White-Collar Defense Titans Bennett and Rauh Jump from Skadden to Hogan
Robert Bennett, one of the nation’s most prominent trial lawyers, is jumping to Hogan & Hartson along with another white-collar titan, Carl Rauh.
Above the Law calls Bennett an “uber-attorney” in its post breaking the news. “His client list reads like [a] CNN promo: Enron, Bill Clinton, Judith Miller, Caspar Weinberger!” the blog says.
Bennett, a former federal prosecutor, started his career at Hogan & Hartson, according to a press release by the law firm. Rauh, also a former prosecutor, worked with him on several high-profile cases, including the defense of Enron, Clark Clifford in the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) case, and Caspar Weinberger in the Iran-Contra affair.
Other recent Skadden losses include:
• Top M&A partners David Fox and Daniel Wolf, who joined Kirkland & Ellis. The New York Times reported in May that the move could signal “a broader shift in the corporate legal landscape as lawyers at large full-service firms leave for more focused, profitable shops.”
• D.J. “Jan” Baker, who joined Latham & Watkins to lead its restructuring practice. Skadden executive partner Eric Friedman said at the time that the move doesn’t signal any bigger issues at the law firm. Instead, he said the move shows that Skadden is an incubator for talent.
• A three-lawyer patent team, including Jeffrey Randall, the former head of patent litigation in three Skadden offices. The lawyers jumped to Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker.
Hogan & Hartson chairman J. Warren Gorrell Jr. said in the press release that his firm is “handling a rapidly expanding number of government investigations of companies in the United States and overseas.” Rauh and Bennett will become valuable additions to the legal team handling those investigations and other anti-corruption initiatives, he said.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Secret to Bob Bennett’s Success: White-Collar Crime Down, Cases Up”
ABAJournal.com: “Bob Bennett Avoids Exaggeration in Memoir, Except When Bolstering Clients”
ABAJournal.com: “The Washington Web of Lawyers”
