Hampton Dellinger

Hampton Yeats Dellinger (born April 30, 1967) is an American attorney and political candidate who is serving as Special Counsel of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. He previously served as the United States Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy and was a partner at Boies, Schiller & Flexner and Robinson, Bradshaw, and Hinson.

Education
Dellinger earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.

Career
Dellinger clerked for Judge James Dickson Phillips Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

From January 2001 to June 2003, he served as legal counsel for North Carolina Governor Mike Easley. From July 2001 to June 2003, he also served as a member of the governor's advisory council on Hispanic/Latino affairs. From July 2003 to January 2008, he was a partner with the firm Womble Carlyle.

From 2008 to 2013, Dellinger was a lawyer in the office of Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson and a candidate for the 2008 Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor of North Carolina. In his first run for elective office, he lost the Democratic primary on May 6, 2008 to Walter H. Dalton. From 2013 to 2020, he was a partner at the Washington, D.C. office of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP. He practiced as a solo practitioner from 2020 to 2021.

In 2009, Senator Kay Hagan recommended Dellinger and two other lawyers to President Barack Obama for consideration as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Obama eventually nominated attorney Thomas G. Walker instead.

On June 18, 2021, he was nominated by the President to serve as the United States Department of Justice's Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy. On July 28, 2021, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On September 23, 2021, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 13–8–1 vote. On October 27, 2021, the United States Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 51–45 vote. On October 28, 2021, Dellinger was confirmed by a 53–37 vote. He was sworn in on November 1, 2021.

On October 3, 2023, Dellinger was nominated to be the next Special Counsel of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. On November 30, 2023, a hearing on his nomination was held before the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. On January 17, 2024, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 7–1 vote. On February 27, 2024, the United States Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 51–46 vote. He was confirmed later that day by a 49–47 vote. He was sworn in on March 6, 2024.

Personal life
Dellinger is the son of the law professor and former acting Solicitor General of the United States, Walter E. Dellinger III. He married Jolynn Childers on September 10, 1994.