Joseph DeSanctis

is a litigation partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He joined Kirkland in 2001 and has been a partner since 2006.

Joseph has acted as trial counsel in a wide variety of complex commercial and class action litigation matters. The subject matter of these cases has included corporate governance & shareholder litigation, consumer class actions, insurance coverage disputes, and securities. Representative clients on his matters include: Conseco, General Motors, Bechtel, Thrivent Financial, Knights of Columbus, MPower Media, and Accredited Home Lenders.

Joseph earned his B.A. degree from Duquesne University in 1980 and received his J.D. degree in 1983 from Case Western Reserve University. He also earned a M.A. in American History from George Mason University. Joseph also served at the U.S. Department of Justice from 1989 to 1995, and served as counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 1998. He was also Vice President and Associate General Counsel of the Knights of Columbus from 1998 to 2001.

Joseph is admitted to the District of Columbia Bar and the Ohio State Bar.