Mitchell Holzrichter rejoins Mayer Brown’s Government practice and global Infrastructure group as partner in Chicago

Mayer Brown announced today that Mitchell Holzrichter has rejoined the firm as a partner in the Government practice and global Infrastructure group in Chicago. He comes to Mayer Brown from Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner’s office, where he served as deputy chief of staff for legislative affairs and special counsel after serving as deputy general counsel. Previously, Mr. Holzrichter was a lawyer in the firm’s Government practice and global Infrastructure group from 2008 to early 2015.

“Mitch has an excellent track record of advising both the public and private sector on complex government transactions, particularly in the infrastructure and gaming industries,” said John Janicik, co-leader of Mayer Brown’s Government practice. “His time serving in senior leadership roles at the State of Illinois and knowledge of legislative processes will be invaluable to companies that are heavily regulated or licensed by the government, such as private investment funds, financial institutions, government contractors, utility companies and gaming operators.”

As deputy chief of staff for legislative affairs for Governor Rauner, Mr. Holzrichter represented the governor in negotiations with the Illinois General Assembly. He built close working relationships with legislators in both political parties, agency directors, lobbyists, trade associations and companies engaged in state government matters. As deputy general counsel, Mr. Holzrichter directly supervised the State of Illinois’ chief compliance officer, ethics officer and freedom of information officer, with whom he developed a new statewide employee compliance program. He attained extensive knowledge about gift laws, procurement laws, freedom of information and open meeting laws, and other government ethics issues.

Mr. Holzrichter focuses his practice on government transactions, election law and political law. He has represented clients in complex government transactions and the use of public-private partnerships, particularly in the infrastructure sector. Mr. Holzrichter has advised both government agencies and private developers on US highway, airport and parking facility projects. His work includes long-term concession agreements, availability payment projects, and design-build agreements. In addition, Mr. Holzrichter counsels clients on election law, campaign finance issues, voting rights and redistricting. He has represented political action committees, ballot initiative committees and candidates for federal, state and local office in forming political committees and complying with campaign finance and disclosure laws.

“It was an easy decision for me to rejoin Mayer Brown, a world-class law firm with an exceptional Government practice and Infrastructure group, superior capabilities in the hospitality and leisure sectors, and a collaborative culture,” said Mr. Holzrichter. “I look forward to leveraging my experience as a senior public official to help clients on all sides of the table in navigating sophisticated infrastructure projects, compliance with government ethics, disclosure and campaign finance laws, and gaming and legislation-related legal matters.”

Rebecca Eisner, partner-in-charge of Mayer Brown’s Chicago office, said, “Mitch’s arrival further strengthens the firm’s existing exceptional ability to serve clients in Chicago and around the world on complex regulatory and government relations matters, particularly at this time when we expect to see sweeping changes in both federal and state policies and laws.”

Mr. Holzrichter earned his JD from The University of Michigan Law School and his BA from Northwestern University.