Robert Hur

Former King & Spalding partner Robert Hur was sworn in Monday as Maryland's U.S. attorney, taking the post Rod Rosenstein held for more than a decade before his elevation in the Trump administration to the U.S. Justice Department's second-in-command.

Hur, confirmed to the post in March, moves from a supervisory role at Main Justice in Washington to lead nearly 90 assistant U.S. attorneys as the top federal prosecutor in Maryland. Hur was a King & Spalding partner from 2014 to June 2017, when he joined the Justice Department under U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Hur was an associate at the firm in the mid-2000s.

Hur is among several King & Spalding alums to decamp for posts in the Trump administration and associated executive agencies. FBI Director Christopher Wray and his chief of staff Zack Harmon were white-collar partners in the firm's Washington office. Steven Vaughn is serving as general counsel to the U.S. trade representative.

At King & Spalding, Hur, a white-collar and government investigations partner, reported earning about $962,000 over 21 months, an amount his financial disclosure identified as partnership share and bonus. The disclosure captured income from 2016 up until September 2017. Hur became an equity partner in January 2017.

Average revenue per lawyer at the Atlanta-founded firm rose 7.5 percent to $1.13 million in 2017, according to ALM affiliate Daily Report Online. Profit per equity partner rose to $2.6 million, up 5.5 percent from the previous reporting period.

Hur said he provided legal services to Volkswagen, Barclays Bank, Fiat Chrysler Automotive, General Motors and Accenture Federal Services, among other companies.

Hur's disclosure (below), a required public filing from many executive appointees, also identified the provision of legal services to former pharmaceutical executive and now-convicted felon Martin Shkreli and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Wray also was on the team that represented Christie in the “Bridgegate” scandal over the closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge as alleged political retribution. Hur said he could not identify five clients—one individual and four corporate entities—because the investigations are nonpublic.

Earlier in his career, he was as an assistant U.S. attorney in Maryland, focusing on a range of cases that included drugs and firearms and white-collar prosecutions. Hur is a former clerk to the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist during the 2002-03 term. A year earlier, Hur clerked for now-retired Judge Alex Kozinski on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Rosenstein was confirmed as deputy U.S. attorney general in April 2017, having served as Maryland's U.S. attorney during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations.

Rosenstein is tasked with overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. Addressing Hur, Rosenstein said in a recent statement: “His counsel was invaluable over the past ten months and I look forward to seeing him thrive as the United States attorney for the District of Maryland.”

Ed O'Callaghan, a former Clifford Chance partner in New York who joined the Justice Department in November 2017, takes over for Hur as acting principal associate deputy attorney general.

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