[2] He previously served as the United States Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy and was a partner at Boies, Schiller & Flexner[3] and Robinson, Bradshaw, and Hinson.

[5] From 2008 to 2013, Dellinger was a lawyer in the office of Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson[5] and a candidate for the 2008 Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor of North Carolina.

In 2009, Senator Kay Hagan recommended Dellinger and two other lawyers to President Barack Obama for consideration as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

[7] On June 18, 2021, he was nominated by the President to serve as the United States Department of Justice's Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy.

On February 10, Dellinger sued, alleging Trump had ignored a federal law that a special counsel can only be fired due to "inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office".

[21] Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued a temporary stay requiring Dellinger to be restored to office pending further legal action.