Jill Wine-Banks
Jill Wine-Banks is a distinguished attorney, author, and MSNBC Legal Analyst is a prominent figure in political and legal discourse. She first appeared on MSNBC in 2017 following her Chicago Tribune op-ed comparing James Comey’s firing to the Watergate “Saturday Night Massacre,” and has since become a regular contributor.
She co-hosts two acclaimed podcasts — #SistersInLaw, a 2024 Webby Award winner, and iGenPolitics (currently on hiatus) — offering sharp insights into governance, justice, and civic life. Her memoir, The Watergate Girl, was optioned for film by Katie Holmes/Noelle Productions, and her writing appears in outlets including NBC, Politico, and The Washington Post.
Jill began her law career as the first woman to serve as an organized crime prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. After just over four years in that position, she was hand-picked to be one of the three Assistant Watergate Special Prosecutors in the obstruction of justice trial against President Nixon’s top aides, including his Attorney General, Chief of Staff, and Chief Domestic Adviser. President Nixon was named an unindicted co-conspirator in that case, and evidence from that case lead to Nixon’s resignation. Before that, Jill’s team delivered a briefcase of evidence to the House Judiciary Committee as a road map to impeachment. She was also a major player in the Watergate tapes hearing, famously cross examining Rose Mary Woods, President Nixon’s secretary, about the 18 ½ minute gap in a key White House recording. Once again, she was the only woman on the team.
At the conclusion of the Watergate case, Jill entered private practice at the Washington, D.C. offices of Fried Frank Harris Shriver and Kampelman before being named General Counsel of the U.S. Army by President Carter. At the Pentagon, she supervised what was, in essence, the world’s largest law firm. She is particularly proud of her work with Congress to level the playing field for women in the army by eliminating the Woman’s Army Corps and integrating women into the regular army as well as into West Point and basic training. In that capacity, she was General Counsel of the Panama Canal Corporation and a member of the Army Policy and Procurement Council.
After the Pentagon, Jill returned to her hometown, Chicago, as a partner at Jenner and Block, specializing in litigation and immigration, before being appointed as Illinois’s first Solicitor General, where she supervised all appellate cases and argued cases in the US and Illinois Supreme Courts. Later she was promoted to Deputy Attorney General. She was the first woman in that position as wellJill Wine-Banks next became Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the American Bar Association, the first woman in that role. After her tenure there, Jill turned to the business world, with executive positions at Motorola, Maytag, and Chicago Public Schools, and service on numerous nonprofit and corporate boards.
Her many honors include the American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Award, the U.S. Army’s highest civilian recognition, and multiple DOJ commendations. Jill holds degrees from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, Columbia University School of Law in New York City, and an Honorary Doctor of Law from Hood College. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband Michael and Brisbie, their Dalmatian.