Jenner & Block Names David W. DeBruin Washington, D.C. Office Managing Partner

WASHINGTON – Jenner & Block has named Partner David W. DeBruin the Managing Partner of the Firm’s Washington, D.C. office.  Mr. DeBruin is a highly regarded litigator who has been at Jenner & Block for more than 26 years.

“I am very honored to assume this role and to lead the continued growth of our Washington office in key areas, including our prestigious Supreme Court and appellate practice, our content, media and entertainment practice, and our commercial litigation, government contracts and grants, and other key practice areas,” Mr. DeBruin said.

“David’s leadership skills, dedication to his clients, and values make him the ideal choice to lead our Washington, D.C. office,” said Susan C. Levy, Jenner & Block’s Managing Partner.  “We are thrilled to have him take on this important role.”

Mr. DeBruin will assume the role held by Partner Michael B. DeSanctis since 2009.  Mr. DeSanctis was a central figure in the development and strengthening of the Firm’s Washington office and its preeminent practice groups.  Mr. DeSanctis played a pivotal role in helping the office to expand despite the departure of several key partners to serve in the Obama Administration, including former Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli and current Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli, Jr.  Mr. DeSanctis will continue to be involved in Firm management as a member of the Management Committee and as Co-Chair of the Election Law and Redistricting Practice.

The Firm’s Washington, D.C. office was at the heart of a number of notable client victories over the last 12 months.  Attorneys in Jenner & Block’s D.C. office secured a major win for the Firm’s video game industry clients when the United States Supreme Court struck down a California law that would have restricted the sale or rental of purportedly violent or deviant video and computer games to anyone under the age of 18.  Another notable victory came in an April 5, 2012, ruling broadly hailed as a substantial victory not only for Firm client Viacom, but for the entire creative content community, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reinstated Viacom’s $1 billion copyright infringement case against YouTube and Google.  The case had been dismissed last year by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.  The appellate decision restores the balance that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act sought to achieve between content companies and online service providers, which the lower court ruling threatened to erode.

About David W. DeBruin

David W. DeBruin is a litigator who has been serving as Co-Chair of the Firm’s Complex Commercial Litigation Practice.  Clients seek his counsel on a wide range of complex litigation matters, extending from Supreme Court and appellate litigation to trial-level matters involving procurement fraud and qui tam cases, government investigations, and financial services matters.  The breadth of Mr. DeBruin’s experience has developed from his background as both a former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and a former trial attorney at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, where he handled a large number of jury trials.

Mr. DeBruin has argued cases before the United States Supreme Court, numerous federal appellate courts, and state supreme courts.  He has represented clients before the Federal Election Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and in congressional investigations.  In 1986, Mr. DeBruin served as Special Counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives in connection with the impeachment proceedings involving Judge Harry E. Claiborne, the first impeachment proceedings in the United States Senate in the modern era.

Mr. DeBruin serves as one of several counsels for Jenner & Block and as principal counsel for the Firm’s Washington, D.C. office.  Mr. DeBruin served for six years on a Hearing Committee of the District of Columbia Board of Professional Responsibility.  He also maintains an active pro bono practice, serving for many years on the Steering Committee of the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project, and as Vice Chair of the Pro Bono Committee of the District of Columbia Bar.  He was recognized by the District of Columbia Bar as its 2009 Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year. 

Mr. DeBruin received his J.D. summa cum laude from the University of Michigan and his B.A. with Highest Distinction from Indiana University.  Before clerking for Justice Stevens, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable Harry T. Edwards of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.