Scoop: Bill Barr's law firm is adding former Trump White House lawyers Pat Cipollone and others
Published Date: 1/17/2024
Source: axios.com

The Torridon Group — a law and consulting firm founded by former Attorney General William Barr and former Facebook general counsel Ted Ullyot — is adding a team of new lawyers, including former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and former deputy White House counsels Pat Philbin and Kate Todd.

Driving the news: Barr told Axios the firm, based in Virginia, will add a Washington office now that it's equipped to take on "every facet of litigation, regulatory and enforcement proceedings, investigations, crisis management, and strategic counseling."


Why it matters: Barr said Torridon lawyers have the perfect mix of public and private experience for complicated, high-stakes matters. But he said it's still a "smaller boutique firm that can give individual attention at reasonable rates."

What's happening: Also joining Torridon are Tara Helfman and John Coghlan, as partners; Chase Harrington and Kyle West, as associates; plus former White House counsel Fred Fielding and former acting Drug Enforcement Administration head Tim Shea, who'll be of counsel.

Zoom in: Cipollone was White House counsel during the final two years of the Trump administration.

  • Philbin has long experience litigating disputes for Fortune 100 companies, responding to congressional investigations, plus crisis management involving front-page legal issues in over 30 years of practice, his bio says.
  • Todd was deputy counsel to Trump and associate counsel to President George W. Bush, and led the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, the litigation arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
  • Fielding was White House counsel to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, served in the Nixon White House as deputy counsel and associate counsel, and was a member of the 9/11 Commission.

Go deeper: Barr says Trump's First Amendment argument in Jan. 6 case is not valid