Kirkland Welcomes Back Former DOJ Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is pleased to announce that Brian Benczkowski is returning as a partner in the Government, Regulatory & Internal Investigations Practice Group, after serving two years as Senate-confirmed Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Criminal Division.
“Brian is a talented lawyer and a strong leader with deep and diverse government enforcement and investigations experience at the Department of Justice and on Capitol Hill. We are delighted to welcome him back from his latest government post leading the Criminal Division,” said Jon A. Ballis, Chairman of Kirkland’s Executive Committee.
Mr. Benczkowski’s government enforcement and investigations experience includes service in multiple leadership positions in Washington and at the DOJ. During his recent time in the Criminal Division, Mr. Benczkowski oversaw more than 600 attorneys and 1,000 total staff responsible for prosecuting many of the most wide-ranging and complex criminal cases at the department, including securities, commodities, health care, government contracting and program fraud, as well as Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), money laundering, public corruption, computer crime, intellectual property, Bank Secrecy Act and opioid-related matters. As head of the Criminal Division, he also worked extensively with counterparts around the world in multinational and cross-border investigations, often in high-stakes corporate matters.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Benczkowski served as the Republican Staff Director for the Senate Judiciary Committee, and as a senior attorney for the House Judiciary Committee. He began his career in Washington as counsel to a senior U.S. senator, where he advised on all matters before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and during the investigation of campaign finance abuses in the 1996 elections.
“Brian’s deep experience in criminal and regulatory investigations will be a great asset to the Firm’s clients. He is especially experienced in complex, multi-jurisdictional and cross-border cases, and he will have important insight in those cases as well as domestic ones,” said Mark Filip, a partner in the Government, Regulatory & Internal Investigations Practice Group and a member of the Firm’s Executive Committee. “We are looking forward to having him back at Kirkland.”
During his time in private practice, Mr. Benczkowski, who was at Kirkland from 2010 to 2018, represented corporations in government enforcement matters before the DOJ, other federal entities and state attorneys general. He also conducted internal investigations on behalf of companies and boards of directors in the energy, environmental, telecommunications, entertainment, pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. Additionally, he has represented companies and individuals in congressional investigations, managing requests for documents and information, and preparing senior executives for testimony at committee hearings.
Mr. Benczkowski’s other government positions have included: Chief of Staff, Office of the Attorney General (2008-2009); Chief of Staff, Office of the Deputy Attorney General (2008); Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Legislative Affairs (2007-2008); Chief of Staff, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (2006-2007); and Staff Director and Senior Counsel, Office of Legal Policy (2002-2004).
“It was a real honor to serve our country as an Assistant Attorney General for the past two years, and I am looking forward to returning to Kirkland and private practice,” Mr. Benczkowski said.
