Warren Neil Eggleston (born July 5, 1953) is an American lawyer who served as the

White House Counsel The White House Counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Off ...

under 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 ...

. Eggleston was the fourth person to hold this post during the Obama administration.

Early life and education

A native of

West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette ( ) is a city in Wabash and Tippecanoe Townships, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, approximately northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash ...

, Eggleston graduated in 1971 from

West Lafayette Junior-Senior High School West Lafayette Junior-Senior High School (also informally known as West Side High School or simply West Side) is the only high school within the West Lafayette city limits, and is administered by the West Lafayette Community School Corporation. ...

. Eggleston earned a bachelor's degree from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

in 1975 and then a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree in 1978 from the

Northwestern University School of Law The Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (formerly known as Northwestern University School of Law from 1891 to 2015) is the law school of Northwestern University, a Private university, private research university. The law school is l ...

. From 1978 until 1979, Eggleston served as a law clerk for Judge

James Hunter III James Hunter III (December 26, 1916 – February 10, 1989) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Education and career Born in Westville, New Jersey, Hunter received a Bachelor of Arts ...

on the

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district courts for the following United Sta ...

. From 1979 until 1980, he was a law clerk for Chief Justice

Warren E. Burger Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was an American attorney who served as the 15th chief justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the William Mitchell College o ...

Professional career

From 1981 until 1987, Eggleston was an Assistant U.S. Attorney and the chief appellate attorney for the

Southern District of New York The Southern District of New York is a federal judicial district that encompasses the counties of New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, and Sullivan. Federal offices or agencies operating in the distri ...

. From 1987 until 1988, Eggleston served as deputy chief counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran, which investigated the Iran-Contra Affair. From 1993 until 1994, he served in the White House as associate counsel to the president. Eggleston's work in the Clinton administration took place during congressional investigations into Clinton's Whitewater real estate transactions. After leaving the White House, Eggleston represented former colleagues during corruption investigations, including Clinton's transportation secretary,

Federico Peña Federico Fabian Peña (born March 15, 1947) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 12th United States secretary of transportation from 1993 to 1997 and the 8th United States secretary of energy from 1997 to 1998, during the pres ...

, and his labor secretary,

Alexis Herman Alexis Margaret Herman (July 16, 1947 – April 25, 2025) was an American political figure who served as the 23rd United States secretary of labor from 1997 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. She was the first Black Americans, Black American ...

. In both cases, no charges were ever filed. In 2001, Eggleston represented

Cheryl Mills Cheryl Denise Mills (born 1965) is an American lawyer and corporate executive. She first came into public prominence while serving as deputy White House Counsel for President Bill Clinton, whom she defended during his 1999 impeachment trial. She ...

, who was a board member of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library foundation, during a congressional investigation into President Clinton's last-minute pardon of fugitive financier

Marc Rich Marc Rich (born Marcell David Reich; December 18, 1934 – June 26, 2013) was an international commodity, commodities Trader (finance), trader, financier, and businessman. He founded the commodities company Glencore, and was later indicted in the ...

, whose wife had been a foundation donor. In 2005, Eggleston left the law firm of

Howrey Howrey LLP was a global law firm that practiced antitrust law, antitrust, litigation, global litigation and intellectual property law. In March 2011, Howrey dissolved and subsequently entered bankruptcy. At its peak Howrey had more than 700 attor ...

and joined the law firm of

Debevoise & Plimpton Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is an international white-shoe law firm headquartered in New York City, with offices in Washington D.C., San Francisco, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Luxembourg. The firm specializes in intellectual ...

as a partner, where he remained until 2012. In 2007, Eggleston represented Sara Taylor, who was a White House political affairs director in the George W. Bush administration, during an inquiry from a congressional oversight committee into the

Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy may refer to * 2006 dismissal of U.S. attorneys * 2017 dismissal of U.S. attorneys {{disambig ...

and other Bush policies that Democrats believed had politicized the work of federal agencies. In 2009, Eggleston represented then-Obama chief of staff

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician, advisor, diplomat, and former investment banker who most recently served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Japan, United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 ...

during the prosecution of Illinois Gov.

Rod Blagojevich Rod R. Blagojevich ( ; born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nickname "Blago", is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Blagojevich previously worked ...

. Around that same time, he also represented then-Sen.

Kent Conrad Gaylord Kent Conrad (born March 12, 1948) is a former American politician who was a United States Senator from North Dakota. He is a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1986, he served as chairman or Ranking Member of ...

during a congressional ethics inquiry into a mortgage he had received from

Countrywide Financial Countrywide is one of the UK's largest integrated property services group including residential property surveying, a collaboration of estate agents, and corporate services. It employs circa 8,500 personnel nationwide, working across 650+ estate ...

. From 2012 until 2014, Eggleston was a litigation partner at the law firm

Kirkland & Ellis Kirkland & Ellis LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1909, Kirkland & Ellis has been the largest law firm in the world by revenue since 2017 and, as of 2025, is the seventh-largest by number ...

, based in Washington. Eggleston's private sector work included helping corporations navigate regulations imposed by the Obama administration.

White House Counsel

On April 21, 2014, the White House announced that Eggleston would become White House counsel, replacing

Kathryn Ruemmler Kathryn H. Ruemmler (born April 19, 1971) is an attorney who was principal deputy White House counsel and then White House Counsel to President Barack Obama. Previously a partner at Latham and Watkins co-chairing its white-collar defense group, ...

upon her departure in May 2014.

Personal

Eggleston lives in

Chevy Chase, Maryland Chevy Chase () is the colloquial name of an area that includes a town, several incorporated villages, and an unincorporated census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland; and one adjoining neighborhood in northwest Washington, D ...

with his spouse Penda Hair, who co-founded and co-directs the civil rights organization

Advancement Project The Advancement Project is a politically liberal American nonprofit organization that focuses on racial justice issues. The organization has a national office in Washington, D.C., as well as a California-specific office based in Los Angeles. Org ...

. His daughter Rachel graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

in 2012 and is currently a

Teach For America Teach For America (TFA) is an American nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to "enlist, develop, and mobilize as many as possible of our nation's most promising future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for educational excell ...

corps member in

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

. His son Nathaniel graduated from

in 2015 where he played soccer.

References

External links