Karl Racine

Career

Karl Racine, the former and first-elected Attorney General of Washington, D.C. leads bet-the-company litigation, investigations, and enforcement actions, while also leading the firm’s State Attorneys General practice.

Karl is a trailblazer. He built the D.C. AG’s office into the top public law firm in America and established himself as a leader among U.S. attorneys general. Recognizing his sophisticated work and impressive results on national issues, the bipartisan National Association of Attorneys General awarded Karl the Kelley-Wyman Award—the top award given to an AG.

As AG, Karl focused locally on preserving affordable housing, cracking down on slumlords, battling wage theft, protecting consumers, reforming the juvenile justice system, and safeguarding public integrity. Nationally, his office rose to prominence on emerging issues that intersect with artificial intelligence, big data, privacy, competition, and ESG. Importantly, Karl's work made a name for D.C. as a model jurisdiction in consumer protection matters.

Karl draws on over 30 years of legal and leadership experience. Before becoming AG, he forged a distinguished private practice, becoming the first African-American managing partner of a top-100 American law firm. With a long history of success and high-profile work, he has defended leading companies in civil litigation, white-collar investigations and criminal matters. Previously, he served as Associate White House Counsel to President Bill Clinton and a D.C. Public Defender.

Karl serves on the board of directors of DXC Technology, a Fortune 500 global IT services business that helps clients modernize operations and drive innovation and Safe Harbor Financial, a financial services technology firm that serves the regulated cannabis industry.

Born in Haiti, Karl came to D.C. at the age of three. He earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, where he captained the basketball team, and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.