Christopher Henry Schroeder (born 1948) is an American lawyer who served as Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel in the

Biden Administration Joe Biden's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 46th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Joe Biden, his inauguration on January 20, 2021, and ended on January 20, 2025. Biden, a member of the Democr ...

from 2021 to 2023. He served as the

Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the adv ...

for the

Office of Legal Policy The Office of Legal Policy (OLP) is a senior management office within the United States Department of Justice, which describes itself as the "focal point for the development and coordination of Departmental policy." In addition to rendering lega ...

in the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

during the

presidency of Barack Obama Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...

, serving from April 2010 until December 2012. Before and after his time as Assistant Attorney General, he was the Charles S. Murphy Professor of Law and Professor of Public Policy Studies at

Duke University School of Law The Duke University School of Law is the law school of Duke University, a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law is a constituent academic unit that began in 1868 as the ...

. He is now Professor

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

of the same institution.

Early life and education

Born in

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in Clark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in southwestern Ohio along the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, about west of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and northeast of ...

, Schroeder earned a bachelor's degree from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in June 1968, a master of divinity degree from

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

in 1971 and a J.D. degree from

University of California, Berkeley, School of Law The University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Berkeley Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley. The school was commonly referred to as "Boalt Hall" for many years, although it was never the official name. This cam ...

, in 1974. While at law school, Schroeder was the editor-in-chief of the ''

California Law Review The ''California Law Review'' (also referred to as ''CLR'') is the journal of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. It was established in 1912. The application process consists of an anonymous write-on competition, with grades play ...

''.

Professional career

Schroeder began his legal career in 1974 as an associate in the

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

office of the law firm McCutchen, Doyle, Brown and Enersen (later

Bingham McCutchen Bingham McCutchen LLP was a global law firm with approximately 850 attorneys in nine US offices and five international offices. It ceased operations in late 2015, when several hundred of its partners and associate lawyers left the firm to join Phi ...

LLP). In June 1976, Schroeder left McCutchen to take a job for one year as a research associate at the Earl Warren Legal Institute (now the Institute for Legal Research) at the University of California Berkeley. From July 1977 until March 1979, Schroeder worked as a partner at the law firm of Armour, Schroeder, St. John Wilcox and Goodlin, which was a small firm that he had started with four colleagues. In July 1979, Schroeder became an associate professor of law at

. He became a full professor of law in 1985, and later added the additional title of Professor of Public Policy Studies. In addition, Schroeder added the responsibilities of Director of the Program in Public Law at Duke's law school in 2000. Schroeder also served as a consultant for the law firm of

O'Melveny & Myers O'Melveny & Myers LLP is an American multinational law firm founded in Los Angeles in 1885. The firm employs approximately 800 lawyers and has offices in California, Washington, D.C., New York City, Texas, Beijing, Brussels, Hong Kong, London, S ...

from 2002 until 2005, and he was of counsel for the firm from 2005 until 2009.

Government service

From July 1987 until January 1988, from February 1988 until June 1990, and from July 1991 until October 1991, Schroeder worked as a Special Nominations Counsel for the

United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

. He served as Chief Counsel to the committee from July 1992 until February 1993. From April 1993 until January 1994, Schroeder took a leave of absence from Duke Law to serve as Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General, in the

Office of Legal Counsel The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) is an office in the United States Department of Justice that supports the attorney general in their role as legal adviser to the president and all executive branch agencies. It drafts legal opinions of the atto ...

. From April 1995 until January 1997, Schroeder again took a leave of absence from Duke to serve as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the

. From December 1998 until March 1999, Schroeder served as Impeachment Trial Counsel for then-Sen.

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

. In May 2009, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

selected Schroeder, who had served on Obama's transition team, to be the Assistant Attorney General for the

in the Department of Justice. The White House originally had planned to tap Mark Gitenstein for the post but reportedly reconsidered after opposition to his potential nomination because of his lobbying background. On July 28, 2009, Schroeder was reported out of the

in a voice vote. Despite a false report that he was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on August 7, 2009, Schroeder was not confirmed with a large number of nominees who were confirmed that day. Senate Majority Leader

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2 ...

filed for

cloture Cloture (, ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. is ...

on Schroeder's nomination on April 15, 2010. The Senate confirmed Schroeder on April 21, 2010, in a 72–24 vote. As assistant attorney general, Schroeder served as chief policy adviser to Attorney General

Eric Holder Eric Himpton Holder Jr. (born January 21, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the 82nd United States attorney general from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Holder was the first African Ameri ...

and Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden. At the end of 2012, Schroeder resigned as assistant attorney general and returned to Duke Law School. In November 2020, Schroeder was named a volunteer member of the Joe Biden presidential transition Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the

Writings

In 2009, Schroeder co-authored the book ''Keeping Faith with the Constitution'', along with

Pamela S. Karlan Pamela Susan Karlan (born 1959) is an American legal scholar who was the principal deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice from February 8, 2021, until July 1, 2022. She is a prof ...

and

Goodwin Liu Goodwin Hon Liu (; born October 19, 1970) is an American jurist who has served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California since 2011. Before his appointment by Governor Jerry Brown, he was a professor of law and associate dean at t ...

. He also has authored a leading environmental law casebook, ''Environmental Regulation: Law, Science and Policy''.

Personal life and family

Schroeder is married to Katharine T. Bartlett, also a professor of law. They have three adult children: Emily, Theodore, and Elizabeth.

References

External links

Duke University School of Law Faculty Profile: Christopher H. Schroeder
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schroeder, Christopher 1948 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Biden administration personnel People from Springfield, Ohio Princeton University alumni UC Berkeley School of Law alumni United States assistant attorneys general for the Office of Legal Counsel United States assistant attorneys general for the Office of Legal Policy Yale Divinity School alumni