Former Federal District Court Judge and Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip Joins Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is pleased to announce that former federal district court judge and Deputy Attorney General of the United States Mark Filip has joined the Firm.  Mr. Filip will work from the Firm's offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C.

"We are very pleased that Mark has joined our partnership," said Thomas D. Yannucci, chair of Kirkland's Firmwide Management Committee and partner in the Washington, D.C. office.  "He is a highly skilled lawyer with a resume that reflects experience, judgment and talent well beyond his years."

Mr. Filip, 42, joins Kirkland from the U.S. Department of Justice where he served as Deputy Attorney General from March 2008 to February 2009.  He was nominated to the post by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate.  As Deputy Attorney General, he was second-in-command of the Justice Department and represented the Department in interactions with Congress, the White House and other Cabinet-level departments.  He also served as Acting Attorney General for the Obama administration after January 20, 2009, until incoming Attorney General Eric Holder was confirmed.

Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Filip spent four years as a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.  He was nominated to the federal judiciary in 2003 and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate.  During his tenure as a judge, he presided over a full docket of federal civil and criminal cases, including multidistrict litigation proceedings.

"Mark has uniquely experienced all sides of a case as a prosecutor, defense attorney and judge,"said John Hickey, a senior partner in Kirkland's Chicago office.  "His knowledge and experience will be invaluable for our clients, as well as other attorneys in our litigation practice group."

Mr. Filip was a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom from 1999 to 2004.  He represented clients in complex civil litigation, as well as criminal defense and corporate integrity matters.  He represented clients in varied industries including financial, telecommunications, manufacturing, healthcare and insurance.  He also advised clients on litigation issues related to corporate transactions.

He joined Skadden after serving as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Office of the U.S. Attorney in Chicago.  From 1995 to 1999, he prosecuted a wide variety of criminal cases, including public corruption, financial and healthcare fraud, and tax offenses.  He was the recipient of the U.S. Department of Justice Director's Award for Superior Performance.

"I am excited to return to private practice at a premier litigation firm like Kirkland & Ellis," said Mr. Filip.

Mr. Filip served as a law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia at the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Stephen F. Williams at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  From 1994 to 1995, and prior to serving as Assistant U.S. Attorney, Mr. Filip was an associate in Kirkland's Chicago office.        

Mr. Filip attended the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and graduated summa cum laude with bachelor's degrees in economics and history in 1988.  He attended the University of Oxford, Christ Church College, under the terms of a Marshall Scholarship and graduated with an honors B.A. degree in jurisprudence in 1990.  He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1992, where he was one of the editors of the Harvard Law Review.

An active lecturer, Mr. Filip has taught law at Northwestern University School of Law and the University of Chicago Law School.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is a 1,500-attorney law firm representing global clients in complex litigation and dispute resolution/arbitration, intellectual property and technology, corporate, restructuring, real estate and tax. The Firm has offices in Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Munich, New York, Palo Alto, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.