Jenner & Block Hires Third Boies Schiller Partner Since February

Boies Schiller Flexner partner Douglass Mitchell has left the firm to join Jenner & Block, joining his former partners Lee Wolosky and Dawn Smalls in jumping to the Chicago-founded firm.

Mitchell will be a partner in the firm’s commercial litigation, government controversies, and public policy litigation practices based in Washington.

He has worked with Wolosky in the past on a case seeking more than $2 billion in Iranian assets to benefit terrorism victims. Mitchell also represents clients in multi-jurisdictional business litigation involving mortgage fraud, racketeering, and organized crime.

“Doug is the nation’s foremost lawyer in enforcing U.S. terrorism judgments abroad and is experienced litigating cases against banks under the Anti-Terrorism Act,” Wolosky said in a statement.

Wolosky, a former U.S. ambassador and an influential Boies Schiller partner, and Smalls, who served in the Obama and Clinton administrations, moved to Jenner & Block in February.

Both firms have undergone leadership transitions in recent months.

Jenner & Block last week said firm chair Craig Martin stepped down from that position after a year and was replaced by Washington-based Thomas Perrelli.

Boies Schiller named a next generation of leaders in December by tapping New York-based Nick Gravante and London-based Natasha Harrison as managing partners alongside Boies and Jonathan Schiller, who have controlled the firm since its 1997 founding.

David Boies’ firm has has seen multiple lawyer departures in recent months, including New York-based partner Christopher Duffy joining Vinson & Elkins and New York-based counsel Joshua Libling joining litigation finance firm Validity Finance just this week.

Wolosky and Smalls currently serve as independent monitors of Deutsche Bank related to consent decrees the German bank entered into with the New York State Department of Financial Services, the New York Law Journal reported in October.

The consent decrees were related to allegations that the bank had allowed governments including Russia, Iran, and Syria to flout sanctions ordered by the U.S.