Larry Tanenbaum
Of Counsel
Mr. Tanenbaum graduated from the University of Baltimore, JD Magna Cum Laude 1976. He began his legal career at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld where he became a partner in the Litigation Section and served in that role until retiring from the firm in 2016. After this brief (two month) retirement, Mr. Tanenbaum joined the Office of General Counsel of the DC Housing Authority (“DCHA”) where served as DCHA’s Chief of Litigation. In that role, Mr. Tanenbaum was responsible for supervising all commercial and general litigation involving DCHA.
While at Akin Gump, Mr. Tanenbaum’s practice was focused on complex commercial litigation where he represented Fortune 500 companies and senior executives in a variety of actions ranging from single plaintiff contract claims to complex shareholder class actions. .He has successfully litigated cases involving accounting standards, conspiracy, contracts, defamation, fraud, tortious interference, health care regulations, labor law, antitrust, energy, international trade, securities law, and federal housing and social security benefits. He has counseled clients in the airline, energy, supermarket, housing, medical device, lumber, accounting, electronic, product licensing and federal/state benefits industries. During the height of the Department of Energy’s enforcement activities, Mr. Tanenbaum provided regulatory counseling to major energy firms, including defense against overcharge claims totaling hundreds of millions of dollars and advice relating to regulatory audits.
Mr. Tanenbaum has also been very active in pro bono matters. While at Akin Gump, Mr. Tanenbaum established and managed a robust social securities practice, representing claimants in their efforts to obtain disability benefits. He also led the representation of a deaf, homeless man who brought an action in U.S federal district court under the Americans with Disabilities Act against a local sheriff who had jailed him for over six weeks without providing interpretive or other auxiliary services. The case was ultimately settled, resulting in a six figure award to Mr. Tanenbaum’s client.
In 2011, the DC Bar recognized Mr. Tanenbaum’s pro bono work by honoring him as its Pro Bono Lawyer of the year. Additionally, in 2016, Akin Gump inducted Mr. Tanenbaum into the firm’s Pro Bono Hall of Fame. Mr. Tanenbaum has also been very active in training and mentoring young lawyers and in 2015 the associates at Akin Gump selected him as their Partner of the Year.
