Bob Van Kirk has extensive experience in a wide array of subject areas, including complex commercial, government, and First Amendment litigation. He has argued cases at every level of the federal system, including the United States Supreme Court, and has appeared in federal appellate and district courts across the country. Mr. Van Kirk has been retained by a variety of corporate and individual clients, including Fortune 500 companies, partners at national law firms, and executives with major corporations, to handle complex disputes, negotiations, and investigations. The cases he has handled have been covered on the front pages of newspapers from The New York Times to The San Francisco Chronicle, as well as by broadcast media, including 60 Minutes, Nightline, and every network nightly news program.

Prior to joining Williams & Connolly LLP, Mr. Van Kirk held a number of government positions. From 1995 to 1997, he served first in the Office of Counsel to the President and then as Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice, where he was responsible for making recommendations to the President and Attorney General regarding the selection of federal appellate and district court judges. From 1991 to 1995, he was a member of the Honors Program of the United States Department of Justice where he served as a trial attorney in the Civil Division's Federal Programs Branch. While at DOJ, his assignments included the first civil prosecution of a law firm arising out of its representation of a failed savings and loan, the first challenge to the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, a suit questioning the propriety of President Clinton's legal defense fund, and constitutional and statutory challenges to other federal statutes and programs.