Thomas J. Perrelli, with Jenner & Block.

Jenner & Block on Thursday announced its second leadership change in just over a year, announcing that Craig Martin is stepping down from his position as firm chair.

Taking over immediately from Martin, who assumed the role 14 months ago, is Thomas Perrelli, a former associate U.S. attorney general and a co-chair of the firm's government controversies and public policy litigation practice.

"Tom is awesome. Tom is an extraordinary leader with a really terrific history and track record of leadership," said Randy Mehrberg, a Chicago-based co-managing partner of the firm. "He really represents the best of Jenner & Block, and we're really, really excited that he has agreed to do this."

Perrelli's appointment follows five years of uneven head count growth and sliding revenues at Jenner, although in 2019, the same year Martin became chair, the firm saw its top-line revenue grow by 1.5% to $448 million, according to preliminary reporting for The American Lawyer's Am Law 100 rankings.

Mehrberg said the firm is not disappointed with Jenner's 2019 financial performance. In announcing Perrelli's appointment, Jenner said Martin "stepped down from the role to focus on his practice," which Mehrberg described as being incredibly busy. Martin will remain on Jenner's policy committee.

"Everyone is aligned and it's all good," Mehrberg said. "Tom's going to help us achieve new heights."

Martin in a statement described the role he has left as being "the job of a life, but not for a lifetime. I believe the partnership benefits from the introduction of new leadership and new ideas."

The firm's leadership has seen a number of transitions over the past few years. In April 2017, Anton "Tony" Valukas announced he was stepping down as chairman, a role he had held for 10 years. The position was vacant until January 2019, when Martin was tapped for the role.

At the time, Martin, at the age of 55, was the youngest chairman in the firm's 106-year history. That distinction now belongs to the 53-year-old Perrelli.

Jenner in September 2019 announced that Jestin and Mehrberg would take over the managing partner position from Terrence Truax.

Perrelli said the firm's policy committee asked him to take over as chairman, which is more of an honorary and ambassadorial position compared to the co-managing partner roles occupied by Mehrberg and Katya Jestin. He referenced his past leadership roles in government and said he wants to continue to promote collaboration across the firm's 460-plus lawyers.

"I have a history of both leading teams effectively, and a little bit more of the leadership and management experience than lawyers who only focus on overseeing cases, whereas I have gone in and out of government and bring a different kind of experience in helping fulfill the role," Perrelli said.

He said he will continue to lead the firm's government and public policy practice alongside Emily Loeb.

Perrelli joined Jenner & Block in 1992. In 1997, he left the firm to serve as counsel to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno. He worked in that role until September 1999, when he became the deputy assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's civil division.

As George W. Bush became president of the United States, Perrelli returned to Jenner as a partner. Then in March 2009, he left private practice again for government service, joining the Obama administration as the associate attorney general. As the third-ranking official at DOJ, Perrelli said he oversaw several divisions and 7,000 lawyers and staff, according to his LinkedIn page.

Perrelli returned in Jenner in March 2012. His government experience led to him nabbing the monitorship overseeing Citigroup's $2.5 billion settlement with DOJ, as well as compliance monitorships for Bridgepoint Education Corp. and Education Management Corp.

Within the contours of his legal practice, Perrelli has been a champion of progressive policies and has cut checks for Democratic politicians. According to the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org, Perrelli has donated $54,600 to Democratic politicians and organizations since 2002. During the 2016 presidential election, he donated $2,700 to former Secretary of State and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. During the 2020 presidential election, he has backed Sen. Kamala Harris, donating $2,800 to her campaign.

In January 2018, Perrelli and another Jenner partner began representing a group of Kentucky residents who were challenging the Medicaid work requirements imposed by then-Gov. Matt Bevin, a Republican. Those work requirements were rescinded Kentucky's newly elected Democratic governor in December.

Perrelli represented Microsoft and Princeton University in their November 2017 lawsuit opposing the Trump administration's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He's also an adviser to Protect Democracy, a government watchdog group that was formed "to prevent American democracy from declining into a more authoritarian form of government."

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