Updated 3:23 p.m.
Former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Kenneth Wainstein has left O’Melveny & Myers for Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, the latter firm announced Monday.
Wainstein joins the D.C. office Cadwalader as a partner in the firm's white collar defense and corporate investigations practices. He previously served as general counsel of the FBI and chief of staff to FBI Director Robert Mueller. Among his other posts, Wainstein was an assistant attorney general for national security at the Department of Justice, and served as an assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism. Wainstein was appointed as U.S. Attorney in D.C. in 2004 and served until 2006.
“His high profile service to our country makes him a distinguished addition to our team and allows us to provide clients with unique insight and counsel,” W. Christopher White, Cadwalader chairman, said in a written statement.
In private practice, Wainstein focused on corporate internal investigations and civil and criminal proceedings.
In an interview Wainstein said that his working relationships with Michael Horowitz and others at the firm were factors in his decision to move. He joins about 40 other white-collar Cadwalader attorneys in Washington.
“There has been a lot of increased enforcement and that is becoming a reality,” Wainstein said. “The white collar practice in general is more active and that’s not going to go away.”
He will continue to represent many of his old clients, including former Washington Wizards point and shooting guard Gilbert Arenas and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph W. Bottini, one of the prosecutors accused of professional misconduct in the Ted Stevens case. Wainstein said that both firms handled the move in a professional manner.
“The firms have been very good about ensuring total coordination with the idea that we do whatever is best for the client,” Wainstein said.
Photo by The National Law Journal's Diego M. Radzinschi.
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