Kenneth A. Polite Jr.

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 sensitive internal and high-profile government investigations before the DOJ, SEC, FBI, DHS, and other federal and state agencies, as well as in crisis management and compliance matters. Drawing on extensive government and private-sector experience, he advises clients across a broad range of industries, with particular experience in the energy, financial services, healthcare, life sciences, and technologies sectors.

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, including representing the United States at the G7 Meeting of Justice Ministers.

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 Entergy Corporation, a Fortune 500 public utility company. He is the first Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division to have served as a chief compliance officer.

Chambers USA has ranked Kenneth for District of Columbia Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations (2025–2026), with clients describing him as “exceptional” and a “sophisticated practitioner” (2026).

A sampling of Kenneth’s representative client matters includes:

• A professional services company in a DOJ criminal investigation involving allegations of insider trading on a prediction market, culminating in closure of the investigation with no charges.
• A telecommunications company in a DOJ criminal investigation involving allegations of FCPA violations in various Central American countries, culminating in a declination of charges.
• A major medical device manufacturer in a DOJ False Claims Act investigation involving allegations of kickbacks to physicians and clinics that performed procedures that led to patient injury, culminating in closure of the investigation with no charges.
• Tavistock Inc., in connection with reviewing and strengthening the company’s compliance program following the indictment of the firm’s founder for insider trading.
• The former Prime Minister of a Caribbean nation in a civil RICO litigation involving corruption allegations, culminating in a dismissal of all claims.

• Georgetown University Law Center
• National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys
• Son of A Saint
• Ochsner Health System (formerly)
• Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, American Bar Association (formerly)