Lucas E.
Beirne

Prior to joining Cravath in 2024, Mr. Beirne was an attorney in the Legal Division at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, rising to the level of Senior Counsel. During his time at the Federal Reserve, he focused on novel and complex enforcement actions, as well as related policy matters. His work included a number of significant public and private enforcement actions involving banks, holding companies and foreign banking organizations, that addressed regulatory capital, credit risk management, third‑party risk management, Bank Secrecy Act and anti‑money laundering requirements (BSA/AML), consumer compliance risk management, unfair or deceptive acts or practices (UDAP), information technology, cybersecurity and bank holding company source of strength requirements. In addition, he regularly advised supervisory appeals panels and drafted appeals decisions addressing complex bank supervision issues.

Mr. Beirne handled all aspects of the Federal Reserve’s revision of its supervisory appeals process, including drafting the final rule, educating examiners on the new process, and establishing anti‑retaliation procedures and education. In 2021, he received the Federal Reserve’s Special Achievement Award, recognizing his work in overhauling the Federal Reserve’s process for issuing enforcement actions addressing deficiencies identified during the bank examination process. In 2022, Mr. Beirne led an interdivisional team that established the Federal Reserve’s policy on whistleblower claims and process for addressing whistleblower allegations of misconduct in Federal Reserve‑supervised financial institutions.

Mr. Beirne also has significant congressional experience. From 2022 to 2024, Mr. Beirne was detailed to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, where he advised on banking laws, regulation and policy, and oversight of the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He prepared Committee members and staff for hearings on bank supervision, regulation and on merger policy. In addition, he was closely involved in drafting legislation.

Before that, Mr. Beirne was detailed to the Federal Reserve’s Congressional Liaison Office, where he helped prepare Federal Reserve principals and senior staff for congressional testimony, and managed responses to congressional oversight requests.   

Mr. Beirne grew up in Richmond, Virginia. He received a B.S.N. in 2008 from the University of Virginia. In 2012, Mr. Beirne received a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was the Articles Development Editor of the Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif and the Raven Society. After graduating, Mr. Beirne served as a law clerk to Hon. T.S. Ellis III of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, followed by a clerkship to Hon. Patrick E. Higginbotham of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He was a litigation associate at another Washington, D.C., law firm from 2014 to 2016. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Beirne worked in emergency services, including as a firefighter, flight paramedic, and critical care registered nurse.