Latham & Watkins LLP1 is pleased to announce that Kevin Chambers has rejoined the firm’s Washington, D.C. office as a partner in the White Collar Defense & Investigations Practice and member of the Litigation & Trial Department. Chambers returns to Latham after serving as Director for COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement and Associate Deputy Attorney General at the US Department of Justice (DOJ). He brings substantial senior government experience across white collar investigations, litigation, and regulatory enforcement matters.
“We are delighted to welcome Kevin back to Latham,” said Daniel Lennon, Office Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins in Washington, D.C. “He is a gifted strategist whose depth of experience, credentials, and substantive abilities will make him an asset to clients facing the most difficult challenges.”
In his role leading the DOJ task force on pandemic-related fraud and financial misconduct, Chambers oversaw the Department’s efforts to identify, investigate, and prosecute pandemic relief-related fraud, including establishing nationwide strike teams to combat large scale fraud committed by criminal organizations and transnational actors. As Associate Deputy Attorney General, Chambers handled the Criminal Division portfolio for the Deputy Attorney General, including serving as co-chair of the Corporate Crime Advisory Group responsible for significant revisions to the Department’s policy for prosecuting corporations, executives, and individuals implicated in corporate criminal and civil misconduct.
Michele Johnson, Global Chair of Latham’s Litigation & Trial Department, added: “Kevin is a phenomenal addition to our Litigation & Trial team and we’re thrilled to welcome him back to Latham. His stellar negotiation skills, unique mix of government and private practice experience, and strategic approach make him a lawyer you want in your corner when a crisis strikes.”
Chambers was a partner at Latham until early 2021, when he joined the DOJ. At Latham, he represented individual and institutional clients in high-profile white collar, securities, and professional liability matters, including criminal and civil litigation and internal investigations. He represented public and private companies, including domestic and foreign affiliates of public accounting firms, defense contractors, energy companies, and major global retailers, as well as corporate boards of directors, in matters involving all types of government investigations. During his prior tenure at Latham, Chambers served as Local Co-Chair of the firm’s Washington, D.C. Litigation & Trial Department and Global Chair of the Diversity Leadership Committee.
“Kevin has led important anti-fraud efforts at DOJ, and he has a long record of demonstrated success in the public and private sector,” said Doug Greenburg, Global Chair of the firm’s White Collar Defense & Investigations Practice. “Clients will undoubtedly value his zealous advocacy, as well as his thoughtful counsel as he represents them in their most sensitive investigative and government-facing matters.”
Before joining Latham in 2014, Chambers served for four years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, where he prosecuted more than 250 criminal cases in the US District Court for the District of Columbia and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He was lead prosecutor in more than 60 trials and successfully argued four criminal appeals. Chambers prosecutorial experience included matters involving interstate drug trafficking operations, violent crime, and fraud against government agencies. Before his government service, Chambers practiced law in a major Washington, D.C. law firm’s securities enforcement department.
Chambers is the latest high-profile addition to the firm’s preeminent White Collar Defense & Investigations Practice, following the recent arrivals of former Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the US Department of Justice’s Criminal Division Nick McQuaid, former Deputy White House Counsel Danielle Conley and Jonathan Su, and leading defense lawyers Christopher Garcia and Raquel Kellert.
“After having the honor to work with an incredibly talented and devoted team at the DOJ, I am excited to rejoin Latham,” Chambers said. “The firm has a formidable and experienced white collar team, a culture that fosters teamwork and collegiality, and an unmatched global platform. I look forward to counseling the world’s leading companies, financial institutions, and executives through their most complex legal challenges.”
Chambers received his BS from the State University of New York at Albany and worked as an auditor at Ernst & Young for three years before earning his JD from Yale Law School. He clerked for Judge Harry Edwards of the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
