Trump DOJ Civil Rights Pick Dhillon to Sell MAGA-Aligned Firm

Harmeet Dhillon, the California litigator tapped to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, told a Senate committee she will sell her law firm to her brother if confirmed for the position.

Dhillon, known for advising President Donald Trump and fighting for social issues in court, is set to go before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday in a confirmation hearing. She pledged to sell the firm, Dhillon Law, in a Jan. 27 committee questionnaire reviewed by Bloomberg Law.

She would lead a civil rights group likely to focus on some of the issues that she championed in her work at the firm and through the nonprofit Center for American Liberty. Dhillon steered multiple lawsuits challenging gender transitions for minor children and represented James Damore, a Google engineer fired for a manifesto criticizing the company’s culture and pushing gender stereotypes.

Dhillon declined to comment.

Mandeep Dhillon, who recently joined the firm as a partner, will buy it for an undisclosed amount, Dhillon said in the questionnaire. She also said she would alert DOJ officials to any conflicts that arise as a result of matters involving the firm or her nonprofit group, which has raised over $15 million to fund pro bono legal services.

The boutique firm served as primary outside counsel to Trump’s presidential campaign, a role ceded by Washington heavyweight Jones Day following the 2020 White House race. It has also represented Elon Musk’s X Corp. and ex-Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, among other clients. It has about 25 lawyers, according to its website.

The disclosure listed Dhillon’s net worth, excluding her law firm, at about $11.7 million. She said she’s due an additional $4 million from an unidentified lawsuit and “potentially several million” dollars in contingent fees from ongoing litigation. Dhillon said she may earn “several hundred thousand dollars” from other, new cases originated before she leaves her firm.

The questionnaire asked Dhillon to describe the 10 most significant litigated matters she’d handled.

She noted that she took on a California school district on behalf of parents who alleged a school facilitated their child’s gender transition without permission. She also sued a hospital for providing gender transition treatments to a minor.

Dhillon represented a handful of California churches suing to congregate in person during Covid restrictions. And she brought a lawsuit on behalf of a conservative student organization against the University of California, Berkeley over alleged free speech violations.

She also touted her role in litigation to overturn a Colorado Supreme Court ruling blocking Trump from appearing on the ballot in the state.