DOJ Lawyer Yaakov Roth Switches Sides: From Defending Kalshi in Court to Using DOJ to Shield It from States

A former private attorney who successfully defended prediction market platform Kalshi against its federal regulator has now taken a senior role at the Justice Department, where he is using federal power to shield the same company from state-level legal challenges. Yaakov Roth, who as a Jones Day lawyer won a key 2024 court fight for Kalshi against the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), is now the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the DOJ's Civil Division. In this official capacity, his name appears on federal complaints filed against the states of Illinois, Arizona, and Connecticut, arguing their gambling laws should not apply to Kalshi due to the CFTC's oversight.

The legal pivot creates a stark illustration of the revolving door between private practice and government enforcement. Roth joined the DOJ in February 2025, months after securing a pivotal victory for Kalshi when the D.C. Circuit Court denied the CFTC's emergency stay request in the case of *KalshiEX v. CFTC*. Now, the federal lawsuits he is involved with effectively position the CFTC—the agency Kalshi once sued—as a protective shield against actions by state attorneys general.

This development intensifies scrutiny on regulatory capture and the blurred lines between corporate defense and federal litigation strategy. The core legal argument advanced by the DOJ complaints seeks to preempt state gambling regulations by asserting federal regulatory primacy, a move that directly benefits Kalshi's business model. The situation raises significant questions about conflicts of interest and the mechanisms through which a company can leverage a former advocate into a powerful government ally tasked with defending its market position against other sovereign entities.