Akin Revamps Congress Probe Team With Judiciary Democrats Lawyer

Akin Gump is rebuilding its team of congressional investigations lawyers after a Wall Street firm poached two practice leaders last month.

Marcus Childress, an adviser to House Judiciary Committee Democrats, has joined Akin in its Washington office, the firm said Tuesday. Childress and Akin partner Abigail Kohlman will lead the firm’s representation of clients facing congressional inquiries.

The move comes ahead of midterm elections that could flip control of the House and ramp up scrutiny of the Trump administration’s dealings with private sector businesses. Democrats on the Judiciary Committee have pushed major law firms that made deals with the White House last year for more information on the agreements and how the firms are paying off $940 million in free legal services commitments.

“We’ll see Congress more willing to scrutinize private industries and we expect that scrutiny to intensify,” Childress said in an interview.

Childress advised Rep. Jamie Raskin, (D-Md.), the House Judiciary Committee’s ranking member, for more than a year. Raskin and other Democrats this month urged Kirkland & Ellis to provide communication records related to the firm’s deal with Trump, arguing the agreement may create a conflict for Kirkland lawyers who represent clients adverse to the administration.

Childress declined to comment on any specific investigation efforts. He said he expects Democrats to increase scrutiny of private businesses and continue to look into “potential conflicts of interest with the executive branch.”

Akin in February saw the two leaders of its congressional investigations practice—Raphael Prober and Karen Christian—jump to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. A third partner, Martine Cicconi, also left to run Simpson’s new state attorneys general practice.

Akin is a longtime player in the nation’s capital, with a lobbying arm whose clients include Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla, and Yale University.

Kohlman is a former DOJ lawyer who joined the firm last year. She was chief of staff in the department’s office of legislative affairs during the Biden administration. She said the firm will continue to be a leading adviser to clients facing government probes in spite of the exits.

“We wish them the best but it doesn’t change the fact that Akin has had this practice for the last 30 years, and we will continue to move forward,” Kohlman said.

Government investigations have provided a growing source of revenue for firms as clients turn to outside counsel for help navigating simultaneous probes from multiple government bodies that frequently spill over into the public square.

Childress worked as a lawyer for the Jan. 6 Committee before leaving for Jenner & Block in 2022. He said a growing number of congressional inquiries require parties to sit for closed-door testimonies, in which lawyers have more time to press subjects with substantive questions than lawmakers have in public hearings.

He returned to Capitol Hill in February last year. He advised Democrats as the Judiciary Committee’s GOP majority launched inquiries into parties allegedly weaponizing the powers of government to punish Trump and his allies and subpoenaed tech giants about collusion with the Biden administration to censor protected speech.

“While I’ll miss my colleagues and working with them on the hill, this was a great opportunity for my family and we decided this was the right thing to do at this time,” Childress said. “It was an exciting opportunity that I felt like I might not ever get again at a firm, leading this type of practice.”