Former Head of DOJ Criminal Division Heads to Cravath

Cravath Swaine & Moore is bringing aboard the former head of the Justice Department’s criminal division Nicole Argentieri as a partner in New York.

Argentieri most recently served as acting assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s criminal division. She will work in Cravath’s litigation department as a member of its investigations and regulatory enforcement practice, the firm announced on Monday.

The storied Wall Street firm has delved into the lateral partner hiring market after traditionally focusing on talent internally. The firm last month added former Trump Justice Department antitrust official Andrew Finch, who co-chaired the practice group at Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison.

Argentieri “brings experience both as a prosecutor and as defense counsel in complex, high-profile investigations and that perspective will be invaluable to our clients in these high-stakes situations,” said Cravath’s presiding partner Faiza Saeed in a statement.

Argentieri was tapped to lead the criminal division in 2023. She was the public face of high-profile cases ranging from the investigation into the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao—ending with guilty pleas and a $4.3 billion fine— the prosecution of Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) and the takedown of a Houston drug gang.

Argentieri spent a decade as a federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York where she led and supervised a wide variety of white collar criminal cases. She served as chief of its public integrity section, which deals with public corruption. She also was acting head of the Organized Crime and Gangs Section of the Eastern District of New York.

She joined O’Melveny & Myers in 2018 as a partner in its white collar defense and corporate investigations practice.

Argentieri headed back to government in 2022 as chief of staff to criminal division chief Kenneth Polite, eventually becoming principal deputy assistant attorney general. She managed a team of about 1,100 employees, including more than 600 attorneys.

“I am thrilled to join Cravath’s fantastic investigations team and look forward to helping the Firm’s exceptional clients navigate their most sensitive criminal, civil and regulatory challenges in this fast-moving environment,” said Argentieri in a statement.

Cravath’s investigations team has represented the likes of media company Eros Media World plc, WarnerMedia, as well as British American Tobacco p.l.c, and aviation leasing company AerCap Holdings N.V.