Mr. Craig A. Gillen
Gillen Lake & Clark LLC
For over forty five years Mr. Gillen has achieved sustained success in federal courts throughout the country, first as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Georgia, then as the Deputy Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra, and finally as a criminal defense attorney.
At age 27, Mr. Gillen began his federal career as co-counsel in the successful, ten week, RICO prosecution inU.S. v. Michael Thevis, et. al. (Criminal Case No.: l:78-CR-180). Mr. Gillen received a special commendation at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. for his role in the Thevis prosecution. As a result of his successful multi-week prosecution of a corrupt sheriff, U.S. v. James Glass, Mr. Gillen received the Department of Justice Director's Award in Washington D.C. in 1983. For his efforts as lead counsel in the ten week prosecution of a thirty defendant RICO case, U.S. v. Harold Rosenthal, Mr. Gillen received a second Director's Award in Washington, D.C. in 1986. In October of 1989, following his successful prosecution of United States Congressman Patrick Swindall, 1:88-CR-477, Mr. Gillen received an Attorney General's Special Achievement Award. In January 1990, following the Swindall prosecution, Mr. Gillen joined the Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra in Washin_gton, D.C. Mr. Gillen served as the Deputy Independent Counsel and supervised all of the investigations of the continuing investigation. He was the lead counsel for the following Iran/Contra cases: (1) U.S. v. Elliott Abrams (former Asst. Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs); (2) U.S. v. Alan Fiers (former CIA Chief for Central America; (3) the indictment of U.S. v. Casper Weinberger (former Secretary of Defense); and the multi-week trial in U.S. v. Claire Geor?(former CIA Chiefof Worldwide Operations).
PRIVATE PRACTICE:
In 1993, following the Iran/Contra presidential pardons, Mr. Gillen began private practice in Atlanta, Georgia. He has represented clients in approximately twenty different federal districts throughout the country. As a defense attorney, Mr. Gillen has been involved in several successful defenses of major federal and state prosecutions. Recently, in 2025, he served as lead counsel for the former Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party. After two years of complex litigation, all charges, including the RICO were dismissed following the disqualification of the Fulton County DA's office (State v. Trump, et al.). He was lead counsel in a successful defense of Dr. Joy Laskar, a Georgia Tech Professor, in a Georgia RICO prosecution (2016); He served as co-counsel in the successful defense of Dwight Brown in a Georgia RICO prosecution (2017); In 2001 Mr. Gillen obtained all not guilty verdicts in the federal RICO prosecution in the "Gold Club" case representing Michael DiLeonardo. In 2016, Mr. Gillen concluded his representation of DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis, resulting in a reversal in the GA Supreme CT of the trial conviction and, finally, a dismissal of the indictment. In the summer of 2018, Mr. Gillen was lead defense counsel in the successful defense of a prominent environmental lawyer indicted in federal court in Birmingham, AL. (2018). In 2022 Mr. Gillen served as lead counsel for an indicted VP of a major poultry company in multi-month criminal anti-trust trials in Denver, CO. Following two mistrials, the charges were dismissed with prejudice. In 2023, he served as lead counsel for a president of an aerospace company in an anti-trust prosecution in Connecticut. After a multi-week prosecution all defendants were dismissed pursuant to Rule 29 (US v. Patel, et al.).While in private practice, Mr. Gillen has had several successful defenses in State and Federal courts ranging from an indicted DEA Agent, a State Senator, attorneys, politicians, prominent businessmen, college professors and corporate entities all of which resulted in either acquittals or dismissals.
