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Sidley Austin, Kenneth A. Polite Jr. profile

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Kenneth A. Polite Jr.

Partner

kpolite@sidley.com

Washington, D.C.+1 202 736 8507

New York+1 212 839 6032

White Collar Defense and Investigations

Crisis Management and Strategic Response

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Biography

KENNETH POLITE is a global co-leader of Sidley’s White Collar Defense and Investigations practice and the former Senate-confirmed Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). Kenneth represents leading corporations and executives in internal and government investigations as well as in crisis management and compliance matters.

As the highest-ranking attorney in DOJ’s Criminal Division, Kenneth led a team of more than 1,400 attorneys and staff members who were responsible for conducting criminal investigations and prosecutions in many of the most wide-ranging and complex criminal cases at the Department involving securities fraud, healthcare fraud, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, public corruption, cybercrime, intellectual property theft, and money laundering offenses. In that role, he also traveled extensively to work with his counterparts around the world in multinational and cross-border investigations.

Earlier in his career, Kenneth served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, where he was responsible for all federal criminal and civil matters in that district, including political corruption, healthcare fraud, tax evasion, and environmental crimes. He was responsible for bringing in several high-profile cases during his tenure. Kenneth also previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted a broad range of federal cases, including public corruption and healthcare fraud.

In addition to his government service, Kenneth was the chief compliance officer at a Fortune 500 company. He is the first Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division to have served as a chief compliance officer. While at DOJ, Kenneth drew upon that experience while overseeing significant changes to DOJ’s guidance on the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs and other compliance policies concerning corporate enforcement, voluntary self-disclosure, chief compliance officer certifications, compensation claw backs, and ephemeral messaging.

Kenneth’s private practice experience includes representing corporations in sensitive government enforcement matters before the DOJ and other federal and state entities. He has also conducted internal investigations on behalf of companies and boards of directors, particularly in the energy, financial, healthcare, life sciences, and technology sectors, and counseled management on corporate compliance and governance.

Experience

Representative Matters

A sampling of Kenneth’s representative client matters includes:

Represented a leading global energy company in connection with a federal criminal investigation.

Represented a multinational investment bank and financial services company in a confidential internal review of certain aspects of the bank’s compliance protocols.

Represented one of the world’s largest publicly traded international oil and gas companies in an internal investigation and several civil litigation matters.

Represented a leading home improvement retailer in connection with a federal criminal investigation.

Represented a leading global oil corporation in various matters including environmental, tax, and customs disputes.

Represented leading technology companies in sensitive criminal and internal investigations.

Represented an American oil and gas corporation in connection with a federal criminal investigation.

*The above matters were handled prior to joining Sidley.

Credentials

Admissions & Certifications

U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit

U.S. District Court, District of Delaware

U.S. District Court, E.D. of Louisiana

U.S. District Court, E.D. of New York

U.S. District Court, S.D. of New York

Delaware

District of Columbia

Louisiana

New York

Pennsylvania

Education

Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., 2000, cum laude

Harvard University, A.B., 1997

Capabilities

Crisis Management and Strategic Response

Delaware Litigation

False Claims Act

White Collar Defense and Investigations

Banks and Financial Institutions Crisis Management and Strategic Response

Board Crisis Management and Strategic Response

Compliance Counseling - White Collar

Corporate Risk Management and Critical Matters

Crisis Management and Strategic Response for Colleges, Universities, and Non-Profits

FCPA/Anti-Corruption

Global Life Sciences Enforcement

Grand Jury Investigations

Healthcare Enforcement

Insider Trading

Internal Investigations

National and Economic Security

Trials

News & Insights

DOJ Signals Increasing Scrutiny of Vertically Integrated Healthcare CompaniesJune 4, 2026

White Collar Watch

Buyer Beware: What to Know About the DOJ’s Policy on Self-Reporting in M&AMay 21, 2024

Enhanced Scrutiny

Kenneth frequently publishes in various publications, including:

Co-author, “European Taskforce is Fit to Fill Gap Amid U.S. Pause on Anti-Corruption Enforcement,” The Global Regulatory Developments Journal, September–October 2025.

Featured in, “Meet Kenneth A. Polite Jr.: Diversification Is the Future of Compliance,” Compliance & Ethics Professional, June 28, 2024.

“The Outlook for Enforcement Actions Under a Biden Administration,” The Temple 10-Q, March 1, 2021.

“What to Expect from Federal Agency Leadership Changes,” Law360, November 30, 2020.

“What to Expect from DOJ Enforcement Under Biden,” Law360, November 23, 2020.

Speaker, “Evolving Priorities in Government Investigations and Compliance,” 2025 Accountants’ Liability Conference, Sidley Austin LLP, New York, NY, November 6, 2025.

Speaker, “Do we Need Compliance Defense?” 7th White Collar Crime Workshop, Washington, D.C., October 24, 2025.

Speaker, “To AI, or Not to AI? Ethics Issues Concerning the Use of Artificial Intelligence,” Sidley Austin LLP Private Funds: Developments and Opportunities, New York, NY, March 13, 2025.

Speaker, “Impact of the 2024 Presidential Election on the Investment Community,” Illinois Venture Capital Association, Chicago, IL, January 16, 2025.

Speaker, “Insights From the Capital: Law and Enforcement Changes,” General Counsel Roundtable, Chicago, IL, June 4, 2024.

Speaker, “Developing and Implementing an Effective Risk Management Program,” Industry Development Services: Financial Crime Enforcement Across Borders, Bahamas Financial Services Board, Nassau, Bahamas, February 22, 2024.

Co-Chair, 17th Forum on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, American Conference Institute, Houston, TX, January 24–25, 2024.

Moderator, “Overview of the DOJ’s Recent Policy Announcements and Priorities and Their Implications for Corporations,” Stanford University Webinar, December 5, 2023.

Speaker, Frank H. Menaker Corporate Integrity & Ethics Lecture, American University Washington College of Law, Washington, D.C., November 16, 2023.

Moderator, “Fireside Chat: DOJ & SEC Pronouncements,” Chief Compliance Officers Forum, Washington, D.C., November 9–10, 2023.

Speaker, Advanced Compliance and Ethics Workshop 2023, Practising Law Institute, October 30, 2023 (Webinar).

Speaker, “Know Before You Go: The Cross-Border Compliance Packing List,” Tulane’s Latin American Law & Business Institute, New Orleans, LA, October 4, 2023.

Speaker, “Hot Topics for In-House Counsel 2023,” Practising Law Institute, September 29, 2023 (Webinar).

Remarks on the Formation of the Violent Crime Initiative, Houston, TX, 2022.

Testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Election Threats Task Force, Washington, D.C., 2022.

Remarks on the Formation of the New England Prescription Opioid Strike Force, Concord, NH, 2022.

Opening Remarks at the EU-U.S. Ransomware Workshop, The Hague, Netherlands, 2022.

Remarks at NYU Law’s Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement (PCCE), New York, NY, 2022.

Remarks at ACAMS 2022 Hollywood Conference, Hollywood, FL, 2022.

Justice Department Keynote at the ABA Institute on White Collar Crime, San Francisco, CA, 2022.

Sixteen Sidley Partners Selected to Serve on Law360’s 2026 Editorial BoardsMarch 30, 2026

Announcements

Meet Kenneth A. Polite Jr.: Diversification Is the Future of ComplianceJune 28, 2024

Compliance & Ethics Professional

Sidley Top-Ranked in Chambers Crisis & Risk Management 2025June 24, 2025

Accolades

Sidley Ranked in Band 1 in Chambers Crisis & Risk Management 2024 in U.S. and Global-wideJune 26, 2024

Accolades

Buyer Beware: What to Know About the DOJ’s Policy on Self-Reporting in M&AApril 2024

The Sidley Podcast

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