Rajesh De. Mayer Brown's Rajesh De. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)

Washington Wrap is a weekly look at industry news and Big Law moves shaping the legal business in Washington, D.C. Send news tips and lateral moves to Ryan Lovelace at [email protected].

Mayer Brown has named White House and National Security Agency alum Rajesh De as managing partner of its Washington, D.C., office, effective July 1.

“I'm totally thrilled for the opportunity,” De said. “I do think the office is poised to continue building on the strengths we've already created here, and I'm really excited to be part of that.”

He will succeed Daniel Masur, who grew the office by more than 40 lawyers during his six-year tenure.

De, who first joined the firm's partnership in 2007, held several prominent jobs under the Obama administration before returning to Mayer Brown in 2015. They include stints as deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy, principal deputy assistant attorney general, White House staff secretary and deputy assistant to the president.

In 2012 he became general counsel of the National Security Agency.

At Mayer Brown, De leads the firm's global cybersecurity and data privacy practice, co-leads its national security practice and is a member of the congressional investigations and crisis management team. He said he wants to continue to ensure that those practices, along with the firm's government contracts, international trade, and U.S. Supreme Court and appellate groups, are “continually thought of as among the top tier among those specialty Washington practice areas.”

De is taking over in Washington within months of leadership changes in two of Mayer Brown's other largest offices. The firm announced last November that Britt Miller and Matthew Ingber would lead in Chicago and New York, respectively.

De said he and Ingber were associates together during his first tour at the firm. The turnover atop the three largest U.S. offices represents a shift toward a new generation of leadership that he said may provide a “fresh perspective.”

His first priority is to “push forward on diversity in all aspects,” De said. Like nearly every other Am Law 100 law firm office, Mayer Brown is “behind the curve” on diversity, he said. His second priority, De said, is to extend the strategic growth Masur brought to D.C., which De labeled the “risk capital of the world.” Thirdly, De said he wants to maintain recognition of the firm as having a “powerhouse Washington office.”

As he's cycled in and out of public service, De said he's always felt compelled to come back because of the people at Mayer Brown.

“I think for now, this is certainly the ideal place to be,” De said. “And with this new responsibility it's natural for me to stay in private practice for some time.”

Law Firm Moves, News, and Notes

Jones Day said this week that Schuyler Schouten joined the firm's government regulation practice as a partner based in Washington, D.C.

Schouten was previously a special assistant to the president and associate counsel to the president beginning in 2017. Before joining President Donald Trump's White House, Schouten was an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell and the principal policy aide and research associate to former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Robert C. Jones left Alston & Bird to become Greenberg Traurig's co-chairman of its federal government law and policy practice based in Washington, D.C.

Before his work at Alston & Bird, Jones was an aide to former U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Maryland, and a counsel to the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee.

Baker & Hostetler nabbed J. Brian Davis to lead its international tax team from Washington, D.C.

Davis previously worked at the Big Four accounting firm PwC; as Viacom's director of international tax; and as a partner at the tax law firm Ivins, Phillips & Barker.

Seyfarth Shaw said this week that it added Alonso Cisneros as a partner in the firm's real estate department in Washington, D.C.

Cisneros was most recently at Troutman Sanders.

Venable said this week Ariel Wolf rejoined the firm as counsel in the firm's eCommerce, privacy, and cybersecurity practice in Washington, D.C.

He was most recently counselor to the deputy secretary within the U.S. Department of Transportation. He was previously at Venable from September 2011 to June 2018.