Latham & Watkins Hires Biden White House Counsel Ed Siskel

Latham & Watkins has hired Ed Siskel, White House counsel to President Joe Biden in the last year of his administration, as a partner in its Chicago and Washington offices.

Siskel joined the White House in 2023, taking the top lawyer job after the departure of Stuart Delery, who went on to work at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher.

The hire, announced Monday, comes during a tumultuous time for lawyers in Washington, with attorneys linked to the previous administration still finding new jobs across Big Law and as career lawyers leave government agencies in unusually high numbers.

Siskel’s career has bounced between Chicago and Washington.

Ed Siskel

Latham & Watkins

In Washington, the former clerk to Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens previously served as deputy White House counsel in the Obama administration. He was an associate deputy attorney general in the Justice Department, and an associate and partner at WilmerHale.

In Chicago, he started as a prosecutor in the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. He later worked as the city of Chicago’s top lawyer, known as corporation counsel, during Rahm Emanuel’s stint as mayor. And before his latest work in the White House, he had been the chief legal officer at Grosvenor Holdings, a private equity firm.

Latham’s Chicago office has been building its roster of lawyers with former government roles. The firm in 2023 hired former federal district judge Gary Feinerman, and the office includes Sean Berkowitz, a former federal prosecutor who led the trials against Enron executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling and now serves on the firm’s executive committee.

“Ed’s proven ability to see around corners and manage high-stakes matters at the intersection of law, policy, and business strategy will be a tremendous asset to our team and clients alike,” Rich Trobman, chair and managing partner of the firm, said in a press release.