Former Kirkland Partner Named Justice’s Acting No. 3 Official

Another former partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP now holds a top Justice Department position.

The DOJ said May 14 that Attorney General William Barr appointed his former aide, Claire Murray, to temporarily serve as the department’s No. 3 official — overseeing thousands of attorneys who work on civil cases. She will take over for Jesse Panuccio, who left the principal deputy associate AG position and the DOJ earlier this month.

Murray spent about two years as a partner in Kirkland’s litigation practice before joining the Trump Administration in 2017 as special assistant and associate counsel to the president. She ...