Ex-Biden Chief of Staff Ron Klain Returns to O’Melveny Law Firm

Former White House chief of staff and longtime Biden adviser Ron Klain has returned to the private sector as a partner at law firm O’Melveny & Myers.

Klain, who was previously an attorney at O’Melveny from 1999 to 2004, will be a partner in its litigation department and a member of its executive committee, the firm said Monday. He also will lead its strategic counseling and crisis management practice.

Klain has been in President Joe Biden’s orbit since the 1980s, most recently serving for more than two years in the powerful chief of staff role. He played a hand in efforts to pass the Inflation Reduction Act and move judicial nominees through the Senate confirmation process.

“It was the most diverse team in White House history and I think we delivered for the American people,” Klain said in an interview. “I’m proud of what we did and how we did it.”

He resigned as chief of staff in February after being “worn out physically and mentally,” said Klain, who worked in two previous Democratic administrations.

Klain anticipates advising O’Melveny’s clients on a range of litigation and policy issues, including controversies over environmental, social, and governance practices, or ESG.

Klain’s previous private sector experience includes serving as executive vice president and general counsel for Revolution LLC, a Washington-based investment firm.

The Los Angeles-founded O’Melveny is a power in litigation, with big clients including Johnson & Johnson, American Airlines Inc., and Bank of America. The firm reported more than $1 billion in revenue in 2022, a more than 12% increase from the year prior, according to the American Lawyer.

Looking for ‘Path’ on Judges

Klain exited the White House after helping oversee the Biden administration’s push to place more judges from underrepresented backgrounds on the federal bench. The Senate confirmed nearly 100 judges in Biden’s first two years, including Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman on the high court.

The White House may have a hard time keeping up that pace this year, thanks to procedural hurdles in the Senate and an extended absence from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who sits on the Judiciary Committee.

“I don’t think it’s my place to say what Sen. Feinstein should do, but I think that Democrats need to find a path forward to move these nominations out of committee,” said Klain. “There’s no question about it.”

He added that the Biden administration and Senate have so far “done a very smart job of navigating” judicial confirmations. That includes the “blue slip” process that gives home state lawmakers something close to veto power over judicial nominees.

“They’re going to have to continue to navigate it in states with two Republican senators, or one Democrat and one Republican,” said Klain.