John Lausch

Practice Areas

John Lausch is a partner in the Government, Regulatory & Internal Investigations Practice Group in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. John is the former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and has deep experience in both private practice and government service. John is an accomplished leader, dedicated counselor and experienced trial lawyer who focuses his practice on government enforcement defense, internal investigations and other litigation matters.

John’s experience in private practice includes representing companies and individuals before various governmental entities including the Department of Justice, and leading confidential internal investigations for companies and/or their boards of directors on a variety of matters. These include matters involving allegations of fraud (including health care fraud), corruption (including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act), environmental crimes, antitrust violations, and other misconduct, as well as investigations and potential litigation involving industrial accidents.

Career

John is a former high-ranking U.S. Department of Justice official with deep experience in both private practice and public service. John returned to Kirkland in 2023 after serving as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, where he led an office of more than 300 lawyers and staff members investigating and prosecuting federal criminal offenses, as well as representing the U.S. in affirmative and defensive civil litigation. John also served on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC) – a select group of U.S. Attorneys who advise the Attorney General on policy, management and operational issues impacting the DOJ nationwide. John spent the prior eighteen years working as a partner at Kirkland, and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.

Personal

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 1996

Harvard University, A.B., cum laude, 1992.