Dechert Grows White-Collar Group with Justice Recruit

Steven Engel, previously deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department, started as a partner today in the Washington office of Dechert.
 
Before joining Justice in 2006, Engel practiced at Kirkland & Ellis. He said he chose to join Dechert because the firm “offered a fantastic opportunity.” He added, “It was a really good fit. They have a number of very strong practice areas.”
 
Engel is a partner in Dechert’s white-collar and securities litigation group. He said he plans to develop a broad civil litigation practice that also focuses on appellate matters, mass torts, and product liability cases.
 
Engel started as counsel in the Office of Legal Counsel, and was promoted to deputy assistant attorney general in January 2007.
 
During his time in the office, he wrote a legal opinion in response to a request from the Social Security Administration, stating that the federal government can pay benefits to the children of same-sex couples.
 
As deputy assistant attorney general, he also testified in December 2007 about the legal rights of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay before the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on terrorism, technology and homeland security.
 
Though Engel declined to discuss detainee issues with the BLT, in his 2007 testimony he argued against extending the right of habeas corpus to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
 
Engel graduated from Yale Law School in 2000, and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.