Former Biden White House Counsel joins law firm Latham & Watkins

By David Thomas

March 3 (Reuters) - Edward Siskel, who served as White House Counsel to Democratic President Joe Biden during the latter part of his term, has joined Latham & Watkins as a partner, the firm said on Monday.

Siskel will work out of the law firm's Chicago and Washington, D.C., offices, Latham said. Siskel previously served as Chicago's top lawyer under former Mayor Rahm Emanuel. He also worked in the White House Counsel's office under former President Barack Obama.

"Ed brings a rare combination of high-level White House, DOJ, and private sector experience to Latham," Rich Trobman, Latham's chair and managing partner, said in a statement.

As Biden's top legal adviser, Siskel urged House Republicans in March 2024 to end their impeachment inquiry into the president after months of investigation turned up no evidence that Biden had improperly profited from family members' business activities.

Siskel also helped lead discussions over whether Biden should issue preemptive pardons to current and former public officials who might be targeted by Republican Donald Trump's administration, sources told Reuters in December.

Biden in the final hours of his presidency issued preemptive pardons to several of his immediate family members and other public officials, including Republican former lawmaker Liz Cheney; Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Biden earlier pardoned his son Hunter after he pleaded guilty to tax violations and was convicted on firearms-related charges.

After leaving the Obama White House in 2014, Siskel was a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr before he was tapped by Emanuel to become the city of Chicago's corporation counsel in 2017.

Top U.S. law firms have been hiring senior officials from the Justice Department and other federal agencies who are moving to the private sector since Republican President Donald Trump took office.

Government lawyers in other offices have taken positions at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; Cravath, Swaine & Moore; King & Spalding; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan; Sidley Austin; Weil, Gotshal & Manges; and WilmerHale, among other firms.

Biden's other previous White House counsels, Dana Remus and Stuart Delery, joined law firms Covington & Burling and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, respectively.