September 12, 2016
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is pleased to announce that Stuart Delery, the former Acting Associate Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the No. 3 position in the Justice Department, will join the firm as a partner. Previously, Delery led the Civil Division, overseeing litigation involving the False Claims Act (FCA), Food Drug and Cosmetic Act and Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA), as well as challenges to statutes, regulations, and government actions in trial courts and on appeal. Delery will focus his private law practice on representing corporations and individuals in high-stakes litigation and investigations that involve the federal government across the spectrum of regulatory litigation and enforcement.
With his high-level government experience, Stuart will add depth to the firm’s bench of more than 50 former DOJ lawyers and Assistant U.S. Attorneys, who handle litigation and investigations across the globe. His addition follows the recent arrivals of Stephanie Brooker, former Director of the Enforcement Division of the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and Adam Smith, former Senior Advisor to the Director of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
"We are very pleased to welcome Stuart to the firm," said Ken Doran, Chairman & Managing Partner of Gibson Dunn. "Clients routinely seek law firms with significant expertise and experience with relevant government agencies. Stuart brings years of experience with the Department of Justice in senior roles, built on prior success in the private sector. He will add enormous value to our clients."
"The DOJ daily impacts many of our clients, and we have cases with each of the seven DOJ divisions," said F. Joseph Warin, Co-Chair of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice Group. "Stuart’s unique breadth of experience will help us continue to advise our clients and provide the most current perspective of the government’s litigation and enforcement priorities."
"Stuart will bring additional capacity to what is already one of the top white collar and regulatory litigation practices globally. Gibson Dunn has been recognized as a leading White Collar practice by four respected organizations in the past year, an honor that sets the firm apart," said Daniel Nelson, Co-Partner in Charge of the Washington, D.C. office. "The American Lawyer named Gibson Dunn the first-ever winner in the White Collar Regulatory category of its biennial Litigation Department of the Year competition in January, and in May at its annual awards, Chambers and Partners named the firm as the winner in the Corporate Crime & Government Investigations category. In addition, Global Investigations Review ranked Gibson Dunn No. 1 in the GIR 30, its annual guide to the world’s best firms for international investigations, in September 2015. Also, in D.C. last year, the National Law Journal named Gibson Dunn as the winner of the White Collar category in its latest Washington Litigation Departments of the Year competition."
"I am excited to return to private practice," said Delery. "Gibson Dunn has an incredible platform that will provide me with unmatched opportunities to work with clients to solve their most challenging legal issues. The firm is competitively positioned to handle any significant government litigation and regulatory matter, and I look forward to joining the team."
About Stuart Delery
At Gibson Dunn, Delery will focus on government-facing litigation and investigations that present complex legal and reputational risks for clients in trial and appellate courts, as well as complex civil and constitutional litigation and judicial challenges to agency action.
Before joining the firm, Delery was the third-ranking official in the DOJ, serving as Acting Associate Attorney General since 2014. In this role, he oversaw the civil and criminal work of five of DOJ’s litigating divisions — Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment and Natural Resources, and Tax — as well as components supporting state and local law enforcement, among others. As a member of DOJ’s senior management team, he assisted the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General in formulating and implementing DOJ policies. He routinely advised on the most significant legal questions facing the United States, including questions concerning the scope of authority of the federal government. He also served as Vice Chair of the Steering Committee of the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force and oversaw the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) working group.
During his seven-year tenure at the DOJ, Delery served in a number of senior positions, beginning as Chief of Staff and Counselor to the Deputy Attorney General in 2009. His positions included Senior Counselor to the Attorney General, in which he advised on national security litigation and policy and matters arising from the Office of the Solicitor General, the Civil Division and the Office of Legal Counsel.
From 2012 to 2014, Delery served as head of the Civil Division, DOJ’s largest litigating division. He was confirmed as Assistant Attorney General by the United States Senate by unanimous consent in 2013. As head of the Civil Division, he supervised nearly 1,000 lawyers representing the United States, the President and Cabinet officers, and other federal officials. The Civil Division’s docket covers the full range of government activities, including legal challenges to Congressional statutes, Administration policies and federal agency actions. He also supervised the DOJ’s enforcement efforts under the False Claims Act, FIRREA and the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. While in the Civil Division, Delery personally argued some of the government’s most significant cases, including high-profile appeals involving the unconstitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, interpretation of the Affordable Care Act and the legality of the National Security Agency’s data collection programs.
Prior to his government service, Delery practiced with an international law firm from 1995 to 2009, where he had a diverse litigation and securities practice. He clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Byron White and for Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He received his law degree in 1993 from Yale Law School, where he served as an Articles Editor of the Yale Law Journal.