Gorelick_Jamie

Jamie Gorelick

Gorelick_Jamie

Jamie Gorelick

Partner

  • Chair, Regulatory and Government Affairs Department
Washington DC + 1 202 663 6500

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 2026. 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.

Experience

    • Ms. Gorelick, who frequently counsels boards on governance issues, is the Lead Independent Director of Amazon and Chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee at Verisign.
    • Ms. Gorelick is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was Co-Chair of the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Advisory Council. 
    • She was a founder of and served on the Leadership Council of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. 
    • She was President of the District of Columbia Bar from 1992 to 1993 and has held leadership roles in the American Bar Association, including Co-Chairing the Commission on Legal Ethics 20/20. 
    • She served on Harvard’s Board of Overseers during the early 2000s and was the Raytheon Lecturer on Business Ethics at Bentley College in 2004. 
    • She is a frequent lecturer on corporate governance and business ethics and has written extensively on legal ethics and document preservation. 
    • She has written numerous scholarly articles and is the co-author of a leading treatise on the maintenance of corporate documents, Destruction of Evidence (Wiley 1983). 
    • She was a Member of the Best Lawyers Board of Advisors and the Reuters Editorial Advisory Board. 

Recognition

  • Award Text

    Lifetime Achievement Award

    National Law Journal

    2025

  • Award Text

    Lawyer of the Year, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024 and Listed Among the Best Lawyers in America for Litigation, Criminal Defense and Regulatory Enforcement

    Best Lawyers in America®

    2005-2025

  • Award Text

    Named 2019 Hall of Fame Honoree

    ChIPs

    2019

  • Named to the Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America list (2026)
  • Named to the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD)'s Directorship 100 list as one of the most influential leaders in corporate governance (2025)
  • Recognized in Who's Who Legal - Investigations guide (2024)
  • Named among DC’s Most Influential People Shaping Policy (2024) and a Lawyer Lifetime Achievement Member by Washingtonian magazine (2023)
  • Best Lawyers in America (Bet-the-Company Litigation; Criminal Defense: White-Collar; Commercial Litigation; Litigation: Antitrust; and Litigation: Regulatory Enforcement) (2005–2025)
  • Named Washington DC Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America (2018, 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024)
  • Consistently recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a Litigation Star
  • Honored with the Laurie A. Miller Leadership Award for the Advancement of Women in White Collar Defense by The Women in White Collar Defense Association (2021)
  • Honored with the American Bar Foundation's Outstanding Service Award (2020)
  • Named a ChIPs’ Hall of Fame Honoree for Advancing Women in Law, Technology and Government (2019)
  • Recommended by The Legal 500 United States, since the publication's inception for her government relations and energy regulatory practices (2007–2019)
  • Selected for inclusion in Washington DC Super Lawyers (2007–2025)
  • Regularly recognized by Chambers USA Guide for Government relations and congressional investigations
  • The American Lawyer's Lifetime Achiever Award (2018)
  • Tahirih Justice Center's Founders Award (2017)
  • Named to the Ethisphere Institute's list of Attorneys Who Matter in the Private Practice and Consulting category (2017)
  • DirectWomen Sandra Day O'Connor Board Excellence Award (2016)
  • The National Association of Corporate Directors' (NACD) Directorship 100 Honoree (2014, 2016)
  • Among Washingtonian magazine's Washington's Top Attorneys for Criminal Defense/White Collar and National Security (2013, 2015)
  • Selected as one of the Outstanding Women Lawyers by The National Law Journal for being among the most accomplished female attorneys working in the legal profession (2015)
  • Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum's Reflections of Hope Award (2015)
  • Named a Regulatory and Compliance Trailblazer by The National Law Journal (2015)
  • Named one of Washingtonian's top 30 Stars of the Bar (2009, 2011)
  • Laurie A. Miller Leadership Award for the Advancement of Women in White Collar Defense from The Women in White Collar Defense Association 
  • Recognized by the National Association of Women Lawyers with the Mansfield Award (2011)
  • Named by The Washington Lawyer as one of Washington DC's Legends of the Law (2011)
  • Named to the Ethisphere Institute's list of Attorneys Who Matter in Compliance as the only lawyer specially listed for the defense industry (2011)
  • Featured in "Legally Speaking," The Washingtonian.com's Q&A series featuring conversations with Washington's top lawyers (2011)
  • Named Legend of the Bar by the DC Bar (2010)
  • Good Scout Award by the National Capital Area Boy Scouts (2008)
  • Recognized in Legal Times as one of the Greatest Washington Lawyers in the Past 30 Years, honored as a "champion"—a lawyer whose community and public service has set an example that other DC lawyers should follow (2008)
  • Listed among National Law Journal's 50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America (2007)
  • Recognized in Washingtonian's Power 150 (2007)
  • Named among Washingtonian's 100 Most Powerful Women (2006) and one of the Top 30 Lawyers in Washington (2004)
  • Named the Bar Association of the District of Columbia Lawyer of the Year (2004)
  • Recognized among Fortune's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business (1998–2003)
  • DC Chamber of Commerce's Corporate Leadership Award (2003)
  • Women's Bar Association Star of the Bar Award (2003)
  • NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund Aiming High Award (2002)
  • Named Forbes.com's America's Top Businesswomen (2001)
  • ADL Leon and Marilyn Klinghoffer Memorial Foundation Award (received on behalf of Clinton Administration)
  • American Jewish Committee Judge Learned Hand Award (1999)
  • Wickersham Award for Exceptional Public Service and Dedication to the Legal Profession (1998)
  • Director of Central Intelligence Award (1997)
  • Department of Justice Edmund J. Randolph Award (1997)
  • Equal Justice Works Outstanding Advocate of the Year (1997)
  • American Bar Association Margaret Brent Award (1997)
  • Radcliffe College Alumnae Recognition Award (1997)
  • Secretary of Defense Distinguished Service Award (1994)
  • Prominent Woman in International Law (1994)
  • Women's Bar Association Women Lawyer of the Year (1993)
  • Secretary of Energy Outstanding Service Award (1980)
  • Money magazine's 50 Smartest Women in the Money Business

Insights & News

View all of Jamie's insights & news

Credentials

  • Education

    • JD, Harvard Law School, 1975

      cum laude

    • BA, Harvard University, 1972

      magna cum laude Radcliffe Orator

  • Admissions

    • District of Columbia

    • US Supreme Court

  • Government Experience

    • Department of Homeland Security

      Homeland Security Advisory Council

      Co-Chair

    • Department of Defense

      Defense Policy Board and Defense Legal Policy Board

      Member

    • Department of Justice

      Office of the Deputy Attorney General

      Deputy Attorney General

    • Department of Defense

      Office of the Secretary of Defense

      General Counsel

    • Department of Energy

      Assistant to the Secretary and Counsel to the Deputy Secretary

    • Federal Commissions and Task Forces

      Commissioner, National Commission on Terrorist Threats Upon the United States ; Member, National Security Advisory Panel, Central Intelligence Agency ; Member, President’s Review of Intelligence Committee, Executive Office of the President ; Co-Chair, Advisory Committee to the Presidential Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection, Executive Office of the President ; Member, Commission on Science and Security, Department of Energy ; Member, Continuity of Government Commission, Federal Commissions and Task Forces

Credentials

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