Ending months of speculation, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom announced Monday that former Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald will be joining the firm’s Chicago office. The famed lawyer stepped down from his government post on June 30, after 24 years as a prosecutor. (You can read coverage from our affiliate, The National Law Journal, here.)
The son of a Manhattan doorman, Fitzgerald grew up in Brooklyn. After attending Harvard Law School, he joined New York’s Christy & Viener. In 1988 he moved to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, where he handled cases involving drug-trafficking, the mafia, and terrorism. In 2001 he was nominated to be Chicago’s lead federal prosecutor precisely because he had no connections to the city’s cozy political scene. His career highlights include putting Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich behind bars for trying to sell President Obama’s senate seat and spearheading the DOJ’s successful prosecution of former Bush White House official Scooter Libby for leaking the identity of Central Intelligence Agency agent Valerie Plame. We named Fitzgerald Litigator of the Week in 2008 for his “determination–even eagerness–to confront power.” He is married to a schoolteacher and has two young children.
When the Litigation Daily spoke with Fitzgerald on Monday, he declined to reveal the number of firms that courted him this summer. But he did tell us about his new area of interest. (Hint: it’s not criminal defense). He also told us why he didn’t return to New York.
Lit Daily: Why the career change?
Fitzgerald: One reason I stepped down is that I’ve been a prosecutor for 24 years. I always told myself I would make an affirmative choice every year whether to stay or or not. When I sat down earlier this year, I thought it would be healthy for the office to have a new person come in and give it a new look. And I always thought it would be nice to have a new challenge.
LD: Why Skadden?
Fitzgerald: I really want to do internal investigations and give companies advice on the issues that arise, and the best place to do that is a law firm. And I also want to handle civil trials. All those reasons convinced me I should go to a law firm. I chose Skadden in particular because it has deep talent in so many subject areas and a presence around the globe. And I became convinced that it had a culture of people working together as colleagues.
LD: Will you be doing any criminal defense work?
Fitzgerald: I’ll focus on internal investigations, not individual defendant representations.
LD: Were there any people at Skadden who were instrumental in convincing you to come aboard?
Fitzgerald: I like Brian Duwe, the head of the Chicago office, a lot. He was really crucial to the process. The same goes for Ed Crane, the head of the litigation practice in the Chicago office. And I knew partners Stephen Robinson and Michael Scudder beforehand, because they’re both alums of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan.
LD: Had you thought about coming back to New York?
Fitzgerald: New York is my hometown, but Chicago is my home. My family and I started with the assumption that we’d be staying here.
LD: How many law firms expressed interest in you?
Fitzgerald: It was more than one. I narrowed it down and found the one I thought was a good fit.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled the last name of Skadden partner Brian Duwe. We regret the error.
