Michael Dreeben, a veteran U.S. Supreme Court advocate with 105 oral arguments under his belt, will join O'Melveny & Myers in January as a partner in its appellate and white-collar practices, the firm announced Tuesday.

The longtime deputy U.S. solicitor general, widely viewed as an unrivaled expert on criminal law, retired in July after a two-year detour assisting special counsel Robert Mueller in the investigation into Russia's election interference. In August, Dreeben took on a teaching position at Georgetown University Law Center, which he will retain in private practice.

As soon as he left the government, Washington firms with appellate practices viewed the 65-year-old Dreeben as a prize catch. Dreeben would be "much sought after for his vast experience with criminal law and his overall ability," said veteran court observer Roy Englert Jr., a partner at Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber.

O'Melveny chairman Bradley Butwin said Dreeben is "a preeminent Supreme Court practitioner who is held in the highest esteem by the Supreme Court bar and court watchers everywhere. We can't wait to welcome him to the firm and begin introducing him to our clients."

In tributes on the occasion of his 100th oral argument in 2016, Justice Elena Kagan, who worked with Dreeben as U.S. solicitor general before joining the high court, said she felt honored "in the company of a magnificent attorney doing a magnificent job." Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that when Dreeben approaches the lectern at the Supreme Court, "I know he will tell it straight."

O'Melveny announced that in addition to his appellate work, Dreeben's portfolio will include white-collar, cybersecurity, data privacy and securities litigation, as well as crisis management counsel to boardroom clients. Dreeben said he also is interested in getting involved with O'Melveny's "second to none" pro bono practice.

Asked if he has any limitations in arguing before the high court because of his service in the SG's office, Dreeben said, "I don't have any restrictions on cases that the SG's office is not involved in. In cases that the SG's office is involved in, I can't appear until one year after leaving the department."

Jonathan Hacker, chairman of the firm's Supreme Court and appellate practice, predicted Dreeben "will fold seamlessly into the practice, and expand what we're doing at the court. I don't have any doubt about that."

Hacker said hiring Dreeben does not necessarily signal a growing of O'Melveny's appellate team, in keeping with the firm's preference for keeping the appellate practice small. "When we say to a client, 'You're going to get Michael Dreeben or Jon Hacker or Anton Metlitsky or Jeff Fisher, that's who you're going to get. When you are asking for the A team, you're going to get our A team.'"

Walter Dellinger Walter Dellinger. Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi/ ALM

Why did Dreeben choose O'Melveny? "I called Walter Dellinger, asking him for advice," Dreeben said. "He suggested that I talk to O'Melveny, and the more I learned about the firm, the more engaged and intrigued I became." Dellinger, a former acting U.S. solicitor general, is a partner at O'Melveny.

Dreeben added, "I have a long-standing personal connection with O'Melveny through Walter Dellinger, who was my criminal law professor at Duke Law School  and under whom I served when he was acting solicitor general." In a statement Dellinger called Dreeben "one of the finest Supreme Court advocates of his generation and will be a powerful champion for our clients' interests in the most complex appellate and white collar matters."

Dreeben said his time working with the Mueller team was also a factor in deciding which firm to join. "I enjoyed the collegial experience of the special counsel's office, and I wanted to work in a culture like that. I also look forward to working with younger lawyers to help them develop in their careers as appellate advocates."

In explaining his decision, Dreeben pointed to other past appellate experts at O'Melveny, such as Sri Srinivasan and Pamela Harris, both now appeals court judges, and Irv Gornstein, executive director at the Supreme Court Institute at Georgetown. And he looks forward to working with current appellate practitioners at the firm, including Hacker, Metlitsky and Stanford Law School professor Jeffrey Fisher, who joined O'Melveny as a special counsel in 2018.

"I worked with Jeff Fisher over the years on the other side of the table, and we've become friends. I think it will be exciting to team up with him," Dreeben said. "I think there is an O'Melveny style, which in many ways accords with the style I tried to use in the Solicitor General's Office. The briefs are accurate, they exemplify candor, they are clear, they are forceful, and they are imaginative."

After decades of arguing on behalf of the government against criminal defendants, Dreeben may often represent defendants in his new job.

"My view is that each side in the adversary process can and should participate in the same way, zealously on behalf of their clients, but with a focus on candor, clarity, and credibility," Dreeben said. "I see that as naturally playing into any advocacy work that I do, and I think it fits with the culture of O'Melveny's briefing style and representation."