It came as no surprise to anyone that disgraced former Sen. John Edwards has called on one of the nation’s best litigators to take on the government in the unlikely criminal case stemming from the cover-up of his affair and love child. Greg Craig, who in a statement outside court Friday said his client had not broken the law, has had his own interesting twists and turns over the past few years, thanks in part to his one-year stint as White House counsel for President Obama. Time magazine had in interesting article in 2009 about the former Williams & Connolly partner, called The Fall of Greg Craig, about the tension between Craig, who wanted to part ways with Bush era terrorism policies, and more pragmatic forces in the White House.

Craig then surprised a lot of people by not returning to Williams & Connolly after leaving the Obama administration, and choosing to join Skadden instead. We covered this in The Zen of Skadden, a feature about the firm’s many recent achievements that described Craig as the “crown jewel” of new acquisitions. Craig told us that he was all set to return to his former firm but was swayed by the recruitment efforts of senior Skadden partners. “I realized this was a group of people I’d be happy practicing law with and that the platform is huge,” he said.