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Senior Counsel

Jamie Gorelick is widely regarded as one of the nation’s most distinguished lawyers. As Law.com recently wrote, “Think of some of the most defining moments in American history over the last five decades, from Watergate to the 9/11 attacks, and attorney Jamie Gorelick has often been there in the moment or aftermath, fact-finding or working to advance a client's interest. Think of some of the biggest disasters and crises, and the Brooklyn, New York native has been there, too, representing individuals and companies in the legal crosshairs of the government.”

Ms. Gorelick chaired WilmerHale’s Regulatory and Government Affairs Department from 2015 to 2025. She has steered numerous Fortune 100 companies, major universities and public figures through major crises and sits on the boards of Amazon and Verisign. She chaired the board of The Urban Institute for ten years. Her practice handles a diverse range of matters, including antitrust, environmental regulation, securities enforcement and national security regulation and often involves issues of climate and alleged discrimination.

Ms. Gorelick was one of the longest serving Deputy Attorneys General of the United States, the second highest position in the Department of Justice, overseeing all litigation and law enforcement divisions. Prior to that, she was General Counsel of the Department of Defense, helping to structure the consolidation of the defense industry and earning the Secretary of Defense Distinguished Service Medal. Her government service also includes senior roles at the Department of Energy and appointments to numerous national security advisory boards, including the bipartisan 9/11 Commission, the Homeland Security Advisory Council, the CIA’s National Security Advisory Panel, former President Bush’s Review of Intelligence Committee, and former President Clinton’s Advisory Committee to the Presidential Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection.

Her crisis management experience includes representing BP in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, advising Norfolk Southern after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and counseling Duke University following a 2006 scandal involving its lacrosse team. She also advised former Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner on federal ethics and anti-nepotism laws during the presidential transition in late 2016 and early 2017.

Ms. Gorelick is one of the few people who has not only prepared witnesses for congressional hearings but also questioned witnesses and been a witness herself in various governmental roles. In the last two years alone, she has helped prepare senior executives for hearings involving subjects as varied as industrial and environmental accidents, telecommunications mergers, technology issues and environmental concerns.

During her distinguished career, Jamie Gorelick has sat on the boards of the United Technologies Corporation, Schlumberger Limited, the Harvard Overseers,  the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Urban Institute, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, Legal Affairs, the National Women’s Law Center, America’s Promise Alliance, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and the National Park Foundation.

In 2025, the National Law Journal honored Ms. Gorelick with a Lifetime Achievement Award. She has been consistently recognized by Chambers USA, Benchmark Litigation, and The Legal 500 United States, and has been named Lawyer of the Year multiple times by Best Lawyers in America. In 2018, The American Lawyer named her a Lifetime Achiever.

District of Columbia New York US Supreme Court

JD, Harvard Law School, 1975

BA, Harvard University, 1972