Fortune 500 companies in diverse industries including professional sports, energy, defense contracting, mining, manufacturing, agricultural production, gaming, and heavy infrastructure. His experience includes investigations by the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Department of Labor, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Congress, Federal Reserve, New York Department of Financial Services, state attorneys general, and foreign regulators, as well as special board committees convened in response to shareholder demands.
On the civil side, Mark has an active class action defense practice. This includes, for example, a broad securities practice for clients in a variety of industries. Mark has substantial experience with the federal Multi-District Litigation process, and he has served as a judge in class action matters during his tenure on the federal bench, and as an advocate in such cases in private practice. He is also a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Prior to joining Kirkland, Mark was at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he served as Deputy Attorney General of the United States after being unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. As Deputy Attorney General, Mark was second-in-command of the Justice Department and oversaw all of its criminal and civil enforcement efforts. He also represented the Justice Department in its interactions with Congress, the White House, and other cabinet-level Departments, as well as with numerous foreign governments. Mark served as Acting Attorney General after the inauguration of President Obama, until U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was confirmed. Mark has held numerous high-level security clearances and has successfully passed numerous extensive FBI and other background checks.
Prior to serving as Deputy Attorney General, Mark spent four years as a federal judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois after being confirmed 96–0 by the U.S. Senate. During his time as a trial judge in Chicago, Mark presided over a full docket of federal cases, including lawsuits concerning intellectual property disputes, securities law, criminal law, antitrust issues, employment and sexual harassment laws, and a wide variety of commercial and property disputes.
As a young attorney, Mark served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago, where he prosecuted a broad variety of criminal cases, including political, judicial, and police corruption, and financial and tax fraud.
