Michael Dreeben, center, speaking at an ABA event in San Francisco last week. (Photo: Jason Doiy/ALM)

Michael Dreeben, a former longtime U.S. deputy solicitor general who is widely considered a leading authority on criminal law, will join Georgetown University Law Center in Washington as a distinguished lecturer in government for the 2019-20 academic year.

“In his 30 years of extraordinary public service at the U.S. Department of Justice, Michael Dreeben played a powerful role in helping shape the law as one of the preeminent Supreme Court advocates and as a leading expert in federal criminal law,” said Georgetown Law Dean William M. Treanor. “We are honored to have him join our faculty for the upcoming school year.”

Dreeben, a Duke Law School alumnus, joined the Justice Department’s office of the solicitor general in 1988. He has argued more than 100 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, establishing a reputation for his crisp and cogent arguments in criminal law cases. In June 2017, he took a leave of absence to join Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Dreeben represented the special counsel’s office in federal court against legal challenges to its authority before announcing his retirement in June. During his tenure in the solicitor general’s office, Dreeben argued cases involving hate crimes and the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment rights in the internet age, and cases involving public corruption and private fraud.

Dreeben spoke last week in San Francisco on an American Bar Association panel assessing recent Supreme Court criminal-law decisions. The court’s 7-2 decision in Gamble v. United States, he said, which upheld the power of states and federal prosecutors to criminally charge the same conduct, displayed competing visions among the justices about what the U.S. Constitution does.

“It probably is a proxy war for the big battle to come in Roe v. Wade,” Dreeben said, noting the vote put Justices Neil Gorsuch and Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the same side in dissent. “That raises one of the most important questions of our time: Why is a judge authorized to follow a precedent that he or she thinks is an incorrect interpretation of the Constitution?” he said. “They have an oath to uphold the Constitution, not what five justices say.”

Dreeben’s year-long academic appointment is part of Georgetown Law’s Distinguished Visitors from Government Program, which brings former officials who have recently left public service to campus. He will guest lecture and serve as a resource for students, in addition to participating in faculty workshops.

“Georgetown Law is renowned for its exploration of complex legal questions at the deepest level,” Dreeben said in a statement. “The energy of the law school is palpable. I look forward to participating in academic life at Georgetown and being part of its vibrant and collaborative culture.”

Dreeben’s recent retirement from the Justice Department drew praise from judges, professors and litigators, writing at SCOTUSblog about his commitment to public service and how he shaped those in his orbit.

“As I’ve often said when speaking to conferences of federal prosecutors at the Justice Department, Michael Dreeben knows more about criminal law than anyone else on Earth,” Solicitor General Noel Francisco said in a tribute. “But it’s not only his knowledge that sets him apart. It’s also his talent as an advocate, and his tireless devotion to his craft.”

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