Michael Dreeben

Michael Dreeben
Personal details
Bornc. 1954 (age 69–70)
EducationUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison (BA)
University of Chicago (MA)
Duke University (JD)

Michael R. Dreeben (born c. 1954) is a former Deputy Solicitor General who was in charge of the U.S. Department of Justice criminal docket before the United States Supreme Court.[1][2] He is recognized as an expert in U.S. criminal law.

Dreeben currently serves as Counselor to Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Dreeben had a lengthy career in the Solicitor General's office, starting as an Assistant in 1988, then promoted as a Deputy Solicitor General in 1995, serving until 2019.[3] In his first case before the Supreme Court, United States v. Halper (1989), he was opposed by John Roberts, who later became Chief Justice.[4] In 2016 Dreeben became only the seventh person to argue 100 cases before the Supreme Court.[5] In 2017, he was enlisted by special counsel Robert Mueller to assist the investigation of Russia's interventions into the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[6] By December 2023 he had joined the Smith special counsel investigation of former president Donald Trump, as the special counsel petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to swiftly decide whether Trump has immunity from criminal prosecution.[7]

Dreeben is a Distinguished Lecturer at Georgetown Law, and has previously taught at Harvard Law School and Duke University Law School.[8] In 2020 he became a partner at O'Melveny & Myers.[9]

  1. ^ "Former Deputy Solicitor General Michael Dreeben to Join Georgetown Law this Fall". Georgetown Law. 2019-08-12. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  2. ^ Samuelsohn, Darren (2019-06-19). "Former Mueller counsel Michael Dreeben leaving top DOJ post". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  3. ^ "Appellate Issues" (PDF). United States Attorneys Bulletin. 61 (1): 13. January 2013.
  4. ^ Walsh, Mark (April 27, 2016). "A view from the Courtroom: Official actions and reactions". SCOTUSblog.
  5. ^ Overley, Jeff (May 9, 2016). "100 Oral Arguments: How A DOJ Atty Made High Court History". Law360. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  6. ^ Mauro, Tony (June 9, 2017). "Mueller Enlists Top Criminal Law Expert for Russia Probe". The National Law Journal. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  7. ^ Mark Sherman; Eric Tucker (December 11, 2023). "Special counsel Jack Smith asks the Supreme Court to rule quickly on whether Trump can be prosecuted". Associated Press.
  8. ^ "Michael Dreeben".
  9. ^ "Michael Dreeben - O'Melveny".