Kendra Wharton is a nationally recognized defense attorney and former senior official at the U.S. Department of Justice. She has more than a decade of experience handling high-stakes criminal and regulatory matters at the highest levels of the federal government. She has represented public officials, including the President of the United States, corporate executives, Fortune 500 companies and global financial institutions across a wide range of complex federal matters.

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Kendra most recently served as Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she advised the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General on sensitive law enforcement and policy matters and represented DOJ leadership in White House and interagency policy discussions. Kendra also supervised major DOJ components, including the Federal Bureau of Prisons and Office of the Inspector General. She was one of the highest-ranking women during her time at DOJ.

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Prior to her appointment to the Department of Justice in January 2025, Kendra was a senior member of President Donald J. Trump’s criminal defense team. She represented President Trump in the high-profile federal criminal prosecutions brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith in the District of Columbia and the Southern District of Florida, as well as in the state criminal case prosecuted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York. All federal charges were ultimately dismissed.

Before launching her own firm, Kendra was Special Counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, one of the nation’s oldest and most respected law firms. During nearly a decade with the firm’s Global Litigation Group and White Collar Defense & Investigations Practice, Kendra led multinational investigations and compliance matters and represented leading corporations and executives before the DOJ, SEC, CFTC, CFPB, and in congressional investigations and hearings.

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Kendra has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch for excellence in White-Collar Criminal Defense from 2021 through 2025. She also served as Global Co-Chair of the Young Professionals Committee of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA) and has been an active member of the WWCDA's Washington, D.C. and Florida chapters.

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Kendra earned her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and her B.S., magna cum laude, from the University of Louisville. 

Prior to her legal career, Kendra served as a member of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s legislative staff where she advised him on federal banking, tax, and financial services policy during the 2008 financial crisis and recovery.

Kendra is barred in Florida, Virginia and the District of Columbia and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of Florida, the District of Columbia, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She maintains an active national practice based in Florida and Washington, D.C.

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For legal representation and media inquiries, please use the general inquiry form located on the Contact page.

EDUCATION

J.D., Georgetown University Law Center

B.S., magna cum laude, University of Louisville

ADMISSIONS

State of Florida

District of Columbia

Commonwealth of Virginia

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia