{{Short description|American judge (born 1966)}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Mark Filip |image = Mark_Filip.jpg |caption = |office = Acting United States Attorney General |president = Barack Obama |deputy = ''Vacant'' |term_start = January 20, 2009 |term_end = February 3, 2009 |predecessor = Michael Mukasey |successor = Eric Holder |office1 = 33rd United States Deputy Attorney General |president1 = George W. Bush |term_start1 = March 10, 2008 |term_end1 = January 20, 2009 |predecessor1 = Paul McNulty |successor1 = David W. Ogden |office2 = Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois |appointer2 = George W. Bush |term_start2 = February 8, 2004 |term_end2 = March 9, 2008 |predecessor2 = Harry Leinenweber |successor2 = Sharon Johnson Coleman |birth_name = Mark Robert Filip |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1966|06|1}} |birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |death_date = |death_place = |party = Republican |education = University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (BA)<br>Christ Church, Oxford (BA)<br>Harvard University (JD) }}
'''Mark Robert Filip''' (born June 1, 1966) is an American lawyer specializing in class action and white collar criminal and regulatory defense. Formerly a partner at Skadden, Arps, he currently practices in the Washington, D.C. office of Kirkland and Ellis.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkland.com/sitecontent.cfm?contentID=220&itemID=9711|title=Kirkland & Ellis LLP > Filip, P.C., Mark|website=www.kirkland.com}}</ref> From 2004 until 2008, Filip served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.<ref name=dojbio/> As the George W. Bush administration ended, Filip served as Deputy Attorney General of the United States, and as the Barack Obama administration began he briefly served as acting attorney general (from January 20, 2009, to February 3, 2009).<ref name=cnn/>
== Early life and education == Born in Chicago, Filip attended Maine South High School in Park Ridge, Illinois, the same high school attended by Hillary Clinton. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1988 with Bachelor of Arts degrees in economics and history, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. After college, Filip went to England to attend Christ Church, Oxford, on a Marshall Scholarship. He graduated from Oxford in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts in law with first-class honors. He then attended Harvard Law School,<ref name=fox>{{cite web |author = Staff reporter |title = Bush Appointees Holding Down the Fort While Obama Nominees Await Confirmation |publisher = FOX News |date = 2009-01-21 |url = http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/01/21/bush-appointees-holding-fort-obama-nominees-await-confirmation |access-date = 2009-02-04 |quote = While Holder waits for his confirmation, Bush appointee Mark Filip is acting attorney general. A former U.S. District Court judge in Illinois, the native Chicagoan holds a law degree from Harvard and was a lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School. Holder was supposed to have faced a confirmation vote on Wednesday, but scheduling conflicts necessitated a delay in the Senate. |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090212182638/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/01/21/bush-appointees-holding-fort-obama-nominees-await-confirmation/ |archive-date = 2009-02-12 }}</ref> where he received his Juris Doctor, ''magna cum laude'', in 1992<ref name=dojbio/> and was an editor of the ''Harvard Law Review''.<ref name=dojbio>"[http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/ Acting Attorney General Mark Filip]." United States Department of Justice. 20 January 2009. (Archived by WebCite at)</ref>
After law school, Filip served as a law clerk to the Judge Stephen F. Williams of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit<ref name=dojbio/> from 1992 until 1993 and then for Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court from 1993 until 1994.<ref name=dojbio/><ref name="fjc.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/filip-mark-r.|title=Filip, Mark R. - Federal Judicial Center|website=www.fjc.gov}}</ref>
== Professional career == Filip worked in private legal practice as an associate at Kirkland & Ellis from 1994 until 1995.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=116&sid=1304964|title=WTOP: Washington, DC's Top News, Traffic, and Weather|website=WTOP}}</ref> He then worked as an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago from 1995 to 1999.<ref name="fjc.gov"/> In that position he prosecuted cases in the trial and appellate courts involving a variety of offenses—including violent crimes, political, judicial, and police corruption, health care fraud, and international narcotics trafficking.<ref name=dojbio/> While an AUSA, Filip received a Department of Justice Director's Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.<ref name=dojbio/>
Following his service at the U.S. Attorney's Office, Filip was a partner in the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom from 1999 until 2004.<ref name=dojbio/><ref name="fjc.gov"/> There, he practiced in a variety of areas of civil law and criminal law, and also had a number of pro bono cases, including several cases representing indigent defendants in connection with the Federal Defender's Office in Chicago.<ref name=dojbio/> Filip now is a partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis.
== Federal judicial service == On April 28, 2003, Filip was nominated by President Bush to be a United States District Court judge for the Northern District of Illinois, to a seat vacated by Harry Leinenweber. On February 4, 2004, the United States Senate confirmed his nomination by a 96–0 vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1082/vote_108_2_00008.htm|title=On the Nomination (Confirmation Mark R. Filip, of Illinois, To Be U. S. District Judge)|website=Senate.gov|date=February 4, 2004|access-date=April 19, 2023}}</ref> He received his commission on February 8, 2004<ref name="fjc.gov"/> and was sworn into office in March 2004.<ref name=dojbio/> As a judge, he presided over numerous cases involving criminal, antitrust, securities fraud, immigration and other matters. Filip has taught for many years at the University of Chicago Law School,<ref name=fox/> where he served from 2004 to March 2008 as the Bustin Lecturer and taught both advanced criminal law and first-year civil procedure.<ref name=dojbio/> Filip resigned on March 9, 2008 to accept his role as the United States Deputy Attorney General.<ref name="fjc.gov"/>
== Deputy attorney general and acting attorney general == Filip was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on March 3, 2008,<ref name=dojbio/> and he was sworn in as deputy attorney general on March 10, 2008.<ref name=dojbio/> On August 28, 2008, Filip issued a memo regarding federal prosecution of business organizations,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Filip |first=Mark |date=August 28, 2008 |title=Principles of Federal Prosecution of Business Organizations |pages=1 |work=U. S. Department of Justice Office of the Deputy Attorney General Memorandum |url=https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/dag/legacy/2008/11/03/dag-memo-08282008.pdf}}</ref> which reversed the Justice Department's aggressive policy of pursuing white collar crime. This came in the midst of a controversial case against KPMG,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Efrati |first=Evan Perez and Amir |date=2008-08-29 |title=U.S. Pares Its Arsenal in White-Collar Crime Fight |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121993073286679655 |access-date=2022-07-04 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref> one of the Big Four accounting firms, for abetting AIG Financial Products in fraudulent transactions that would eventually contribute to the 2008 financial crisis. Filip was asked to assume the position of acting attorney general by then president-elect Obama.<ref name=cnn>{{cite web | author = Staff reporter | title = Obama asks U.S. Attorneys to stay 'for the time being' | publisher = CNN Political Ticker | date = 2009-01-15 | url = http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/14/obama-asks-us-attorneys-to-stay-for-the-time-being/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090126213230/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/14/obama-asks-us-attorneys-to-stay-for-the-time-being/ | url-status = dead | archive-date = January 26, 2009 | format = | access-date = 2009-01-21 | quote = In addition, Obama's transition team has asked current Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip, also a Bush appointee, to serve as Acting Attorney General replacing outgoing Attorney General Michael Mukasey. }})</ref> Filip led the department while President Obama's nominee, then attorney-general designate Eric Holder, awaited confirmation by the United States Senate.<ref name=fox/> Holder was confirmed on February 2, 2009,<ref name="beeb">{{cite news | author = Staff reporter | title = Obama attorney-general confirmed | work = BBC News | date = 2009-02-03 | url = https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7866427.stm | access-date = 2009-02-03 | quote = President Barack Obama's choice for attorney-general, Eric Holder, has been confirmed in the post by the US Senate. }}</ref> and sworn in the next day<ref name="holderbio">{{cite web | author = Staff | title = USDOJ: Office of the Attorney General | publisher = US Department of Justice | date = n.d. | url = http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/ | format = | access-date = 2009-02-03 | quote = Eric H. Holder Jr. was sworn in as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States on February 3, 2009 by Vice-President Joe Biden. President Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate Mr. Holder on December 1, 2008. }}</ref> thus ending Filip's tenure as the acting attorney general.
== See also == * List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 9)
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{USGovernment|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203224124/http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/|archive-date=2009-02-03|url=http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/|title=Acting Attorney General Mark Filip}} *{{FJC Bio|nid=1392081}} *[http://www.kirkland.com/sitecontent.cfm?contentID=220&itemID=9711 Kirkland biography] *[https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/nominations/500.html Presidential Nomination: Mark Robert Filip] *{{C-SPAN|1026604}}
{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=Harry Leinenweber}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois}}|years=2004–2008}} {{s-aft|after=Sharon Johnson Coleman}} |- {{s-bef|before=Craig S. Morford<br>{{small|Acting}}}} {{s-ttl|title=United States Deputy Attorney General|years=2008–2009}} {{s-aft|after=David W. Ogden}} |- {{s-bef|before=Michael Mukasey}} {{s-ttl|title=United States Attorney General<br>{{small|Acting}}|years=2009}} {{s-aft|after=Eric Holder}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Filip, Mark Robert}} Category:1966 births Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Category:Assistant United States attorneys Category:George W. Bush administration personnel Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Category:People associated with Kirkland & Ellis Category:Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Category:Living people Category:Marshall Scholars Category:Northwestern University faculty Category:Obama administration personnel Category:Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom people Category:Attorneys general of the United States Category:United States deputy attorneys general Category:United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush Category:University of Chicago Law School faculty Category:University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni