Robert Luskin, Influential D.C. Litigator is Currently Representing Chris Christie’s Reelection Campaign

Professional Overview

Robert D. Luskin is a partner at Washington D.C.'s Patton Boggs. He is one of the most highly regarded and best-known litigators in Washington. Mr. Luskin specializes in complex civil and criminal litigation at both the trial court and appellate level. As an attorney who served in government and later in private practice, he has represented clients in virtually every high-profile case in Washington for the past thirty-five years.

From 1980 to 1982, Mr. Luskin served as a Special Counsel to the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). During this time, he was responsible for legal and policy matters regarding the Organized Crime Strike Forces. Mr. Luskin also supervised and reviewed complex undercover operations.

He has special experience in cases involving allegations of official corruption. While at the DOJ, Mr. Luskin assisted in supervising the ABSCAM investigation, which resulted in the conviction of many members of Congress. He also represented the DOJ in hearings before Congress concerning the investigation.

Since entering private practice, Mr. Luskin has represented the senior staff of a U.S. Senator in the Keating Five Senate Ethics Investigation, a Cabinet Officer and senior White House officials of both parties in criminal investigations by Independent Counsels and the DOJ, as well as other senior government officials in criminal, civil, and Congressional investigations. He successfully represented a sitting United States District Judge in a criminal trial and appeal. Mr. Luskin secured the reversal of his client's conviction before the U.S. Supreme Court and the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He also successfully represented Karl Rove in the Special Counsel investigation of a leak of the identity of a Central Intelligence Agency officer and a member of Congress in an investigation arising from the prosecution of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

In addition, Mr. Luskin has extensive experience in developing corporate compliance programs, and representing corporations and individuals in issues concerning parallel criminal, civil, and administrative proceedings. He developed and administered a compliance program for a major international labor union under the terms of an agreement reached with the DOJ. Mr. Luskin also has special expertise in criminal and civil actions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He currently represents some of the largest companies in Europe in front of the DOJ and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mr. Luskin is a former President of the Harvard Law School Association of the District of Columbia and he was a Chairman of the Committee on RICO, Forfeitures, and Alternative Remedies of the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section. He was also a member of the D.C. Circuit Judicial Conference. Mr. Luskin also served as a lecturer at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he has taught courses in labor racketeering and advanced criminal law. He is also a member of the faculty of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy at the Georgetown University Law Center.

Mr. Luskin was born and raised in Chicago, IL. He graduated with an A.B. magna cum laude in government from Harvard College in 1972. Mr. Luskin also earned his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1979, where he was an Editor of the Harvard Law Review, Volume 90 and Supreme Court Note Editor, Volume 91. Between college and law school, he attended Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, where he was a D.Phil. candidate in English Literature. While at Harvard, Mr. Luskin worked as a Teaching Fellow for Professor Richard E. Neustadt at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and Professor Archibald Cox in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. In 1984, he took a leave from practicing law to work as a senior speechwriter on the staff of Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate Geraldine A. Ferraro.

Mr. Luskin is a proud father of two sons and two stepdaughters. His oldest son returned home from serving two tours with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. Mr. Luskin's youngest son is a second year law student at Harvard, where he enrolled after working for two years as an investigator for the public defender's service in D.C. He is committed to a career as a defense lawyer for indigent defendants.

When the fearless attorney isn't working, Mr. Luskin enjoys flying an airplane and riding motorcycles. He is an avid Washington Capitals fan.

Mr. Luskin's Memories and Motivations

Does Mr. Luskin have a most memorable law school experience? He noted:

"My most memorable law school experience was working as a teaching assistant to Professor Archibald Cox in his undergraduate course on the U.S. Constitution. One day, Professor Cox visited my section while I was trying to push some left-ish position on the commerce clause. My students were ignoring me, jaws slack, eyeballs rolling back. Professor Cox asked what I was talking about. I told him the subject, and he then repeated pretty much what I'd said before he walked in. They wrote down every word. I told him afterward and he laughed so hard he cried and confessed, afterwards, that he missed 1968."

He was asked if he received any awards or participated in activities that influenced his decision to go into the law. "I decided to go to law school after working for a few years as a reporter at the Providence Journal (where I won various awards for spot and feature reporting). To put it simply, I decided that I would rather 'do' than 'watch.' When I attended law school, there was no such thing as internships."

So what is the best part of Mr. Luskin's job? "The best part of my job is that criminal law is a very small world and relationships among defense lawyers and between defense lawyers and prosecutors are almost always personal, cordial, collegial, and lacking in the silly, posturing, pointless bullshit that characterizes a lot of civil litigation."

What is he known for professionally? What does Mr. Luskin have a knack for? "I am known best, I think, for representing high profile public officials (Karl Rove, a Deputy Chief of Staff to Pres. Clinton; several federal judges; former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt; etc.) I think I have a knack for talking to prosecutors without appearing to be an asshole."

What does he think about criminal defense law today? "I love practicing criminal defense law. I am concerned, however, that a lot of folks in the white collar bar don't understand that 'defense' is part of the job description. A lot of people don't seem to understand that it is possible to say 'no' to the government."

If he weren't a lawyer, what would Mr. Luskin probably be doing? "I'd still be a reporter."

Where does he see himself in five years time? "Doing more or less the same thing."

What motivates Mr. Luskin to be an attorney everyday? "I love my work."

How does one of the best civil and criminal attorneys want to be remembered? Mr. Luskin jokingly stated, "Something other than as Karl Rove's lawyer (or Lance Armstrong's)."

Representing Judge Robert Aguilar, The ABSCAM Investigation and Being a Lawyer in Government Service vs. Private Practice

For more than three decades, Mr. Luskin has represented clients in virtually every high-profile matter in D.C. Is there any case that stands out? He acknowledged:

"Certainly the defense of Judge Robert Aguilar stands out, if for no other reason that it lasted more than a decade and included a district court trial, a partially successful appeal to a panel of the 9th circuit, a successful en banc appeal, a successful supreme court case (on the government's cert petition), followed by a another, successful trip to the 9th circuit en banc, with the ultimate result that the court dismissed the indictment with prejudice."

How does it feel to secure the reversal of your client's conviction before the U.S. Supreme Court? "Actually we secured the reversal of the conviction before the 9th Circuit en banc. The government petitioned for certioriari; it was granted. On the principal issue before the court - the construction of the obstruction of justice statute, 18 USC 1503 - we prevailed and made good and important law. So, in simplest terms, we managed to preserve in the U.S. Supreme Court."

While at the DOJ, Mr. Luskin helped supervise the ABSCAM investigation. Was this investigation one of his greatest accomplishments as an attorney? "My role in ABSCAM was relatively limited - I helped supervise the investigation and prosecutions and I prepared the DOJ's internal review of the investigation. Others - investigators and prosecutors who investigated and tried the cases - can talk about the case as one of their greatest accomplishments. Not me."

What is the difference between being a lawyer in government service and a lawyer in private practice? "The principal one is the difference between prosecuting people and defending them."

Special Counsel to the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the U.S. DOJ, Teaching at University of Virginia School of Law and Representing the Chris Christie Reelection Campaign

Mr. Luskin was a Special Counsel to the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the U.S. DOJ. Hollywood has portrayed the mafia in movies like the Goodfellas and Donnie Brasco, but you rarely hear from government officials how they are cracking down on the mob. How ingrained is the mafia in the U.S.? Is this a problem that government officials are working on? "The government has made enormous strides in the last 30 years in fighting the mafia. The LCN remains a significant threat in a number of geographical areas - Chicago, NYC - and in a number of economic sectors. But by every objective measure, the government's fight against the mafia has been a tremendous and unqualified success."

Mr. Luskin has been a lecturer at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he has taught courses in advanced criminal law and labor racketeering. What motivates him to teach? "The single biggest joy from teaching is to be around people who share enthusiasm for the law - people who still find the ideas exciting. It is a sad truth that most lawyers and even most judges are bored by what they do. Law students are not; and the opportunity to be around folks who are not jaded about the law or the practice of law is invigorating."

He is currently representing Nicole Davidman Drewniak, a fundraiser for the Christie reelection campaign and the state GOP. How is this case going for Mr. Luskin's client? How does he think this will be resolved for his client? "Much too early to say. We represent the Christie Reelection Campaign, the state Republican Committee, and Ms. Drewniak in her official capacity. In each instance, our principal task right now is to preserve and produce relevant documents to the government."

Mr. Luskin's Mentor, Pro Bono Work and Final Thoughts

Does Mr. Luskin have a mentor? "My mentor was the late Judge Louis Oberdorfer (US District Court for DC) the smartest, most accomplished, and most down to earth lawyer I've ever met. He taught me how to think like a real lawyer."

Does he handle any pro bono work? "I have consistently devoted about 10 percent of my time to pro bono activities."

Please see this article to find out if litigation is right for you: Why Most Attorneys Have No Business Being Litigators: Fifteen Reasons Why You Should Not Be a Litigator

Is there anything else Mr. Luskin would like to share personally or professionally? He admitted:

"I am most proud of having served nearly 18 years devising and then running an anti-mafia program for the Laborers International Union of North America. Over a decade and a half, we have thrown out hundreds of members and associates of organized crime who had used the union as an instrument to prey on the most vulnerable members of the workforce. Everyone involved in this program (the attorneys who worked with me - and the prosecutors at the DOJ and in the US Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Illinois) look upon this as I do: the very best thing we have done as lawyers."