WilmerHale is pleased to announce that Alejandro N. Mayorkas, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has joined the firm. He brings a wealth of experience in both public service and the private sector that aligns precisely with clients' needs.
Mr. Mayorkas has served the nation as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security since December 2013. There, he helped run a department with nearly 230,000 employees and a $60 billion budget that is charged with some of the most complex and critical responsibilities of government, including preventing and responding to terrorist attacks on US soil, enforcing the nation's immigration laws, enhancing both the government and private sector's cybersecurity, facilitating lawful trade and travel, and helping stricken communities recover from disasters.
Prior to becoming Deputy Secretary, Mr. Mayorkas served as Director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the DHS agency that administers the largest immigration system in the world with a workforce of 18,000 and a $3 billion annual budget, from August 2009 to December 2013.
Mr. Mayorkas also served as US Attorney for the Central District of California, an office of 240 Assistant US Attorneys in Los Angeles and six other counties, where he was deeply involved in the investigation and prosecution of a wide range of matters, including financial fraud, public corruption, cybercrime and international money laundering, and oversaw prosecutions of national significance. After leaving the US Attorney's Office, Mr. Mayorkas developed a vibrant civil litigation and internal investigations practice representing a wide range of corporate clients across the country.
Mr. Mayorkas now brings his enormous breadth of experience to WilmerHale. While he will be based in the firm's Washington DC office, he will also devote considerable time to the firm's successful and growing team and capabilities on the West Coast.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have Ali join our WilmerHale team,” said Robert Novick, co-managing partner of the firm. “He has virtually unrivaled experience in both the public and private sectors, and great strengths as a counselor, an advocate and an investigator, that equip him exceptionally well to understand and serve our clients' needs from multiple perspectives.”
At WilmerHale, Mr. Mayorkas will be integral to the firm's deep civil and criminal litigation and internal investigations capabilities and augment the firm's formidable strength in strategic counseling, crisis management and national security, especially cybersecurity. His experience with immigration, trade, travel and foreign investment in the United States will also be valuable to clients with global business issues.
As the Obama Administration's highest ranking Cuban American, Mr. Mayorkas was on Latino Leaders' 2015 list of the nation's most influential Latinos. In 2008, National Law Journal recognized him as one of the “50 most Influential Minority Lawyers in America.”
“It has been a privilege and an honor to serve the American people as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security,” Mr. Mayorkas said. “It has been the opportunity of a lifetime. Now, I look forward to returning to private practice at a firm whose lawyers I have long respected for their legal acumen, their inexhaustible commitment to their clients, and their tradition of honoring public service.”
Mr. Mayorkas received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and his law degree from Loyola Law School.