Mark Filip (DOJ)
Mark Filip, former Deputy Attorney General and partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, will aid BP as the Justice Department launches a criminal investigation against the company, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The criminal investigation into the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is still young but could lead to hefty fines for BP or even prison time for officials, the Journal said.
Filip, who left the Justice Department 18 month ago, will work with dozens of other defense attorneys representing the oil company, including fellow former Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, who is working to ready BP for congressional inquiries.
“Certainly he is known in that building…[but] it’s less of an issue of trading on his contacts and it’s more that he is just as good as can be,” Gill Soffer, a partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP and former Assistant U.S. Attorney, told the Journal.
During his stint as Deputy Attorney General, Filip handled mortgage-fraud prosecutions and revised white-collar-crime prosecution guidelines relating to attorney-client privilege in the investigations of corporations. He also served briefly as Acting Attorney General before Eric Holder’s confirmation.
BP tapped Filip along with Kirkland & Ellis partners Richard Godfrey, Andrew Langan and John Hickey Jr.
Filip will also coordinate with lawyers representing Transocean, including acting general counsel Rachel Clingman, a partner of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP.
