Caroline Krass joined Hilton in March 2025 as General Counsel, overseeing global legal
and compliance functions. Before Hilton, she was appointed by President Biden and
confirmed by the U.S. Senate as General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense
from 2021 to 2025, serving as the chief legal officer and principal legal advisor to the
Secretary of Defense. She also directed the Defense Legal Services Agency.
From 2018 to 2021, Caroline was Senior Vice President & General Counsel, General
Insurance, and Deputy General Counsel at AIG, leading a global legal team supporting
the primary business unit and the privacy and cybersecurity, technology and innovation
teams. Previously, she was a partner and Chair of the National Security Practice Group
at Gibson Dunn.

In 2014, Caroline became the first woman confirmed as General Counsel of the CIA,
serving until 2017. Before that, she served as Acting Assistant Attorney General for the
Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) at the Department of Justice, advising on constitutional
and statutory law. Her career included thirteen years at the Department, primarily in
OLC and also as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney.

From 2009 to 2010, Caroline was Special Assistant and Special Counsel for National
Security Affairs to President Obama and Principal Deputy Legal Adviser to the National
Security Council (NSC). Earlier in her career Caroline worked as an attorney at the
Departments of State and the Treasury.  

Caroline is a member of the Advisory Board of the Hotel & Lodging Legal Summit,
serves on the American Bar Association Standing Committee on National Security and
was elected to the American Law Institute. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from
Stanford University and received her J.D. from Yale Law School.