King & Spalding Hires Special Counsel From Biden Documents Case

Robert Hur

Robert Hur, the onetime special counsel who investigated President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents, has returned to King & Spalding, saying he can provide a special insight to clients facing congressional questions having testified himself for nearly five hours before a House committee.

Hur, the former U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, makes his comeback to the firm roughly the same time as Leah Grossi, a former assistant U.S. attorney who worked closely with Hur during the nearly 15-month-long documents investigation. They join King & Spalding’s special matters and government investigations practice. They will advise clients facing federal investigations and other enforcement actions of “significant reputational risk,” the firm said Monday.

“I’m really excited to be back,” Hur told Outlaw360 on Monday. “The firm has just posted such impressive growth since I was here in 2017. The level of expertise is unmatched. The firm has had real momentum over the last several years.” 

Grossi said in a Monday interview that she was “really proud of the work she did in government,” and she expects her experience will help clients who face “matters which pose a real reputational risk.” 

The release of Hur’s special counsel report in February was among the most high-profile events of the year. Its findings, which were highly polarizing at the time, would ultimately join a long narrative regarding Biden’s fitness to run for office.

“Clients who are facing really sensitive high-profile matters, with government officials poking around, need lawyers who have the experience of conducting a thorough investigation and have the trust and credibility of government officials they will be sitting across from,” Hur said. “I believe all of the government service Leah and I have checks both of those boxes.” 

Hur was appointed to investigate Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents, some of which most notably were found in his Delaware garage in December 2022. While his report did not recommend filing charges against Biden, it proved to be a bitter pill for the administration as it explicitly said the “elderly” president’s “poor memory” would make prosecution difficult. In fact, the report said Biden’s memory was “significantly limited” and he couldn’t remember important dates, such as when his son died.

The president would later push back on those claims in a press conference, but, in the months that followed, Biden dropped out of the presidential race, largely due to mounting Democratic Party pressure following a disastrous debate performance, where the incumbent's age and strained ability to speak on key policy topics were brought into stark relief. 

When explicitly asked if he felt at all vindicated by the course of events, Hur declined to comment beyond saying that he said everything he needed and wanted to during his March testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.

Hur faced criticism from both Republicans who wanted Biden to be prosecuted and Democratic lawmakers who claimed the president’s memory was stronger than Hur suggested.

While many attorneys can prepare a client to sit for congressional questions, few have sat in the hot seat like him, Hur said.

“That is something that I can bring to the table in counseling clients who might undergo the, shall we say, intense experience of testifying on the Hill,” Hur said. “There is a difference between prepping for it and doing it. That experience of having been in the fire will be helpful and compelling to clients to whom I can say, ‘I know first hand what this is going to be like for you.’”

Hur left King & Spalding in 2017 after roughly three years of work and becoming a partner. Grossi had four years at the firm before leaving in 2018. In a statement, Robert D. Hays, chair of King & Spalding, said the two attorneys carry the kind of experience clients demand. 

“We have long been a go-to firm for senior government officials and other lawyers from both sides of the aisle returning to private practice after their service, including many coming from the highest echelons of the Justice Department,” Hays said. “We are thrilled to welcome Rob and Leah back — they both epitomize professional excellence and, just as important, are known for their judgment and sense of collaboration.”

—Editing by Janice Carter Brown and Emily Kokoll.