Kirkland Snags Former White House Associate Counsel Murphy

Kirkland & Ellis is adding Allison Murphy, a former associate counsel in President Barack Obama’s White House, as a partner in its government, regulatory and internal investigations practice in Washington.

Murphy most recently served as chief oversight counsel for the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. At the White House, she worked with Kirkland partner Neil Eggleston, a former White House counsel under Obama.

“One thing that is unusual is that I have investigative experience at the Senate, the House, White House and in government agencies,” Murphy said in an interview. “I can help clients gain a 360-degree view of investigations.”

Big Law firms have been bolstering their government, regulatory and investigative heft for corporate clients in anticipation of more government probes under President Joe Biden. “It’s likely there will be more scrutiny of private industry, in the energy, technology, health care and financial services areas,” Murphy said.

Kirkland’s other recent additions include former Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski, who returned to the firm in September 2020 after two years the criminal division in President Donald Trump’s administration.

Last December, Kirkland hired Reginald J. Brown, who was in the White House Counsel’s Office under George W. Bush and is a former partner at WilmerHale.

“We are committed to being the law firm of choice for clients facing high stakes hearings and congressional investigations,” said Brown, also a partner in Kirkland’s investigations practice. “We have one of the most experienced teams in Washington for significant inquiries and hearings.”

Earlier in her career Murphy was counsel to the nonprofit Protect Democracy for three years. While there, Murphy, who began her legal career as a WilmerHale associate, worked on issues such as executive power.

Prior to that she was on Capitol Hill, on the staff of the Senate Permanent Committee on Investigations. She later moved to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, where she was an attorney adviser to the commission’s division of enforcement.

She starts at Kirkland June 1.