US watchdog agency chief fired by Trump joins law firm Foley Hoag

By Sara Merken

Aug 20 (Reuters) - Hampton Dellinger, the former head of a U.S. government watchdog agency who was fired by President Donald Trump, has joined law firm Foley Hoag, the firm said on Wednesday.

Dellinger, who was head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, will be a litigation partner in the Washington, D.C. office of the Boston-founded law firm.

Dellinger, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, in March ended a legal battle over Trump's decision to remove him from office after a federal appeals court allowed the White House action. He said in a statement at the time that the odds of him ultimately prevailing before the U.S. Supreme Court were long.

The case had marked an early test of the Republican president's ability to rein in independent agencies and replace their leaders as part of his efforts to reshape the federal government.

Dellinger told Reuters that he considered a range of positions after leaving the agency, and was drawn to Foley Hoag in part because the firm has been "unafraid and undeterred" from taking on certain legal matters.

He cited as an example the firm's representation of one of the three environmental nonprofit groups in ongoing litigation against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Citibank seeking billions of dollars for solar and other projects frozen by the bank as the Trump administration slashes federal spending.

Foley Hoag was also one of only a handful of large U.S. firms that signed onto court briefs in support of four other law firms' challenges to Trump administration orders targeting them.

"I really admire Foley Hoag's willingness to stand up for others in the legal community that have been singled out unfairly," he said.

Dellinger, a former U.S. Department of Justice official and Boies Schiller Flexner partner, said he plans to advise clients in sectors including energy, healthcare and life sciences, and also help companies, nonprofits and universities respond to actions by the administration.