When the Department of Justice went after Houston-based Enron, three of the biggest players in the case were assistant attorney general Alice Fisher, Enron Task Force director Sean Berkowitz, and Kathryn Ruemmler, deputy director of the task force.
It was Georgetown law grad Ruemmler’s powerful four-hour closing argument that was credited with winning convictions of top executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling.
Now, a little more than two years after the verdicts, all three prosecutors are reaping their rewards—and at the same law firm, Latham & Watkins. Catholic U law graduate Fisher became the last of the three to join Latham, where she had worked earlier under her mentor, future Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.
At Justice, Fisher, Berkowitz, and Ruemmler, who at the time were all under 40, were making a reasonably handsome $100,000 to $150,000 a year. But the average profit for a partner at Latham & Watkins is $2.2 million.
Fisher’s return to Latham may signal that Chertoff could follow her back there as the Bush administration goes out of business.
More Washington connections: Skilling was represented in the corporate case by Latham’s archrival, O’Melveny & Myers, the firm led by Washington power broker A.B. Culvahouse, who vetted vice presidential selection Sarah Palin for John McCain.
This article first appeared in the November 2008 issue of The Washingtonian. For more articles from that issue, click here.
Enron Prosecutors Get Nice Payday
When the Department of Justice went after Houston-based Enron, three of the biggest players in the case were assistant attorney general Alice Fisher, Enron Task Force director Sean Berkowitz, and Kathryn Ruemmler, deputy director of the task force.
It was Georgetown law grad Ruemmler’s powerful four-hour closing argument that was credited with winning convictions of top executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling.
Now, a little more than two years after the verdicts, all three prosecutors are reaping their rewards—and at the same law firm, Latham & Watkins. Catholic U law graduate Fisher became the last of the three to join Latham, where she had worked earlier under her mentor, future Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.
At Justice, Fisher, Berkowitz, and Ruemmler, who at the time were all under 40, were making a reasonably handsome $100,000 to $150,000 a year. But the average profit for a partner at Latham & Watkins is $2.2 million.
Fisher’s return to Latham may signal that Chertoff could follow her back there as the Bush administration goes out of business.
More Washington connections: Skilling was represented in the corporate case by Latham’s archrival, O’Melveny & Myers, the firm led by Washington power broker A.B. Culvahouse, who vetted vice presidential selection Sarah Palin for John McCain.
This article first appeared in the November 2008 issue of The Washingtonian. For more articles from that issue, click here.
More>> Capital Comment Blog | News & Politics | Society Photos
Most Popular in News & Politics
What It Felt Like for a Virginia Marching Band to Win Metallica’s Contest
What’s IN and OUT in DC Restaurant Trends for 2024
Introducing 8 of DC’s Most Stylish
Best of Washington 2023: Things to Eat, Drink, Do, and Know Right Now
Washingtonian Magazine
May 2024: Great Getaways
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
13 Major Concerts and Music Festivals in the DC Area This Spring
Mary Timony on Her Emotional New Album, “Untame the Tiger”
The Beatles in DC: A New Exhibit in Maryland Looks Back on Early Beatlemania
Northern Virginia High School Wins Metallica’s Marching Band Competition
More from News & Politics
These Volunteers Wake Up at Dawn to Collect DC’s Dead—and Injured—Birds
Guest List: 5 People We’d Love to Hang Out With This May
Democrats and Republicans Pass Balls, Not Bills, at Congressional Soccer Game
3 New Memoirs by Prominent Women
Everything You Wanted to Know About Urban Bear Sightings but Were Afraid to Ask, Because Who Wants to Get That Close to a Bear?
Rockville Police Are Searching for Culprits of a $4,500 Pickleball Paddle Heist
Dozens of Vintage Planes Will Fly Over the National Mall This Saturday
PHOTOS: “Rupaul’s Drag Race” Queens Work It at the National Mall