Greg Craig

Gregory B. Craig has more than 35 years of experience representing corporations, individuals and sovereign entities in a range of matters, including criminal and civil litigations, and congressional and government agency investigations. He represents clients before a variety of agencies, such as the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and the Treasury and State Departments. From January 2009 to January 2010, Mr. Craig served as President Obama’s first White House counsel. In 2013, Mr. Craig was named one of “The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America” by The National Law Journal. Recent cases include: defending the Principality of Monaco against a plaintiff in a breach-of-contract case in the federal courts of California; writing and arguing the appeal of the former governor of Alabama before the Eleventh Circuit; representing the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in a grand jury investigation; representing the former president of a South American country in connection with assertion of head-of-state immunity to quash a subpoena to testify; advising an international beverage company whose promotional activities were under investigation by congressional committees and whose executives were required to testify; representing the CEO of a leading real estate development firm under U.S. government investigation for allegations of false statement, false claims and fraud; representing an international logistics company which, because of contract disputes with the U.S. government, has been accused of fraud, false claims and false statement; representing a former U.S. senator and candidate for president in connection with a DOJ investigation of alleged campaign finance violations; representing an individual alleged to have violated campaign finance laws by making illegal contributions during the 2012 presidential election; advising a global energy company seeking to resolve a 30-year-old dispute with a Latin American government; advising the top executives of a bank who were required to testify before Senate and House committees about the bank’s practices leading up to the 2008 financial crisis; representing a leading manufacturer of medical devices under investigation by the SEC and DOJ for alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA); representing a former top executive in a global energy company under investigation by the SEC and DOJ for alleged violations of the FCPA; representing a senior diplomat from a Near Eastern country charged in Washington, D.C. with human trafficking; serving as rule-of-law consultant to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and writing a report on due process issues associated with a high-profile prosecution; representing a national chain of fast-food restaurants under investigation for alleged hiring of illegal aliens; representing a leading internationally known environmental activist being sought for prosecution by foreign governments and in jeopardy of extradition from the United States; seeking to secure the release of an Israeli citizen arrested, tried and sentenced in the Republic of Georgia for alleged acts of bribery of government officials; advising an individual implicated in an investigation by the SEC for insider trading; and advising an independent government regulatory agency in litigation arising from repeated lawsuits brought by plaintiff seeking to change agency policy. In addition, over the course of his career, Mr. Craig has been involved with some of the most high-profile and complex legal controversies of our time, including the representation of: Juan Miguel Gonzalez, Elian Gonzalez’s father, in administrative and court proceedings involving Mr. Gonzalez’s effort to regain custody of his son; Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in connection with the trial of his nephew, William Kennedy Smith, in Palm Beach, Fla.; John Hinckley, who was charged with the attempted assassination of President Reagan; Alexander Solzhenitsyn in a libel case in federal court in San Francisco and in other matters through 1983; Richard Helms, a former director of Central Intelligence, who was under grand jury investigation for perjury; the first FBI agent ever to be indicted, who was accused of illegal wiretapping, breaking and entering, and mail opening in connection with the FBI investigation of the Weather Underground; The Washington Post Company and various reporters in connection with the Watergate scandal and the grand jury investigation of Vice President Spiro Agnew; and two Chicago policemen in extradition proceedings in federal court in Chicago; brought a declaratory judgment action on their behalf in federal court in Washington, D.C., which resulted in a federal judge finding the U.S. extradition statute of 1848 unconstitutional. Other Experience: In September 1998, President Clinton appointed Mr. Craig to be assistant to the president and special counsel in the White House, where Mr. Craig led the team that was assembled to defend against impeachment. Mr. Craig also was a member of President Clinton’s trial team in the U.S. Senate and presented the defense with respect to Count One during that trial. In 1997, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright appointed Mr. Craig to be one of her senior advisers, and he served as her director of policy planning from 1997 to 1998. From 1984 through 1988, he served as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s senior adviser on defense, foreign policy and national security issues. Mr. Craig has served on the boards of many nongovernmental organizations and foundations, including The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (vice chair); the International Human Rights Law Group (chair); the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial; and the American Security Project. He repeatedly has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Who’s Who Legal — Commercial Litigation and Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America. Bar Admissions U.S. Supreme Court U.S. Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh and Eleventh Circuits District of Columbia U.S. District Courts for the District of Columbia, Central and Northern Districts of California, District of Connecticut, Southern District of New York, District of Maryland, Eastern District of Virginia, Central and Eastern Districts of Michigan, Southern District of Florida, and Central District of Alabama Education J.D., Yale Law School, 1972 Diploma in Historical Studies, Cambridge University, 1968 The Lionel DeJersey Harvard Fellowship ("The John Harvard Fellow"), 1968 A.B., Harvard College, 1967 (magna cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa) Associations Member, Board of Trustees, German Marshall Fund of the United States Government Service White House Counsel (2009-2010) Assistant to the President and Special Counsel, The White House (1998-1999) Director of Policy Planning, United States State Department (1997-1998) Senior Adviser on Defense, Foreign Policy and National Security, Sen. Edward Kennedy (1984-1988) Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP