Carol Elder Bruce, the well known Washington litigator, has left Bracewell & Giuliani, where she has been a partner since 2008, to join K&L Gates.
Bruce has made a name for herself as one of the go-to litigation lawyers in D.C. From 1975 until 1985, Bruce was a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. She served as lead counsel in more than 100 jury trials and managed grand jury investigations of more than 100 other felony matters.
In 1987, Bruce was tapped to serve as Independent Counsel James McKay's top assistant in the investigation of Edwin Meese III, who served as attorney general under President Ronald Reagan. After the Meese probe ended in 1988 with findings that Meese had probably had broken federal income tax and conflict-of-interest laws, Bruce joined McKay at Covington & Burling. She stayed there until 1995, when she left to join Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal.
In 1998, Bruce conducted another independent counsel investigation, this time as the lead investigator of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. Babbit had been accused of denying an Indian casino in Wisconsin a license in exchange for political donations. Bruce’s report cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Bruce returned to the private sector in 2000 as a partner at Tighe Patton Armstrong Teasdale. She jumped to Venable in 2004 and Bracewell in 2008.
At K&L Gates, Bruce will continue to advise clients on a range of criminal and civil matters, including trials and appeals, grand jury investigations, complex commercial disputes and arbitrations, hearings and proceedings before Congress, and administrative proceedings within federal agencies. In addition, she advises clients on corporate compliance and ethics programs, as well as the conduct of internal corporate investigations.
Bruce said her move to K&L Gates was prompted by several different factors. Client conflicts were an issue, she said. Bruce also cited K&L Gates’ international platform as a reason for her move, saying that it would benefit her practice which is becoming more and more international. “It’s really an awesome platform,” Bruce said.
“This is really an exciting move for me and will be a great way for me to continue serving clients, both internationally and here closer to home,” she said.
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