Nichols worked in the DoJ under President George W Bush from 2005 until 2009, serving as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Federal Programs Branch of the Civil Division, and later as the Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General. While with the Justice Department, Nichols handled several high profile cases, including cases enjoining state investigations into alleged acts of the National Security Agency and various lawsuits filed against telecommunications companies over their participation in national security programs. Prior to his stint at Justice, Nichols was with Boies, Schiller & Flexner.
At WilmerHale, Nichols practice will be in the Litigation/Controversy Department, and a member of the Government and Regulatory Litigation and Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation Practice Groups, as well as the Business Trial Group.
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP has twelve offices across the US, Europe and Asia. It was created in 2004 through the merger of the Boston’s Hale & Dorr and the Washington’s Wilmer Cutler & Pickering, and employs more than 1,100 attorneys worldwide. As of 2008, it was the 23rd largest law firm in the world in terms of revenue.