Eugene Scalia attends the nomination announcement of Brett Kavanaugh for the U.S. Supreme Court. Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi / ALM
Eugene Scalia, President Donald Trump's appointee to replace Alex Acosta as Secretary of Labor, earned over $6.2 million last year from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
Scalia, the son of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, was formally nominated to lead the Department of Labor. According to his financial disclosures made public as part of the nomination process, that figure includes both a partnership share and a bonus from the firm, where he has worked since 2003.
Scalia, who said in a letter detailing the disclosures that he would resign from the firm at the date of his confirmation, will also receive a pro rata partnership share for his time at the firm in 2019, which he estimated would fall between $1 million and $5 million.
Scalia currently co-leads the firm's administrative law and regulatory practice group, formerly co-chaired the labor practice and has attracted a steady stream of engagements on behalf of clients, ranging from Ford and Boeing to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and major financial industry trade groups.
His disclosures further flesh out that list, with banks and financial services firms such as Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, HSBC and Bank of America; retailers CVS and Walmart; and energy industry names such as Chevron and the American Petroleum Institute. Other marquee names include Facebook and Warner Bros.
Other clients have controversial reputations. Scalia has represented electronic cigarette company Juul, which is facing mounting pressure from state attorneys general over its products, and casino company Wynn Resorts, which sidelined founder Steve Wynn after allegations of serial sexual misconduct emerged in 2018.
Scalia has previously held several positions in the federal government. He was a speechwriter to Secretary of Education William J. Bennett in the mid-to-late 1980s, then served as a special assistant to current Attorney General William Barr in Barr's first stint in the role.
In 2001, Scalia joined the Department of Labor as Solicitor of Labor, the department's top legal officer, with responsibility over a broad range of regulatory and enforcement matters.
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Dan Packel
Dan Packel is an editor on the Business of Law desk at ALM. He writes a weekly briefing for Law.com, "The Law Firm Disrupted," on change and innovation in the legal marketplace. He is based in Philadelphia. Contact him at [email protected]. On Twitter at @packeld
