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Staff Profile
Former Assistant Attorney General

Peter J. Kadzik

Peter J. Kadzik was the Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs at the Department of Justice. In that capacity, he lead the Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA), which is responsible for managing the Department’s relationships with Congress, and advancing its interests on Capitol Hill.  OLA – working closely with the Department’s leadership offices, law enforcement components, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, litigating divisions, and grant-making components – advises and assists Department leadership on a wide variety of congressional matters; advocates for the Department’s legislative priorities; and responds to congressional inquiries and oversight requests.  OLA also prepares Department witnesses for testimony before congressional hearings and nominees for confirmation hearings. Mr. Kadzik led the successful effort to confirm Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates.

Mr. Kadzik joined the Department in April 2013, first as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs, and then as the Principal Deputy. He was confirmed by the United States Senate as the Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs on June 17, 2014.

Mr. Kadzik earned his B.A. summa cum laude from the University of Buffalo and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was an editor and member of the Georgetown Law Journal. After law school, Mr. Kadzik clerked for the Honorable Thomas A. Flannery on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and then served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia. Most recently, he was in private practice at Dickstein Shapiro LLC for more than 30 years, where he specialized in antitrust and commercial litigation, congressional investigations, representation of clients on matters involving state attorneys general, and representation of various nonprofit organizations and trade associations on a variety of legal and policy matters. Additionally, he served on the firm’s Executive Committee and on several administrative committees throughout his tenure. Mr. Kadzik also served on advisory boards for the Kennedy Center, Georgetown Law, Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Legal Counsel for the Elderly, and the News Literacy Project. 

Updated November 19, 2020