K&L Gates Enhances Public Policy and Law Practice With Transportation, Emerging Technologies Lawyer in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. – Global law firm K&L Gates LLP welcomes Varun Jain as an of counsel in its Public Policy and Law practice based in the Washington, D.C., office. He joins from the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), Office of the General Counsel.

Jain’s practice focuses on addressing complex legal, regulatory, and policy matters in the transportation and emerging technologies spaces, including autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence. In his role as Deputy General Counsel at the US DOT serving under former Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Jain helped oversee a legal office of nearly 500 attorneys, providing strategic guidance on consumer protection, regulation, litigation, and enforcement. Prior to joining DOT, he served as Senior Counselor to the Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, where he developed a deep understanding of the Federal regulatory process; led high-impact regulatory initiatives across a broad portfolio including transportation, health, labor, and civil rights; and led the office’s experimentation with artificial intelligence. While there, he was also elected a member of the American Bar Association’s Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Section Council. He previously served as an Assistant General Counsel at the White House Office of Management and Budget, where his work included addressing novel administrative law matters.

Before he returned to public service, Jain served as in-house counsel for Uber Technologies, Inc. and Nuro, Inc., working on legal and regulatory matters related to surface transportation and autonomous vehicles. In those positions, Jain worked closely with federal, state, and local policy officials, regulators, and agency staff to advance thoughtful, tech-forward legislation and regulation, including by testifying before a public utilities commission. He also provided extensive advice on day-to-day operational issues, product launches, permitting strategy, investigations, and crisis management.

“Varun brings a unique combination of public and private sector experience that will be invaluable to our clients navigating the evolving regulatory landscape,” said Michael Scanlon, a leader of K&L Gates’ global Policy & Regulatory practice area. “We look forward to him settling into his new role and the perspective he will bring to our global platform.”

David Wochner, managing partner of the firm’s Washington, D.C, office, stated: “We are thrilled to welcome Varun to our growing team in Washington. His rich understanding of transportation and technology policy, combined with his regulatory experience, will further strengthen our capabilities in these critical areas.”

Jain’s arrival follows the addition of several new lawyers and policy professionals who have joined the firm’s global Policy and Regulatory practice in the last year including, public policy and law partners Marne Marotta and David Skillman, and the firm’s first national security advisor Marissa Cloutier, among others. Isabelle De Smedt also recently returned to the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations practice in its Brussels office.

With a significant team of bipartisan lawyers and policy professionals who have more than 500 years of combined government experience, members of K&L Gates’ Public Policy and Law practice work with clients through the entire policy life cycle—from legislation to regulation and dispute resolution. The group is one of the largest public policy practices of any global integrated law firm.